Building Virtual and Augmented Reality Passenger Experiences

Abstract

Virtual and Augmented Reality (together XR) headsets enable the rendering of virtual content intermixed with reality. They have the capacity to allow passengers to break free from small physical displays in constrained environments such as cars, trains and planes, allowing them to escape to new experiences. They can allow passengers to make better use of their time by making travel more productive and enjoyable, supporting both privacy and immersion. This is of particular note given the predicted adoption of autonomous vehicles. The ViAjeRo project (www.viajero-project.org) is conducting breakthrough research in HCI and neuroscience to enable passenger usage of XR headsets, with the underlying goal of making more effective, comfortable and productive use of travel time. This paper sets out the limitations of current state-of-the-art and how ViAjeRo is opening new possibilities for passenger XR experiences.