An emerging growth area for entertainment – the captive audience in the upcoming wave of driverless vehicles – will be spotlighted at the LA Auto Show today through December 10.
Getting a jump on the competition, Intel earlier this week announced a deal with Warner Bros. to study and develop special entertainment for driverless vehicles. Intel is a major developer of self-driving technologies, having earlier this year acquired auto sensor manufacturer Mobileye.
The Intel-WB deal is for in-cabin, immersive experiences in autonomous vehicles. The project is being called the AV Entertainment Experience by the partners.
“The rise of the AV industry will create one of the greatest expansions of consumer time available for entertainment we’ve seen in a long time,” said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. “As passengers shift from being drivers to riders, their connected-device time, including video-viewing time, will increase. In fact, recent transportation surveys indicate the average American spends more than 300 hours per year behind the wheel.
Krzanich touted the possibilities of passengers entertaining themselves through a combination of traditional TV, film and games, augmented by more exotic entertainment experiences like virtual reality.
“For example, a fan of the superhero Batman could enjoy riding in the Batmobile through the streets of Gotham City, while AR capabilities render the car a literal lens to the outside world,” Intel CEO Brian Krzanich wrote in a blog post, “enabling passengers to view advertising and other discovery experiences.”
No time-frame for the full roll-out of the new entertainment forms has been announced. Autonomous vehicle testing is underway in several cities, with several big technology players – among them Amazon, Tesla and Google – vying for position in the space. Intel and Warner Bros plan to first install a prototype of the new project into one of their 100-car test fleets and develop using that platform.
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