BMW Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality is a buzz word these days, okay, phrase. Those of you that own one of the new iPhones, you might have noticed the few applications available the brings augmented reality in front of our eyes. But what is Augmented Reality and why should we care?

MediaIte has a simple definition for it: “augmented reality is any technology that overlays virtual information on top of the real world.  You look through some sort of device (to date, mobile phones have turned out to have the most traction) with a camera on it, it shows you a view of what it sees, and, combining that view with it’s positional awareness, adds in meaningful information about what you are seeing.”

A bit more clear now? We certainly hope so since in the next few months and years, the buzz word will just get bigger and bigger with many new applications being developed. So how does it interact with our BMW cars?

Well, in early 2008, a Youtube video released by BMW made the headlines of many websites. Using augmented reality, a BMW mechanic receives additional three-dimensional information on the engine he is repairing, for example, to help him in diagnosing and solving the fault. Apart from the real environment, he sees virtually animated components, the tools to be used and hears instruction on each of the working steps through headphones integrated inside the goggles.

As you can see in this video, BMW Augmented Reality guides the mechanic through the entire repair procedure. The advantages of this technology are immense, from the higher quality level of service to reducing costs or improving repair times.