Time for VR to make a comeback?
Discussion
Remember the old 90's VR arcade machines? For a quid don the goggles, grab the controller and spend five minutes in a terrible virtual game of your choice?
They crashed and burned mainly through sheer cost, and perhaps because IMHO they were ahead of their time. The graphics and hardware just couldnt keep up with the promises.
I was looking at the 360 running a game of Medal of Honour (or whichever WW2 FPS was 360 released) and started thinking about a VR comeback.
Couple the graphics of the 360 (will get one hell of a lot better over the lifecycle of the machine and they are impressive now) with a controller such as the revolution's proposed "tilt / motion sensor" and throw in some High Def goggles with a tilt / motion sensor.
The programming would be relatively trivial and the results spectacular if done correctly and far more immersive than the old 90's crap.
Doom 3 in VR could be interesting... FPS games seem almost tailor made for this sort of thing...
Could this be the hidden suprise of the forthcoming Nintendo Revolution? Given the tilt / motion sensitive controllers?
So VR - Dead or merely sleeping?
They crashed and burned mainly through sheer cost, and perhaps because IMHO they were ahead of their time. The graphics and hardware just couldnt keep up with the promises.
I was looking at the 360 running a game of Medal of Honour (or whichever WW2 FPS was 360 released) and started thinking about a VR comeback.
Couple the graphics of the 360 (will get one hell of a lot better over the lifecycle of the machine and they are impressive now) with a controller such as the revolution's proposed "tilt / motion sensor" and throw in some High Def goggles with a tilt / motion sensor.
The programming would be relatively trivial and the results spectacular if done correctly and far more immersive than the old 90's crap.
Doom 3 in VR could be interesting... FPS games seem almost tailor made for this sort of thing...
Could this be the hidden suprise of the forthcoming Nintendo Revolution? Given the tilt / motion sensitive controllers?
So VR - Dead or merely sleeping?
Sleeping I reckon - I had this chat with a mate the other day. When you can get the quality that an x-box offers for £300, we can't be that far off some sort of total immersion technology.
I remember though that one of the failings of the VR machines was that they gave people motion sickness....
I remember though that one of the failings of the VR machines was that they gave people motion sickness....
And also the fact that the headgear gave everyone neck injuries 
I'm sure VR is sleeping, but i cant see it really taking off until you it allows you more freedom to move with the gear on i.e. not held in a cage, and have faster eye/hand response. I always remember VR being way behind what you did in real life...
It would be awesome to play battlefield 2 in vr, be a great way to get fit if you could actually run about in a room or something - bit like a virual quazar or something
I'm sure VR is sleeping, but i cant see it really taking off until you it allows you more freedom to move with the gear on i.e. not held in a cage, and have faster eye/hand response. I always remember VR being way behind what you did in real life...
It would be awesome to play battlefield 2 in vr, be a great way to get fit if you could actually run about in a room or something - bit like a virual quazar or something
I think the size of the headgear was down to the fact that the screens were CRTs - modern day would of course use TFT or similar.
Reaction time would be down to a lack of processing power I think - not enough updates per second and all that malarky.
A modern day equivalent with the same sort of money invested would probably be a killer ap - but as you say the input side of things is where it falls down - helmet + joypad seems to me to lack something, but what do you replace the joypad with...
What we need is a direct cortical interface so we can live in a virtual world, not that I read a lot of sci-fi or anyhting. Read Richard Morgan's books if you are interested, he's got a great take on that stuff.
Reaction time would be down to a lack of processing power I think - not enough updates per second and all that malarky.
A modern day equivalent with the same sort of money invested would probably be a killer ap - but as you say the input side of things is where it falls down - helmet + joypad seems to me to lack something, but what do you replace the joypad with...
What we need is a direct cortical interface so we can live in a virtual world, not that I read a lot of sci-fi or anyhting. Read Richard Morgan's books if you are interested, he's got a great take on that stuff.
lol there was a film on not to go where this bird plugged in what looked like a dead squid into her lower spine and went into a virtual game.... bit too random for my liking to be honest !!!
I think some sort of neoprene glove system with perhaps a mock gun or something would server well for fps, mock wheel and seat for racers etc. A lot of it is sound and vision though, if you can feel like you arent wearing headgear and the sounds good enough to give you a sense of what is where then thats a major hurdle dispensed with....
I think some sort of neoprene glove system with perhaps a mock gun or something would server well for fps, mock wheel and seat for racers etc. A lot of it is sound and vision though, if you can feel like you arent wearing headgear and the sounds good enough to give you a sense of what is where then thats a major hurdle dispensed with....
it does actually work at the mo, but only in certain types of 'game'.
every year, i have to do a qualification shoot, in what is called the SAT (small arms trainer) basically, its a hightech version of virtua cop. now if you got that setup, with some sort of iMAX projecter it could work.
if you suspended the player in a harness, and placed a giant trackerball at there feet, you could get an FPS working. if you could get TFT or LCD goggles working in a headset, you could solve the headache/motionsickness problem.
the only problem i can see, is getting this type of rig to be profitable at 10p a throw
every year, i have to do a qualification shoot, in what is called the SAT (small arms trainer) basically, its a hightech version of virtua cop. now if you got that setup, with some sort of iMAX projecter it could work.
if you suspended the player in a harness, and placed a giant trackerball at there feet, you could get an FPS working. if you could get TFT or LCD goggles working in a headset, you could solve the headache/motionsickness problem.
the only problem i can see, is getting this type of rig to be profitable at 10p a throw
I am laughing so much at the idea of a person suspended on top of a trackball!
reminds me of this!
www.conceptlab.com/control/
reminds me of this!
www.conceptlab.com/control/
Track IR is sort of halfway there I suppose, a helmet that you wear would be good, make say a pilot helmet and a racing style helmet and you have a couple of markets covered.
www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/
www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/
I just cant see myself playing Call Of Duty with the kids of today, diving for cover behind the couch, dropping to my belly, getting up to run, crouching, diving for the cover of a virtual barrel - Its easier just slouching on the couch, stuffing myself with pizza and beer whilst twiddling my thumbs.
Just the opinion of this 30 year old gamer. If more girls played (and came round to do so) I might change my mind. Especially if a team game like Ghost Recon was VR compatible
Just the opinion of this 30 year old gamer. If more girls played (and came round to do so) I might change my mind. Especially if a team game like Ghost Recon was VR compatible
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