A research team led by Professor Kim Seung-jun of the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) Department of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Convergence said on the 29th that it developed a technology that makes Virtual Reality (VR) experiences more lifelike using only systems already installed in vehicles.
The "AttraCar" platform developed by the team uses existing in-vehicle devices as multisensory feedback devices. Without separate helmets or external devices, it precisely matches wind, temperature, and seat motion to the on-screen scenes, boosting VR immersion and reducing motion sickness.
The team first tested how sensitive people are to wind intensity, seat motion, and temperature changes. As a result, people could clearly perceive differences at changes of 0.34 meters per second for wind, 1.75 millimeters for seat motion, and 7.2 degrees and 4.4 degrees for heating and cooling, respectively.
Based on these data, the team conducted combined wind, seat motion, and temperature experiments in real driving environments. The evaluation showed that when wind and seat motion operated together, motion sickness decreased and immersion and tactile experience improved significantly. In particular, the condition combining hot air and seat motion provided the most vivid experience.
Performance was strong on the technical side as well. The time between the stimulus signal input and the vehicle's response averaged only 0.06 seconds, and the time to reach the heating and cooling target temperatures was about 4 to 5 seconds, synchronizing naturally with on-screen events. It also met safety standards by integrating while keeping the existing vehicle control systems intact.
Professor Kim said, "Because we can provide multisensory feedback to occupants using only existing in-vehicle devices, the VR experience has become much more immersive and vivid," and noted, "This study is a case that proves the potential of in-vehicle VR technology and the improvement of user experience."
The results were presented earlier this month at ACM UIST 2025, an international conference on human-computer interaction, and IEEE ISMAR 2025, a leading international conference in computer engineering.