DIY Mechanic Shows How Augmented Reality Can Help Under the Hood

Ever been bent under your car’s hood, fiddling with your phone or laptop trying to follow a YouTube tutorial in order to change a well-hidden set of spark plugs or a broken distributor cap ? Then you know how good of a multitasker you have to be. TikTok user @bstegmedia recently posted a video of himself working on his car using an augmented reality headset. Through this Meta Quest 3 unit, he was able to display three browser windows, two of which contain a YouTube video tutorial, as well as what seems to be a car forum thread seemingly explaining what repairs are needed to be done.

We don’t know if the guy is actually working on the vehicle or if this is only a simulation to show off the new toy, but we have to admit that it all looks pretty neat. The idea of having a hands-free solution to be able to simultaneously wrench and follow instructions is a pretty good one, and it could be a breakthrough digital technology for DIY technicians.

Back in 2021, Mercedes-Benz had introduced this type of technology in many of its dealerships in order to support technicians looking for virtual help when conducting diagnostics.

Comments from skeptical viewers abound under this video, however. Some of them think that the resolution on the Meta Quest 3 unit isn’t good enough for this type of application, others just point out that the whole thing is useless and the good old iPhone flat on the airbox works fine.

Either way, virtual reality and augmented reality can bring a new dimension to car stuff.

Watch here:

@bstegmedia This is the next big leap in tech. Just wait till it's the size of regular sunglasses 😉 #cartok #carsoftiktok #fyp #virtualreality #vr #metaquest3 ♬ prolly my spookiest beat (slowed + reverb) - prodby668
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