Alibaba, in collaboration with Chinese automaker SAIC, launched its first smart car last year. The Chinese company has recently invested a whopping $18 million in WayRay, a company that makes holographic navigation systems.
According to a report by Tech Crunch, the Chinese Internet and e-commerce behemoth wants to dig deeper into the automobile industry. After recently launching the RX5 smart car just last year, the company wants more. As a consequence, it is now the lead investor in WayRay's Series B round.
The Alibaba-SAIC RX5 had a starting price tag of $22,300 and allegedly saw deliveries last August. The collaboration between the two Chinese companies saw a combined $160 million capital for the 50-50 project. However, there are currently no available reports or reviews about the vehicle.
WayRay is a Swiss company that was founded in 2012. It was founded by Vitaly Ponomarev and aims to develop next generation augmented reality consumer electronic products for the automotive industry. The company has already spent $10 million of its own capital for the technology that underpins Navion, an augmented-reality holographic dashboard. This AR dash overlays directions and other information directly on to the driver's view of the road. The Swiss company would like to officially launch a consumer version in 2017.
The Tech Portal has also reported that the company has also partnered up with Banma Technologies to build the AR navigation and infotainment system. This new connected car is once again another joint venture between Alibaba-SAIC. The whole package for connected cars will hopefully launch in 2018.
The Chinese company believes that smart cars with holographic navigation displays are the future of mobility. Seeing huge potential in AR, the company wholeheartedly believes that it is a promising and exciting area to focus on. Hopefully, 2018 will see the new car launched by Banma Technologies complete with a holographic AR dashboard display.
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