The Swedish automotive giant is all set to enter into a partnership with Microsoft to develop next generation automotive technologies. The areas of research and development could include autonomous driving technologies and optimum utilisation of real time data generated from connected cars to create new services. The company is primarily upon the HoloLens technology developed by Microsoft to redefine how customers first encounter and explore a car. The HoloLens is the world’s first fully untethered holographic computer, which basically means that users can view three dimensional images using only a particular eye wear and be able to see in detail the features of the car.
Senior Vice president, Marketing Sales and Service at Volvo Mr. Bjorn Annwall believes that incorporating the HoloLens technology to the core of Volvo could even liberate from traditional sales environment. The technology can even allow them to take a car configurator to the road, small stores or even on street corners. This holds the potential of introducing the cars to a far larger audience.
With this partnership Volvo also intends to focus on an autonomous driving program called “Drive-Me”. In this program hundred self driving and connected cars will be given to customers to be driven on real roads around the Swedish city of Gothenburg. They have even set a daring deadline of 2017 for the world’s largest autonomous driving experiment. With this kind of technology, the company is sure to be a hit among customers all around the world including India.
The concept of autonomous driving could wipe out cases of road accidents which are only growing year after year. However, the technology could take years, if not decades to be fully incorporated and implemented in a country as huge as India and with population which is almost 20 percent of the world population. By 2017, after judging from the response in Gothenburg, it shall be seen how much India can look forward to autonomous driving.