There are a handful of virtual reality headsets floating about at the moment, such as the Oculus Rift, Sony’s Project Morpheus, and the Samsung Gear VR just to name a few, although out of all of them, Google’s Cardboard seems to be the most novel. Unveiled earlier this year, Google Cardboard is basically a cardboard cutout that allows users to house a smartphone which acts like a virtual reality headset.
Essentially it’s a cheap solution to virtual reality that anyone with the right materials and instructions (which can be grabbed off Google) can make on their own. That being said, car manufacturer Volvo has decided to take advantage of its affordability and the fact that it is easy to make to launch a marketing campaign for their upcoming redesigned XC90 SUV.
Basically Volvo has been sending out these Volvo-branded Google Cardboard headsets as well as links to an accompanying app for smartphones. As it stands the app is only available for Android devices but Volvo has promised that an iOS app will be launched soon. The app will basically act as the display for the virtual reality headset and will take users on a virtual tour of the vehicle.
There will be multiple episodes available, with each episode allowing the wearer to see what it’s like to drive the car in different environments. Perhaps it can’t beat actually going out and testing the car for yourself, but without doubt it’s an interesting and creative method of marketing. For those who interested in checking it out themselves, you can download an app that will work with or without Cardboard, but we suppose the fun is in the fact that it’s virtual reality.
Filed in . Read more about Google, Virtual Reality (VR), Volvo and Wearable Tech.