The latest mobility innovations from the IFA tech show

Innovations at IFA have been many. From VR Goggles to virtual reality bumper cars to Cargo Bikes etc.

Berlin, Germany: Coronavirus may have shut down funfairs and adventure parks around the world. But when they reopen, it might be time to try out virtual reality bumper cars.

• The Nuremberg-based Spree Interactive has developed VR goggles that can be fitted to the bumper cars to create a whole new funfair experience.

"When you are in the virtual world, your position is also sent to the system. Then we can also see where other players are," says Martin Dencker, CEO Spree Interactive. "So, when you bump into someone else with the car, then you have the effect in the game as well as in reality."

• The key to the system is the positioning system in the VR goggles, developed by the German research organization Fraunhofer Institute.
• Spree Interactive has also fitted the goggles to go-carts.
• The products are aimed at shopping centres that want to add a children's area or fun fairs that want a high tech twist on traditional attractions.
• But the goggles and cars can also be bought individually.

However, the company is not advertising a price at this point.

"Both of the products are available directly to consumers, both the bumper car and the go-cart. But, with the technology, the games, the VR goggles, we have also been able to bring it to the market in some shopping malls and adventure parks. We are ready to expand from Bayern to the rest of the world," says Dencker.

The bumper cars are a part of the IFA SHIFT area, a mobility segment of the consumer electronics show IFA in Berlin.

The show opened despite the virus pandemic on Thursday September 3 with strict hygiene rules.

• Another player in the mobility sector is the German company Sigo which has developed electric shared cargo bikes.
• The cargo bikes work in much the same way as other bike sharing schemes: use an app to open the station, ride the bike and then return it.
• The Sigo bikes cost 1.50 euro per 30 minutes.

"You need a cargo bike in the city. You can replace a car with it. You can transport the children; you can transport the shopping. And who buys a cargo bike? You will only need it two times a week. That's why you don't need one, you can just rent one," says Edin Zekanovic, CEO of Sigo

The company is currently running trials in Darmstadt in Germany, before expanding to other cities.

• Okai is a mobility company that many people see daily but never knew existed.
• The Chinese mobility company makes products for shared electric scooter schemes like Bird, Voi and Tier.
• But at IFA the company is showing its own product marketed directly to consumers - a foldable electric scooter.
• The Okai ES 500 has a 30-kilometer battery life and a top speed of 28 km/h.
• The ES500 will be available later this year, but the company has not announced a price.

Tony Guenther, marketing manager US and Europe for Okai, says that the market is ready for consumers to move on from shared scooters to their own devices.

"The problem is that the sharing scooters is that they are not 100 percent available. Sometimes you have to walk for a few hundred meters and then there might not be any there," he says."And, with my own device, that I know fully, will always be available when I need it. So, that's why I think it's a good idea for us to start making end-consumer products."

IFA electronics trade show is set to continue till Saturday, September 5.

The annual Berlin trade fair is going ahead, despite a rise in the number of daily new COVID-19 infections across Germany.

(AP)