Carrera Virtual Slot

[kidvoltage]

[JamieB]

I understand Carrera wanting to jump on the FPV trend/fad/future but I just don't see how this will make racing slot cars better or more fun. Will you have side mirror cameras to look before changing lanes or a rear view camera so you can look behind you to block a competitor, or to get out of the way of leaders coming to lap you? I think FPV is amazing for quadcopter/drone racing and maybe even has its place in RC boats/trucks/cars, but I'm just not seeing it work for slot cars.

[BARC 1]

Ya, I just don’t see this working. If you are going this far to get inside a slot car, put on the PlayStation VR and drive a real car simulator

[Cincyslots]

I see this as being more of a camera car than a VR car. At least for my use.

Bruce

[Jesla]

I'd rather just take the 'stang out for a track day run at VIR than use any VR gizmo...

[F1Fan]

Well done Carrera, I for one applaud your efforts to try and give the slot car hobby a broader and wider appeal.

The fact is that Carrera and other slot car companies competes against many other interest for time and money in the "play-time" and "play-budget" space. The fact is that slot cars and slot car tracks do not currently list high on the "must have" items for the Gen Z and it is more likely to be seen as a hobby that "my dad" or "my grandpa" once took part in.

If Carrera succeeds in marrying the reality of actual cars with the virtual world of being in that car, it could broaden the audience and the market. This could also open the market for others, to build on this and capture a piece of the action and drive development. Not unlike Fly drove the scale accuracy of slot cars that ran on Scalextric or SCX tracks, and not unlike the way Slot.It improved on the engineering of RTR slot cars. There would have been no significant market for Slot.It or Fly if it was not for the likes of Scalextric that sold miles of plastic track for these cars to race on.

Earlier this year I saw K'nex with a new product that allows you to "ride" the rollercoaster that you built with a VR headset and a camera in the car. Again a company trying to stretch their product lifespan and market. Lego has done an amazing job with their Duplo, Lego, Lego Architecture and Technic lines of products that almost take their clients from cradle to grave. Digital slot cars has been an attempt to broaden the appeal, the VR world could take this a few steps further.

Combining traditional toys with modern and updated technology is perhaps outside the comfort zone of some, but I think it is a must if the category wants to survive long term. Finding the budget and having the patience to develop these new categories for the likes of Carrera will however be hard. Attracting a new kind of buyer in this space and marketing to them will be a significant challenge.

Chris

[chappy]

I agree with Chris, i think a company sometimes has to take that leap and introduce a new idea to its line. It is a very competitive market place out there and the introduction of a new aspect to the hobby may just bring in some of the later generations.. They are competi g with other slot car companies for sure, but also other hobbies for a market section. I wish them luck.
Bob

[slothead]

As a kid I'd sit downstairs for hours and imagine I could shrink myself down and fit inside my Ford GT and go racing around the track. I think Virtual Slot is an interesting development and worth doing to attract people using this technology with quad copters. I would like to see how different turning laps would be from this viewpoint compared to watching the car from the driver's station. I'm sure I'd spend hours trying to duplicate my current best lap times from inside the car.

If this scaled down to 1/32 cars, was compatible with racing on wood (no reason it shouldn't), and I could see through my windshields, I think I'd give it a try.

Slothead

[carlosinseattle]

[BARC 1]

Have any of you tried vr racing on a playstation. Very hard for me to believe the vr tech types are going to chose this over the full blown racing experience that the playstation offers. However for real slotheads this might be a cool feature especially if you have a nice scenic setup. More options I guess are not a bad thing

[Cincyslots]

It has to be better than the Fly BP camera truck!!! It was $100+ when cars were $35-$40 and you had to replace the battery before you could use it.

Bruce