Ken Block Augmented Reality Stunts Put You In the Hot seat

Posted on Jan 15 2012 - 1:54pm by Richard Sharp

We’ve seen our fair share of AR tech over the past year or so as big name brands have been utilizing it in their campaigns. Ford is the latest super brand to come up with something interesting at the annual motor show in Detroit.

They’ve installed a giant AR simulator which pits the pubic against the driving genius Ken Block. Users sit in the centre of a large yellow circle as a virtual Ford Fiesta Rally car donuts and twirls its way around them, leaving virtual smoke and skid marks around the user. Here’s a video of one attendee getting the Ken Block AR workout:

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Every user will be automatically recorded during the experience with all videos posted to YouTube for the whole world to see. There’s a fair few videos up already with users generally displaying looks of amazement, excitement or fear – we guess it is quite realistic.

Augmented reality has come such a long way in such a short space of time. It was only a year ago that people where excited about card based information kiosks. Can you imagine if this sort of tech was put into retail stores? You’d be able to try on clothes virtually, see the options on your new virtual car or just have the time of your life with a virtual rally car.

Take a look at Ford’s dedicated page for more information on how to take part.

Edit: More information

This is currently on show at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).

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