Experience the Baja 1000 Through Toyota’s(R) Virtual Precision Motion Simulator

This year brace yourself for a new way to “test drive” a vehicle. Digital Tech Frontier, Inc. (DTF), a leader and pioneer in the custom design, development and delivery of virtual reality systems and simulators for Fortune 100 companies, has designed a custom virtual reality motion simulator for Toyota(R). The ground breaking product, named Precision Motion Simulator(TM) is designed to allow participants to experience and endure a portion of the 673 rugged miles of the unforgiving “off-road” experience of the Baja 1000.

The Baja 1000 simulator was fueled by Toyota’s desire to demonstrate the impressive durability and performance of the new 4Runner(R) virtually, without customers having to take the vehicle on an off-road test drive.

Toyota’s Precision Motion Simulator premiered at the Daytona 500 Toyota Pit Pass(R) event, providing consumers with the opportunity to sit and experience firsthand, through the senses of the driver, what it was like to take the new 4Runner off-road for an unforgettable drive down through Baja, Mexico as a participant in the Baja 1000. The new Toyota Precision Motion Simulator is currently making stops at 21 other races across the United States.

“We’re honored to be able to develop a one-of-a-kind experience for one of the largest automakers in the world,” said Scott Jochim, Creative Director at Digital Tech Frontier. “The 4Runner is known not only for its overall durability but built for offroad, and it was a challenge to translate all of the emotion and feeling associated with driving it into a virtual experience. But what a perfect opportunity to build an experiential motion product that delivered precision motion and a stunning visual experience that everyone could enjoy — all augmented with the incredibly recognizable and resonant Toyota brand.”

The three seat motion simulator is a state-of-the-art, futuristic medium presenting the ultimate driver experience through the use of virtual reality, wide screen, personal, head-mounted display systems — creating a highly immersive and stimulating experience for users. This is the first sophisticated virtual reality motion system that physically moves and lifts the seat occupants horizontally and vertically with up to 2G’s of precise acceleration and torque to accurately simulate the Baja 1000. The Precision Motion Simulator will allow its users to see what it is like to traverse the various types of terrain — from rock walls to jumps to mud to water — from the comfort of any Toyota Pit Pass location at NASCAR(R) races across the country. Users will actually see, feel, and hear in precise synchronization, as they physically experience accelerations, turns, jumps and levitation, so they become fully immersed in the Baja 1000 journey.

Toyota EMCEE Display Coordinator Clint Baillie was one of the first to try the new Precision Motion Simulator and exclaimed, “The fans loved it. It was very realistic and not at all like a video game. With the Precision Motion Simulator, the user is viewing the real, adrenaline-saturated footage taken by helmet cameras, helicopters, and several car mounted cameras that the team at Digital Tech Frontier motion coded to provide the most realistic ride I’ve ever seen.”

This is the first of many simulators that Toyota hopes to use to educate and excite customers into test driving actual models.

About Digital Tech Frontier

Phoenix-based Digital Tech Frontier (DTF) is an industry leader and pioneer in the custom design, development and delivery of virtual reality systems and simulators for the entertainment, training, medical and education markets. DTF has created immersive virtual reality environments for numerous national corporate customers
including: Disney, AT&T, Honeywell, Hyatt Regency, 21st Century Fox, Nokia Communications, ServiceMaster, Exxon, Budweiser, Thompson Newspapers, Allstate Insurance, Chase Bank and IBM. Founded in 1996, DTF’s innovative technologies have been featured in Business Week, Popular Science, Time, and Wired magazine. Visit us at www.digitaltechfrontier.com.