Honda announced a new “Extended Reality Mobility Experience” debuting at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin, where the company will invite attendees to strap on a VR headset and strap into a fancy wheelchair. The future is here, maybe.
The stunt uses Honda’s new UNI-ONE, a personal mobility device with self-balancing technology similar to a Segway, which lets riders steer by leaning their bodies in a given direction.
The carmaker is promoting the UNI-ONE as a mobility device for people with disabilities, but it seems Honda thinks the wheelchair will be lots of fun for everyone. The company shared images and video of a headset-wearing man riding in the chair with arms outstretched and a childlike smile.
“With the Honda XR Mobility Experience, we are expanding the joy and freedom of personal mobility into entertainment applications,” said Hirokazu Hara, a Vice President at Honda America in a press release. “By combining the unique, physical experience of riding the Honda UNI-ONE with highly immersive digital entertainment, Honda is creating a brand new multimodal experience that takes extended reality technologies to the next level.”
Honda said it envisions people participating in the XR Mobility Experience both indoors and outdoors in “obstacle-free spaces,” including theme parks, entertainment facilities, stores, and shopping malls. The promise is a “choose your VR adventure” where you’ll be able to “experience the peaceful feeling of floating in the sky or the exhilarating feeling of gliding along a half-pipe path,” the company wrote. “Honda also believes that UNI-ONE can be used as a mobility device in XR games, such as a racing game where players use their hands while moving freely or a game in which players follow certain routes.”
The company isn’t the first to consider adding more physical movement to VR gaming. For example, researchers unveiled a Dance Dance Revolution style mat that lets players run around in virtual space by lifting their legs up and down with a movement that, one has to admit, looks like a child who needs a bathroom break. Other experiments include treadmills that simulate walking in any direction, making VR gaming all the more immersive. Last year, this reporter strapped on a VR headset in the back of a BMW with a company that promised the first ride in the “metaverse for cars.”
Adding a wheelchair to the mix is an unexpected and astronomically expensive addition to the mix. But you can see the appeal of riding around what’s essentially a little car. At first glance, however, Honda’s vision leaves a little to be desired. The promotional video features glitchy low frame-rate graphics and games that look about as boring as can be.