Volvo will be the latest carmaker to take advantage of Epic Games’ Unreal Engine graphics. The Swedish carmaker has said it will partner with the creator of Fortnite to bring “photorealistic visualization” to its next-generation electric vehicles.
The essence of the Volvo / Epic partnership will be the “human-machine interface” (HMI), which, in the context of vehicle ownership, is another way to describe how car owners interact with their car’s software. Volvo says Epic will help build a platform on which automotive engineers can design software that will improve the HMI while maintaining the safety levels at which Volvo has built much of its reputation.
“This technology allows us to create responsive, truly high-quality visuals that we can play with and layer information on, create realistic representations of all these things when needed,” said Thomas Stovicek, Volvo’s Consumer Experience Manager. Cars. “So it’s really about creating the next generation HMI for our customers.”
Image: Volvo
Security will be a key aspect of the new partnership, Stovicek said. Over the years, the company has built its reputation for safety and strange designs, and today’s announcement aims to highlight this. Ideally, Volvo wants to use Unreal Engine to capture what the car’s external sensors, such as a camera, radar and soon, a leader, see outside the driver’s car without being “striking”, he said, adding: “Maybe be difficult to process. “
Other pieces of information, such as navigation and battery life, as well as the presentation of this information, such as light, color and graphics, will be improved through collaboration with Epic Gamers, Stovicek said.
Unreal Engine is Epic’s main tool for creating realistic 3D graphics, first introduced in the 1998 Unreal first-person shooter. Since then, it has been used in various game genres and seen by other industries, most notably film and television. industry.
The automotive industry is a particularly attractive target for Epic Games, mostly because cars are easier to portray realistically than humans. (Which also speaks to the popularity and proliferation of racing games.) Most recently, Epic said it would work with GMC to supply HMI software for the 2022 Hummer EV pickup.
Image: Volvo
But Epic is becoming increasingly interested in the automotive industry. The logic is simple: modern cars are designed primarily with software and carry a number of on-board computers that rely on touch screens and digital interfaces to power infotainment centers. And Unreal Engine is a great platform for building software, so why not put that software in your car?
“With the new hardware coming into cars, it’s become very attractive to think of the car as an additional platform that we need to recognize,” said Heiko Wenzel, head of the Detroit Epic Games lab. a point of engagement, from what gaming capabilities can actually bring to the in-car user experience.
Neither Volvo nor Epic would say which vehicles will be the first to have software provided by Unreal Engine or what kind of timeline customers should expect to see these features in Volvo’s wider fleet.
Volvo has said it plans to sell 600,000 EVs by the middle of the decade and will build a battery plant in Europe by 2026. The company says it is working with Swedish partner Northvolt on a new generation of higher-energy batteries designed to be integrated as a structural element of the vehicle. The new batteries, which are expected after 2025, will allow a longer run between charges – up to 625 miles (1006 kilometers) – and much faster charging times.
Volvo also offers its own software development as a way to help speed up the implementation of new company fleet updates or correct system errors. The new operating system, which will be called VolvoCars.OS, will power the company’s next generation of electric vehicles and allow unattended driving on highways.
Image: Volvo
The new OS will act as an “umbrella system” for all major systems running on the vehicle, including Android Automotive OS, Blackberry QNX, Linux and AUTOSAR. The company said its new architecture will include a mainframe consisting of two chip-systems provided by Nvidia. Initially, one will focus on basic driving functions and the other on semi-autonomous functions and more modern functions. In the future, Volvo hopes to synthesize the two computers into one system for more efficient processing.
Ultimately, Volvo wants Epic Games to help modernize its next-generation vehicles, while acknowledging that inflating features is a real problem. Of course, much sharper images, richer colors and brand new 3D animations will be included. But anything that distracts the driver will not be part of the package.
“There is nothing off the table for us,” Stovicek said. “But, of course, what’s important to us is getting it right at the same time, while making sure we have safe driving and don’t distract the driver the wrong way.”
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