BMW is first car-maker to use Google Spotlight

Virtual reality technology employed by BMW may make it obsolete for customers to visit a showroom to view their next car.

The German carmaker has become the first in the world to use Google's Spotlight Story app to present its Visionary virtual reality technology to prospective buyers.

BMW used the innovation to give a virtual walk-around of its latest concept car, the Vision Next 100, and although the display is limited to only one car, the technology could soon be used to display any of its production and concept models.

BMW's head of digital marketing Jourg Poggenpohl said the Vision Next 100 video shows its commitment to future technologies.

"‘Visionary' perfectly shows how the BMW Group masterfully applies new possibilities of digital communications, to create intense and amazing experiences," he said.

"We are the first automotive brand to use Google Spotlight Stories. This perfectly fits the self-conception of BMW as innovator and creator of the future."

The tour is available on YouTube from a home computer, the YouTube application on Android devices and via the Google Spotlight Story application on iOS products.

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNjE4CeCuXU&feature=youtu.be[/video]

The short video has a tour of the concept car and allows viewers to pan around a full 360-degrees for a view of the concept car's surroundings.

Computer users can click and drag to shift viewpoints, but mobile users are able to take full advantage of virtual reality headsets – including Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear VR – for an immersive virtual reality experience.

The video has interactive points where viewers can focus on product information and have detailed close ups of sections of the car, including its sophisticated safety systems, cabin details such as the steering wheel and dashboard, and body features.

Virtual reality technologies could be the sales platform of future carmakers and dealerships who could extend a simple vehicle walk-around to more in-depth presentations and simulated driving.

The digital agency that produced the video, Jung von Matt, said its collaboration with BMW explored breakthroughs in new software, with company director Max Lederer calling it the "future of mobile brand experience."

"A team of specialists has worked its way through a whole new software, which was simultaneously developed further in Mountain View," he said.

"Together with the great team of Google in Germany and in the US, a digital lighthouse project has been created, which in the opinion of Jung von Matt represents the future of mobile brand experience: interactive storytelling in a virtual space."

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