Author: Mr. Yu

Recently, Volvo has established a new cross-industry partnership with the globally renowned game company, Epic Games. The two parties will embark on a series of collaborations in the automotive field.

One of Epic Games’ most competitive products, the renowned game development engine – Unreal Engine, will be applied to Volvo’s upcoming next-generation flagship pure electric vehicle. Through the use of realistic visual technology, it will provide Volvo’s digital cockpit with lifelike visual effects.

As a result, Volvo will also become the first European automaker to use Unreal Engine to develop HMI interfaces. Volvo plans to utilize Unreal Engine’s graphic functions for the first time in its next-generation flagship pure electric vehicle, which will be unveiled by the end of 2022.

Who’s Epic Games?

When referring to game developers in English, the term “game developer” is commonly used. When translated into Chinese, it often becomes “游戏开发者”. Without relevant knowledge, it may sound like a small team or workshop.

In the gaming industry, Epic Games is one of the most powerful players, with achievements that include:

• In 1998, the first-person shooting game “Unreal”, based on the first generation of Unreal Engine, received a score of 8.4/10 from authoritative gaming website, Gamespot, and a score of 9/10 from IGN. That year, the industry landmark game “Half-Life” was also released.

• As Unreal Engine evolved to its fifth generation today, its relatively low entry barrier and high-level image effects have attracted many game developers from both renowned game companies and newcomers in the industry.

• Established the Epic Games digital game platform, by means of tough tactics and many platform-exclusive products, Epic Games has carved out its own share from Steam’s global digital game dominance.

• Developed and operated the world’s most popular “battle royale” competitive shooting game, “Fortnite”. With unique and enjoyable gameplay, frequent crossovers with renowned cultural IPs, and superb operational capabilities, it has become one of the world’s most popular online games over the past few years.

In fact, the Unreal Engine developed by Epic Games can be applied not only to the gaming industry but also to various other industries as an advanced real-time 3D creation tool. In cooperation with Epic Games, Volvo Cars plans to use this tool to develop digital cockpit interfaces and real-time image rendering.

Executive Interview: Volvo Cars + Epic Games=?

Invited by Volvo, GeekCar and several media colleagues conducted a group interview with Thomas Stovicek, responsible for user experience and interaction design business at Volvo Cars. The following is a transcript of the interview:

Mr. Yu @ GeekCar:

When did the cooperation between the two sides begin? When did Volvo choose the Unreal Engine or decide to cooperate with Epic Games?

Thomas Stovicek:

Epic Games and Volvo have been in close discussions for several years, and our colleagues are actively exploring various topics with Epic. We believe that cooperation between the two sides is crucial. Recently, we decided to further apply Epic’s Unreal Engine technology to Volvo’s next generation of electric vehicle models. At the same time, we hope to further integrate Epic’s development tools and Volvo’s customer needs in the design and development process, combining the two to provide customers with better and more complete experiences.

Mr. Yu @ GeekCar:

In China, we have seen some industry cases from game developers, such as VR track simulators, personalized car buying systems based on AR, concept virtual cockpits, and digital twin workshops. What do you think of the prospects of game developers entering the automotive industry? Are there any difficulties that need to be overcome?

Thomas Stovicek:

First, Epic can provide further support to us on many technical levels, such as richer experiences and information on the human-machine interface. At the same time, Epic has its own development tools to provide designers and developers with the ability to iterate quickly and work closely together.>We also see many opportunities and great ideas for further exploration between the two parties in the future, providing better solutions to customers. The challenges and difficulties faced by the game or game technology are very similar to those in the automotive field. For example, in the process of playing video games, many players need rich and rapid immersive experiences and environments to play the game better. In the automotive industry, we have the same demands, such as using this kind of technology to better implement the human-machine interface in the automotive industry and better interact with car owners and passengers.

In addition, we need to ensure that we provide better information to users during the driving process to help them make better decisions and ensure a safer driving environment. We are also exploring more cooperation with Epic. We believe that it is not a specific challenge or problem, but we are developing the right technology for customers and consumers at the right stage to meet their various customer experience needs. For example, 3D images, which are a set of tools that we need throughout the driving process, can provide drivers with a better experience. In the future, we will further explore more content related to AR and VR.

Mr.Yu@GeekCar:

We noticed that Volvo has introduced many non-traditional supply chain roles in car design and production, such as this collaboration with Epic Games. What prompted Volvo to make such decisions in recent years?

Thomas Stovicek:

For many years, Volvo has been striving to find the right technology partners to further develop our models and give them more new features and capabilities. These non-traditional suppliers, such as Epic Games, can help us better enrich the customer experience. During the entire product development process and addressing pain points in customer experience, the technologies and tools developed by Epic can meet these needs. At the same time, Epic is also an industry leader in providing rich, rapid and immersive in-car visual effects. Therefore, we can fully integrate their realistic visual effect technology with the design of the entire automotive product and the functional knowledge of the vehicle, so as to further optimize the customer experience.

The new visual effect of HMI created by the Unreal Engine is worth looking forward to.In this collaboration, Volvo focuses its development efforts on the Driver Information Module (DIM) that provides information and entertainment system features for the driver. With the support of the Unreal Engine, the next generation of Volvo vehicles’ displays will exhibit clearer image rendering, richer colors, and new 3D animation effects that are even more impressive and cool for the users.

On Volvo’s next-generation vehicles, the Unreal Engine will combine with the high-performance computing power of the third-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon Digital Cockpit platform to set new benchmarks in image generation and information entertainment system performance. The speed of Volvo’s next-generation infotainment system will be more than two times faster, and the image generation and processing speed in the cockpit will increase by 10 times.

Henrik Green, Chief Product Officer of Volvo Cars, said, “To provide better user services and promote a safer, personalized driving experience, we need rich, immersive, and responsive visual effects within the car. Applying the Unreal Engine in the product development process helps us achieve this goal and provide users with a more enjoyable in-car experience.”

Heiko Wenczel, Director of the Human-Machine Interface at Epic Games’ Unreal Engine Automotive Division, said, “Introducing real-time interactive high-resolution images into the digital cockpit is like opening a new door for the car’s occupants, greatly expanding the ways users receive information and interact with entertainment. Volvo’s talented design and product development team seized this opportunity and will use the Unreal Engine to continuously introduce more exciting new features to consumers.”

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.