Friday 15th January 2010

Following on from Vauxhall’s technical and design brilliance in developing and producing the all-new Astra, they have commissioned an exciting and innovative piece of Augmented Reality...

It's a bit like having a digital hologram of the all-new Astra in the palm of your hand, all be it in front of your computer screen and is designed to highlight two of the all-new Astra’s unique features- FlexRide and AFL+

For those who might wonder just what Augmented Reality is, the official line is that it’s a combination of real world and computer generated data (hence the virtual 3D drive!),  where computer graphics and objects are blended into real footage in real time.
As we all know, some web images can be a bit static.  Vauxhall, showcasing their innovative thinking, wanted to provide a slightly deeper, more interacting and engaging method of experiencing the all-new Astra via the web.

Of course, please do head down to your local dealership and test drive the all-new Astra for yourself, if you haven’t already! But in the meantime, don’t be shy to take the virtual 3D driving experience at work or at home (and if you are feeling especially brave and AR talented, record yourself via you webcam and upload your 3D drive video to your social network pages or send it on to your friends).

To find the 3D virtual drive, you will just need to head over to Astra and Action , click on the gallery tab from the top bar navigation and then select the 3D Experience. There you will find a demo video to watch before you get going if you want to (or you can watch it here on TorqueAstra. Note: it can be a bit of a spoiler!).

There are clear and detailed instructions on what to do and the software you will need to download before you get started. You’ll obviously need a webcam and a printout of the Astra symbol; hold and manipulate the Astra symbol printout in front of your webcam  and then, bob’s your uncle, away you go.
Enjoy! Gasp in amazement and wonder. And let us know what you thought, if you can put it down that is...

Note, if you experience any frustration, that having downloaded the software, the AR 3D virtual drive doesn’t seem to work properly, this is more than likely due to the lowly state of your graphics card. You might well need to upgrade. And sorry to all Mac users as well. If we hear anything about a Mac download, we’ll let you know.