Photo: WayRay
As a developer of holographic augmented reality head-up displays, Swiss start-up WayRay caught the eye of several auto makers which wasted no time getting involved.
At the beginning of the week, the start-up secured new funding from a series of new investors, including Porsche, Hyundai, and the Alibaba Group. In all, the company raised $80 million, apparently a big chunk of that sum coming from Porsche.
“WayRay’s innovative ideas and products have proven to have enormous potential,” said in a statement Lutz Meschke, the man in charge with finance and IT at Porsche.
“We are convinced that by joining forces with WayRay we will in future be able to offer our customers solutions to the usual standard expected of Porsche. That is why we have opted to make a strategic investment.”
Unlike traditional head-up displays (HUD), which relay a limited amount on information, WayRay’s approach brings the technology to a whole new level by including augmented reality into the process, completely transforming the information displayed on the HUD.
This opens a virtually unlimited number of possibilities. Drivers can be informed by the system about the distance from an object anywhere around the car, it can highlight parking spaces, and even send racing lines on the windscreen.
But the craziest possibility it the one which would allow retailers to send information to the car’s HUD so that when they pass by this or that store, drivers are informed about discounts and such.
And, as a twist, WayRay’s tech could in theory highlight the people you know and are passing by on the street with a name tag, for instance. In effect, this special system will allow each and every item on the street to be tagged and highlighted in one way or another.
Of course, the technology is still in its infancy, and is currently being deployed on an add-on device WayRay developed, called Navion.
“WayRay’s innovative ideas and products have proven to have enormous potential,” said in a statement Lutz Meschke, the man in charge with finance and IT at Porsche.
“We are convinced that by joining forces with WayRay we will in future be able to offer our customers solutions to the usual standard expected of Porsche. That is why we have opted to make a strategic investment.”
Unlike traditional head-up displays (HUD), which relay a limited amount on information, WayRay’s approach brings the technology to a whole new level by including augmented reality into the process, completely transforming the information displayed on the HUD.
This opens a virtually unlimited number of possibilities. Drivers can be informed by the system about the distance from an object anywhere around the car, it can highlight parking spaces, and even send racing lines on the windscreen.
But the craziest possibility it the one which would allow retailers to send information to the car’s HUD so that when they pass by this or that store, drivers are informed about discounts and such.
And, as a twist, WayRay’s tech could in theory highlight the people you know and are passing by on the street with a name tag, for instance. In effect, this special system will allow each and every item on the street to be tagged and highlighted in one way or another.
Of course, the technology is still in its infancy, and is currently being deployed on an add-on device WayRay developed, called Navion.
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