Castrol's latest stunt turns two race cars into VR controllers
Fortunately, the drivers were both on separate tracks.
Motor oil maker Castrol has a weird obsession with virtual reality as a marketing tactic, but at least it yields some pretty interesting videos. Earlier this year, the company dropped an Oculus Rift helmet on a race-car driver as he sped around a real-life track, turning his Roush Stage 3 Mustang into a glorified VR controller. If the idea of driving a real-life race car around a track while completely blind isn't terrifying enough, Castrol's back with a new video that pits two virtual racers against each other.
Fortunately for everyone, the two drivers were on entirely separate tracks, so there was no risk of collision to be had. Additionally, the real-life courses were on flat ground with no obstacles in the way outside of some course boundaries. But with their headsets on, the drivers had to navigate a course that included ordinarily murderous obstacles like flying boulders and random patches of fire.
Much like Castrol's previous video, this latest one is a bit over-the-top, with a pounding action movie soundtrack and overly dramatic clips of a VR experience that doesn't feel nearly as impressive as it surely felt for those that were behind the wheel. But we still have to give the company credit for putting together some undeniably clever and impressive demos of how VR can be used. Sadly, most of us won't get a chance to try something like this any time soon.
