GCP – Next-gen virtual automotive showrooms are here, thanks to Google Cloud, Unreal Engine, and NVIDIA

As people limit activities outside their homes in response to COVID-19, many organizations are looking to the cloud to create a new generation of engaging digital experiences that customers can access right from their personal screens. This is especially important for the automotive industry, where prospective buyers and fans are used to interacting with vehicles in-person at auto shows and the dealership. 

That’s why we’ve teamed up with Unreal Engine, the open and advanced real-time 3D creation game engine, and NVIDIA, inventor of the GPU, to launch new virtual showroom experiences for automakers. Taking advantage of the NVIDIA RTX platform on Google Cloud, these showrooms provide interactive 3D experiences, photorealistic materials and environments, and up to 4K cloud streaming on mobile and connected devices. The showroom solution runs on the NVIDIA T4 Tensor Core GPU on Google Cloud instance of a Quadro Virtual Workstation, enabling the latest advancements in computer graphics.

Today, in collaboration with MHP, the Porsche IT consulting firm, and MONKEYWAY, a real-time 3D streaming solution provider, you can see our first virtual showroom, the Pagani Immersive Experience Platform, created for Italian Luxury Hypercar manufacturer Pagani Automobili—with many more to come.

Each virtual showroom offers granular personalization options, and real-time ray tracing, or light ray simulation, sets all-new visual benchmarks for this medium. 

Within the virtual showroom, viewers have a highly customizable experience, with the ability to select dozens of different interior and exterior design features—from paint color to wheel anodization to interior finish, and more. 

Viewers can also explore cars through an expansive cinematic 3D experience, powered by NVIDIA RTX real-time ray-tracing technology in Unreal Engine. Each showroom can support thousands of concurrent users worldwide, thanks to the scalability of Google Cloud.  

Specifically within the Pagani Immersive Experience Platform, viewers can customize the hypercar’s unique details, including a wide selection of tinted exposed carbon fibre options, stripes patterns, wheels, brake calipers, interior leather and stitching, instrument cluster’s dials and luggage set. Users can animate car features, including opening doors, rolling down windows, and removing the hardtop. In addition to changing time settings from day or night, there are four unique physical environments, including salt flats, a museum, a coastal road, and the exclusive showroom at the Pagani Automobili headquarters. And once you’ve perfectly custom configured your car, take it for a virtual drive on a real race track.

“The Pagani virtual showroom is a glimpse at the future of online retail environments,” said Marc Petit, VP, General Manager, Unreal Engine, Epic Games. “The use of Unreal Engine pixel streaming and ray tracing in the cloud delivers an experience that is photorealistic, interactive, and personalized—and can reach customers with the highest level of quality on any type of device.” 

“These showrooms will be a game-changer for how consumers interact with their favorite products online, especially now during a pandemic,” said Sean Young, Director of Global Business Development, Manufacturing at NVIDIA. “Automakers can offer more personalized previews while potential buyers no longer have to wait in lines or worry about large crowds at physical showrooms. Most importantly, customers can interact with and customize a virtual car model at their leisure, any time of the day, and from any location.”

“We’re always looking for new ways to engage and delight our clients, and today we are very proud to be able to extend this opportunity to our largest fan base, offering them a new insight into the Pagani products,” said Carlo Stola, Customer Relations Manager at Pagani. “Working with MHP, Google Cloud, Unreal Engine, and NVIDIA has enabled us to provide an even more sophisticated, yet incredibly simple, customization experience, and to show off our models’ state-of-the-art features.” 

Although we’ve started with the automotive industry, our goal is to expand these showroom experiences into other industries as well, such as retail, hospitality, and more. In the meantime, check out the virtual showroom here. Automakers interested in launching a virtual showroom can get started by engaging with the Google Cloud sales team.