For Castrol, virtual reality technology can be used to
promote their product. This Castrol Edge advertising is one of the coolest ads
that you must see if you are the fan of VR technology.
The project called Virtual Drift of Castrol involves various
advanced technologies that aim to provide VR experience in a different and
interesting way. They modify a helmet to be the home of Oculus Rift Development
Kit 2, and then attach it to the head of a Formula Drift Professional racer
named Matt Powers.
Furthermore, Matt is asked for speeding and maneuvering by
using the new generation of Ford Mustang that has been equipped with 625hp
engine in an empty field. This is what others see, but in the eyes of Matt
who's wearing the VR headset, apparently he is trying to save himself from the
'apocalypse' that sweeps his virtual world.
The lands crack everywhere, and large rocks fall down
constantly. Matt Powers along with the Ford Mustang has to maneuver to avoid the
death, whereas in the eyes of other people, Matt seems like just circling in an
empty field.
How could this happen? The secret lies in the researches and
experiments that have been carried out by the creative team of Castrol Edge.
The muscle car has been transformed into a giant controller for racing game
powered by Unreal Engine 4 and Nvidia PhysX technology.
First of all, GPS along with a myriad of other sensors are
embedded at all over the car body to read the movements of the car. In the car
trunk, Castrol Edge team builds computer server that has been loaded with a
series of top-class graphics card, Nvidia GTX 980. The server is responsible to
read and process all the required data, ranging from speed, acceleration and
also car braking.
The data in the real world is then forwarded and
synchronized to the Oculus Rift DK2 that's used by the driver. When the car
moves in the real world, the rider will also feel the same way in the virtual
world.
Matt Powers can be said maneuvering with closed eyes,
because what he sees is an engineering result. Simply put, Virtual Drift is a
racing game that uses a real car as its controller. At first glance it sounds
scary, but at least we can get an idea of the true potential of VR technology.
Going forward, Castrol Edge has planned to release Virtual Drift to public so that the owners of Oculus Rift or Samsung Gear VR can also
feel the tense of VR experience offered. For now, you can enjoy it in the form
of interactive 360 degree video below - make sure you use the Google Chrome
browser.