Intel and Warner Bros. Dive Into Emerging Driverless Vehicle Entertainment Market
It's not just car manufacturers and chip makers that are teaming up for the race to a commercially viable self-driving car. The entertainment industry is getting in the action, too, starting with Warner Bros. and Intel who will highlight the new market at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show.
It's a captive audience in every sense of the word, as Deadline notes. Future passengers who have little else to do while their car drives them around unassisted is the future wave of entertainment, as Intel and Warner Bros. are trying to establish this early.
The CPU maker has earlier announced its partnership with Warner Bros. to design and develop entertainment well suited for autonomous vehicles (AVs). This project, called AV Entertainment Experience, is being thought of as an immersive experience that goes past screens and into the whole cabins of future vehicles.
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich anticipates that the adoption of AV will give rise to a huge segment of viewers. "As passengers shift from being drivers to riders, their connected-device time, including video-viewing time, will increase," he explained.
He added that the average adult in the U.S. already spends more than 300 hours per year driving, which makes the American driving segment a huge chunk of potential video-viewing content consumers when self-driving cars become widespread.
Intel also has a stake in the direct development of AV hardware, especially when it acquired Israel-based computer vision company Mobileye in an acquisition deal worth around $15.3 billion.
It's not just shows, too, as the project combines TV format shows and movies with games and even virtual reality.
"For example, a fan of the superhero Batman could enjoy riding in the Batmobile through the streets of Gotham City, while AR capabilities render the car a literal lens to the outside world," Krzanich described a scenario in his editorial post.
