Nissan embraces Microsoft Kinect for Windows to show off 2013 Pathfinder

While newer automotive technologies create faster, cleaner and better looking cars each day, it’s not all that often that you hear of a revolutionary gaming technology being reworked for wider applications around the regular auto enthusiast.

Well that is exactly what Nissan has managed to pull off by capitalizing on our fascination for controlling virtual environments through bodily gestures on gaming consoles the likes of the Xbox 360 and tweaking Microsoft’s Kinect software for Windows into an exciting campaign around its 2013 Nissan Pathfinder months before its actual launch in the US.

By using the Pathfinder Kinect Experience platform Nissan enthusiasts at sixteen dealerships around the US can experience the new SUV through a special app that allows one to digitally explore the interiors and exterior details of the car, bend down to inspect its wheels, climb inside the vehicle for a virtual experience of its interior fit and finish or simply pick a body colour of his/her choice. 

It’s an all new way of experiencing an automobile that is perhaps not even ready for series production or is months away from actually driving into a fancy glass walled showroom in town. With Nissan showing clear signs of taking its Kinect virtual showroom pilot program to as many as 1,100 dealerships around the country, it is only a matter of time before this new medium of automobile interactivity attracts and educates newer and younger buyers.

More importantly it would give auto manufacturers around the world a chance to take their customers on a virtual tour of its entire product line up, while utilizing a very low carbon footprint.