Nissan’s Metaverse Journey: Car History Meets Driver Education

Nissan Motor Co. has unveiled a new metaverse experience called the “Heritage Cars & Safe Drive Studio.” This immersive exhibit showcases three iconic Nissan vehicles from different eras and also includes interactive safety exhibits. The studio was created to celebrate Nissan’s 90th anniversary and aims to educate visitors about the history and safety features of the showcased vehicles.

The first exhibit features the Silvia Q’s S13, a popular drifting vehicle. Visitors can explore the virtual environment and learn about the impact of pedestrian clothing colors on drivers. In the second exhibit, visitors can engage in a mini-game that teaches about a driver’s field-of-view and the effects of multitasking on road safety. The exhibit also showcases the Skyline 2000GTX-E, a famous tuner vehicle featured in popular culture, including video games and films like Gran Turismo and Fast and Furious.

The third exhibit transports visitors back to 1950s and 60s America, recreating a classic American diner and drive-in theater atmosphere. Here, participants can take part in a hands-on steering wheel spin exercise. These interactive experiences were developed in collaboration with researchers from Japanese universities.

The new metaverse exhibits are accessible on the Meta Quest headset and expand on Nissan’s previous ventures in the virtual world, including their first virtual test drive introduced in 2022. To mark their 90th anniversary, Nissan also refreshed four existing metaverse worlds in December 2023. These efforts align with the advancements in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology, as demonstrated by Apple’s recent launch of a mixed-reality headset.

With competitive AR and VR solutions emerging from companies like Meta and Microsoft, the launch of Apple’s mixed-reality headset in early 2024 intensified the race for consumer and enterprise adoption in this space. Nissan’s foray into the metaverse aims to engage consumers and demonstrate their commitment to technological innovation while celebrating their rich automotive history and promoting road safety education.