More people shopping for cars virtually as RelayCars tops 1M downloads

By Miles Branman July 20, 2017

RelayCars 1 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

There are few things people dread more than going to a car dealership. Sure, you’re excited to poke around and test drive some new vehicles, but it’s never that simple. In most cases, you’ll either be ignored by the sales staff, or harassed until you sign on the dotted line. For this reason, options like Carvana’s car vending machine have popped up to cut out the middleman, and RelayCars takes this concept a step further.

The free virtual reality app from EVOX Images offers users the chance to explore a library of new vehicles without ever leaving their home.

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While this might sound like a niche use-case for VR gear, EVOX has announced that its app just hit one million downloads, making it the most popular automotive VR app on the Oculus Samsung Gear VR store and Google Play store for Android.

“Reaching this milestone is a celebratory event for us and also shows that VR is becoming an important component for the future of car shopping,” said David Falstrup, CEO of EVOX Images. “Consumer needs are driving technological advances in every aspect of our lives. We’re showing consumers a new way to research vehicles without ever leaving the comfort of their couch.”

Those who are familiar with virtual gaming understand the advantages of an immersive experience, and the same benefits are made available to car shoppers. Watching a YouTube walkaround is one thing, but being invited into the cockpit to analyze anything and everything, at your leisure, is uniquely convenient. This is made possible by EVOX’s 360-degree imaging tech — which it supplies to more than 20,000 dealer and automotive websites.

Every vehicle make and model that’s been on sale since 2015 is accessible through six different virtual showrooms — trucks, cars, SUVs, exotic cars, and everything in between.

Within the past year, the EVOX VR team has extended technology offerings with the introduction of showrooms, virtual cinema, vehicle configurator capability, VR product clinics, and more. These new virtual shopping features will benefit dealers by building customer engagement and driving store traffic.

RelayRides and other innovative uses for VR will undoubtedly make the technology appealing to a greater number of consumers. It’s only a matter of time before a VR headset is as common as a TV remote.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Miles Branman doesn't need sustenance; he needs cars. While the gearhead gene wasn't strong in his own family, Miles…

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Tesla posts exaggerate self-driving capacity, safety regulators say

Beta of Tesla's FSD in a car.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is concerned that Tesla’s use of social media and its website makes false promises about the automaker’s full-self driving (FSD) software.
The warning dates back from May, but was made public in an email to Tesla released on November 8.
The NHTSA opened an investigation in October into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with the FSD software, following three reported collisions and a fatal crash. The investigation centers on FSD’s ability to perform in “relatively common” reduced visibility conditions, such as sun glare, fog, and airborne dust.
In these instances, it appears that “the driver may not be aware that he or she is responsible” to make appropriate operational selections, or “fully understand” the nuances of the system, NHTSA said.
Meanwhile, “Tesla’s X (Twitter) account has reposted or endorsed postings that exhibit disengaged driver behavior,” Gregory Magno, the NHTSA’s vehicle defects chief investigator, wrote to Tesla in an email.
The postings, which included reposted YouTube videos, may encourage viewers to see FSD-supervised as a “Robotaxi” instead of a partially automated, driver-assist system that requires “persistent attention and intermittent intervention by the driver,” Magno said.
In one of a number of Tesla posts on X, the social media platform owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a driver was seen using FSD to reach a hospital while undergoing a heart attack. In another post, a driver said he had used FSD for a 50-minute ride home. Meanwhile, third-party comments on the posts promoted the advantages of using FSD while under the influence of alcohol or when tired, NHTSA said.
Tesla’s official website also promotes conflicting messaging on the capabilities of the FSD software, the regulator said.
NHTSA has requested that Tesla revisit its communications to ensure its messaging remains consistent with FSD’s approved instructions, namely that the software provides only a driver assist/support system requiring drivers to remain vigilant and maintain constant readiness to intervene in driving.
Tesla last month unveiled the Cybercab, an autonomous-driving EV with no steering wheel or pedals. The vehicle has been promoted as a robotaxi, a self-driving vehicle operated as part of a ride-paying service, such as the one already offered by Alphabet-owned Waymo.
But Tesla’s self-driving technology has remained under the scrutiny of regulators. FSD relies on multiple onboard cameras to feed machine-learning models that, in turn, help the car make decisions based on what it sees.
Meanwhile, Waymo’s technology relies on premapped roads, sensors, cameras, radar, and lidar (a laser-light radar), which might be very costly, but has met the approval of safety regulators.

Cars

Scout Traveler SUV vs. Rivian R1S: modern electric SUVs compared

Scout Motors Traveler SUV in a forest

Scout Motors has made a big comeback, now under the guidance of Volkswagen Group. Not only is the Scout brand being reinvigorated but it has already announced two new models in the form of the Scout Terra truck and the Scout Traveler SUV. The Scout Traveler SUV in particular is an interesting vehicle, but it has an uphill battle ahead of it thanks to competition from the likes of Rivian.

The Rivian R1S is often considered to be the best electric SUV out there right now, and while it's not cheap, it offers an excellent set of tech features, a long range, and more. So how does the Scout Traveler SUV compare with the R1S? We put the two vehicles head to head to find out.
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The exterior designs of the Scout Traveler and the Rivian R1S are similar in many ways, though there are some major differences. Both vehicles offer a relatively blocky shape characteristic of a traditional SUV. The Traveler is a little more traditional than the Rivian in that it has a spare tire on the back, which is both practical and gives it a rugged vibe.

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Waymo, Nexar present AI-based study to protect ‘vulnerable’ road users

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Robotaxi operator Waymo says its partnership with Nexar, a machine-learning tech firm dedicated to improving road safety, has yielded the largest dataset of its kind in the U.S., which will help inform the driving of its own automated vehicles.

As part of its latest research with Nexar, Waymo has reconstructed hundreds of crashes involving what it calls ‘vulnerable road users’ (VRUs), such as pedestrians walking through crosswalks, biyclists in city streets, or high-speed motorcycle riders on highways.