German auto maker, Audi, has begun testing out their vision for the next generation of car showrooms. The Audi City concept is located in London, and instead of filling the showroom with vehicles, there are four giant touchscreen tables in their place with accompanying screens on the walls. With the use of advanced cameras, the potential buyers are virtually displayed alongside the various car models where they can then move themselves to the car that interests them.
By replacing the physical cars with more advanced technology, car buyers can fully customize their car, whether it is changing the car’s color of added features, instead of only seeing what the dealership decided to put onto the showroom floor. Audi has paid attention to every little detail, including the sound of the engine as the car starts up before the virtual test drive.
This new approach probably sounds like the experience you can get by visiting Audi’s website from your home computer, but the company is hoping that the life-sized virtual displays will be enough to draw people in. For now, Audi isn’t sure if this new idea will catch on, but they feel it is necessary to push forward with new technology and try new ideas to spark the interest of future car buyers. A similar showroom will open later this year in Beijing, but it is unclear whether Audi has plans to bring it to other cities in the near future.
Source: Deutsche Welle
Photo by Audi
