NRMA Insurance opens Crashed Car Showroom in Sydney
NRMA Insurance has combined Oculus Rift virtual reality with a physical hydraulics system for a simulation that's both fun and frightening.
The author of this article (pictured) marvels at his virtual-reality arms.
We swear that the car used in the simulation was damaged before we arrived.
The Crashed Car Showroom is located on York St in the Sydney CBD. You won't find new cars sold here.
On the show floor.
In addition to crash test simulation, the showroom features a distracted driving test that uses eye-tracking software to test whether users can hold their attention on the road while driving 60km/h – even when an SMS suddenly comes in.
The test attempts to fool the user into answering their text message. Fail to keep your eyes on the road and the test comes to a crashing halt.
Another area of the exhibit projected images on a car showing damage caused by a crash.
This Peugot was sawed into three pieces to show various safety features.
Each part of the car is embedded with Near Field Communications (NFC) chips that can load video on interested users' smartphones.
Car lovers may wish to look away.
A hail gun lets the driver switch places and see weather damage from the angry storm cloud's perspective.
Turns out shooting ice at a car door is a blast.
Besides safety technology, the showroom boasts some pretty brutal crash damage.
Airbags: before, during and after.
A video demonstrated autonomous car technology.
NRMA head of research, Robert McDonald, says interactivity is key to teaching people about car safety.