The rise of the “escape room” has been incredible. Teams of people all over the world are now regularly battling zombies, embarking on real-life Legend of Zelda adventures or playing armchair detective via Facebook Live in fun, safe but wholly manufactured environments. The concept has become so popular that even major car makers have decided to get in on the act. Audi, for example, wanted to highlight the benefits of its all-electric E-Tron line, so it built a experience that basically presents all its future technology to the public.
The e-tron room is a collaboration between Audi and marketing agency DDB Spain. Teams of between three and five people are transported into the office of a doctor who has disappeared and are tasked with discovering where he can be found.
Puzzles don’t require things like secret parchments and keys found in traditional escape rooms, but instead feature robotic arms, holograms, projection mapping and advanced mechanics. It certainly makes Audi’s escape room experience unique but also serves as marketing tool to show where cars are heading in the next decade.
(The e-tron room website is also worth checking out, as perhaps you’ll be able to figure out what the spinny laser diamond is supposed to do. We here at Autoblog definitely couldn’t).
The room opened its doors in Barcelona on Oct. 7 and will remain open, admission-free, until Oct. 26. After that, it’ll move to Madrid, where it’ll welcome challengers from Nov. 9 to Nov. 10.
