Australian car insurance company NRMA Insurance is using the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) headset to help promote road safety. Visitors to a new exhibit at Sydney’s CBD can strap on a headset and experience a realistic car crash as if they were a real life crash test dummy.

Image courtesy of Computerworld Australia

As Computerworld Australia reports, the display is part of the Crashed Car Showroom, which is running up until 27th March. Users sit in a real car that’s linked to a hydrualic system. After pulling the headset over their eyes, the car moves in sync with a 3D simulation in which the user can turn his head to look around. The simulation, which is developed using the Unity engine, ends in a crash. A PC rig running the simulation sits inside the back seat.

While it’s not the first time the Oculus Rift has been used for simulation, its certainly one of the first uses of it being used to promoted safety. Other projects that use the device in unique ways include a robotic, remote-controlled police officer currently in development in the states. VRFocus will continue to track any and all applications of the Oculus Rift and report back with all the latest.