Porsche Invests in Swiss Augmented Reality Start-Up WayRay

New technology could allow Porsche to offer a state-of-the-art heads-up system on the road or track.

WayRay is a technology start-up based in Zurich, Switzerland that has engineered a holographic Augmented Reality navigation system and the company’s newest partial owner is Porsche. The automaker has invested $80 million US dollars into the augmented reality company and when look at the products being developed, it isn’t hard to see how the sport-luxury brand could benefit from this technology.

“The team at WayRay has unique technical expertise, with its employees having backgrounds in aerospace, hardware and software development. WayRay’s innovative ideas and products have proven to have enormous potential. We are convinced that by joining forces with WayRay we will in future be able to offer our customers solutions to the usual standard expected of Porsche. That is why we have opted to make a strategic investment”, says Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board and Member of the Executive Board for Finance and IT at Porsche.

WayRay Technology

WayRay is headquartered in Zurich, but the company has officers in Russia, China and the United States, with over 250 employees globally. Over the past few years, WayRay has been working on a component heads-up navigation system that could be installed in any vehicle and moved from vehicle to vehicle. As you can see in the images here and the videos below, the WayRay holographic Augmented Reality system can project just about anything on the windshield of the vehicle, from navigation directions and vehicle speed on a public road to a track map, vehicle telemetry and best-line on a race track.

“As a deep-tech company, we are committed to creating fundamental innovations that bring us far beyond holographic Augmented Reality displays and new interfaces. A growing number of projects with carmakers and strong investors like Porsche are fueling the company’s growth and boosting our confidence in implementing complex innovations”, says Vitaly Ponomarev, Founder and CEO of WayRay.

Porsche Applications

Based on the videos and images shown here, WayRay technology could prove to be the perfect fit in Porsche vehicles. For the Cayenne or Panamera driver using an elaborate on-road heads-up system with navigation, this system looks to be more comprehensive than anything on the market. For those 911 or Cayman driver who spends time at the track, this system could include all sorts of lap information, including timing, a track map and a virtual best line.

Basically, WayRay is looking to make the navigation technology that video game players enjoy into the real world and based on the images and videos from the company, this technology is closer than we might think. With this investment, Porsche could work with WayRay to offer the coolest navigation system on the market today, offering information that was previously only capable in video games.

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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