Volvo and Epic Games have established a partnership whereby the auto manufacturer will use the capabilities of the Unreal Engine in its cars. The Swedish company said it will work with Fortnite developers to bring “photorealistic information visualization” to electric vehicles.
At the heart of Volvo’s partnership with Epic Games there is the “human-machine interface” (HMI), a term for all situations where the user interacts with the vehicle software. Epic Games will help build a platform that the Swedish firm’s engineers will use to improve HMI while maintaining security.
“To offer our customers the best possible user experience and contribute to safe and personal driving, we need a rich, engaging and responsive visualization inside our cars,” said Henrik Green, Volvo Car’s chief product officers. “Running Unreal Engine in our cars allows for this and makes spending time inside a Volvo even more enjoyable.”
Volvo intends to use the Unreal Engine to, for example, display a map without distracting the driver. The Epic tool, used in the games, will not only be used for navigation, but will also provide information on the status of the battery or images from radar and cameras. Unreal Engine is one of the most popular game engines, dating back to 1998.
Volvo with Unreal Engine aims to produce safer vehicles
According to the manufacturer, the next generation of Volvo vehicles should show high quality graphics: sharper objects, more vivid colors and brand new 3D animations. For hardware, Volvo will rely on Snapdragon platforms third-generation Qualcomm. The new infotainment systems are said to operate at more than twice the speed of their direct predecessors thanks largely to GPU performance.
In Volvo’s intentions, they aim to be the leading manufacturer in this sector. The first model is Volvo’s new flagship electric vehicle based on the Unreal Engine, which will be unveiled later this year. By 2030, the Swedish company intends to completely switch to a purely electric fleet and stop offering combustion engines. Volvo sees the potential of the Unreal Engine in other areas as well. The possibilities are still being studied, always taking into account the highest safety criteria.