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holoride, Universal Pictures and Ford Debut the First In-Car, Public VR Experience

Published on Sat, Oct 12, 2019

By: The LACar Editorial Staff

holoride, the company advancing the future of in-vehicle entertainment, today announced it is partnering with Ford Motor Company and Universal Pictures to create a complimentary in-car virtual reality experience that will be offered to guests for a limited time beginning October 14 through select dates until November 9. Powered by technology from holoride, and set inside new 2020 Ford Explorer vehicles, with advanced connectivity specific for this experience, riders are transported to the mysterious world of the Bride of Frankenstein.


Through newly inspired content created by Universal Monsters in collaboration with immersive specialist, REWIND. This marks the first time holoride is being offered to the general public following their successful debut at CES this past January.

“We are partnering with Ford and Universal to bring holoride’s immersive, elastic content to the general public,” said Nils Wollny, CEO and co-founder of holoride. “Riders will be able to experience first-hand what the future of in-vehicle entertainment looks like through the lens of the compelling story of the Bride of Frankenstein.”

Once inside the vehicles, riders  put on their VR headset and are joined by a re- imagined, virtual Bride of Frankenstein

Riders will step inside a 2020 Ford Explorer from the designated pickup location at Universal CityWalk during hours of operation. Once inside the vehicles, riders buckle their safety belts, put on their VR headset and are joined by a re- imagined, virtual Bride of Frankenstein on a journey to deliver an important message to Frankenstein. Along the way, riders will encounter virtual monsters and obstacles in a fully immersive, virtual reality experience complete with sound effects and visuals that adapt to movement of the car.

Ford – Universal Monsters Presents Bride of Frankenstein holoride
Ford – Universal Monsters Presents Bride of Frankenstein holoride

holoride uses navigational data like travel route and time along with driving data from the Ford Explorer, such as steering, accelerating and stopping to adapt the experience to match the movement of the vehicle. The result is in an in-vehicle entertainment experience unlike any other.

The connected vehicle technology from Ford can help completely revolutionize what the in-car experience can be, moving us toward never-before-imagined productivity and entertainment in the vehicle,” said Brett Wheatley, vice president of Mobility Marketing and Growth at Ford. “This collaboration allows us to showcase the promise of the connected vehicle and get essential customer feedback on what they want and don’t want in terms of immersive in-car entertainment experiences.”

holoride uses data to adapt the experience to match the movement of the vehicle

Greg Reed, Vice President, Universal Pictures Technology Partnerships added: “This partnership with holoride and Ford highlights NBCUniversal’s ongoing commitment to collaborating with the most innovative technology companies and consumer brands to create unique and forward-thinking immersive experiences for our audiences. Building on Universal Pictures’ vast experience in developing award-winning AR and VR content over the last few years, we are excited and inspired as ‘everyday travel’ begins to emerge as a new content platform.”

To participate in this complimentary experience, guests can visit holoride.com/bride to schedule Universal Monsters Presents Bride of Frankenstein holoride, or visit the designated pickup location at Universal CityWalk. The ride’s hours of operation are Monday through Wednesday during Oct. 14-16, Oct. 21-23, and Oct. 28-30, and Monday through Saturday the week of Nov 4-Nov 9. All rides will take place between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. PST.

Ford – Universal Monsters Presents Bride of Frankenstein holoride
Ford – Universal Monsters Presents Bride of Frankenstein holoride

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification, autonomous vehicles and mobility solutions. Ford employs approximately 194,000 people worldwide. For more information regarding Ford, its products and Ford Motor Credit Company, please visit corporate.ford.com. Ford has an SUV for everyone, from the Bride of Frankenstein to the Police.

About holoride

German startup holoride creates an entirely new media category (“elastic content”) for passengers by connecting Extended Reality (XR) content with data points from the vehicle in real time. These data points include physical feedback, like acceleration and steering, traffic data, as well as travel route and time. holoride technology provides a new type of immersion into any kind of VR content, creating a breathtaking, immersive experience, and significantly reducing motion sickness. The tech startup was founded end of 2018 in Munich, Germany by Nils Wollny, Marcus Kuehne, Daniel Profendiner, and Audi Electronics Venture GmbH, who holds a minority interest in the startup. It was hailed “Best of CES” (Las Vegas, January 2019), and is part of the global innovation platform “STARTUP AUTOBAHN powered by Plug and Play.” For more information about holoride please visit www.holoride.com

About Universal Filmed Entertainment Group

Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG) produces, acquires, markets and distributes filmed entertainment worldwide in various media formats for theatrical, home entertainment, television and other distribution platforms. The global division includes Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, DreamWorks Animation Film and Television.UFEG is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

post by: John Grafman

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