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VirtuSphere Immersive Virtual Reality
mhzse writes "VirtuSphere provides a mechanical basis for truly immersive virtual reality environments, permitting the user to move about in virtual space by simply walking. The device consists of a large hollow sphere which is mounted on a specially designed platform that allows the sphere to rotate freely as the user walks in any direction. The user wears a head-mounted display, which provides the virtual environment.
http://graphics.cs.ucf.edu/MAR-Sumant/index.php
mixed reality is something that allows people to actually interact with an environment in the real and virtual world. they use it for a lot of military simulators as well as a wide variety of other applications. plus it doesnt require the ball from American Gladiators.
Yes, but it seems it wouldn't be able to accurately give the sensation of walking on level ground, because the edge of the ball has to turn upward and you have to put your weight against it to get the ball to turn at all. They should work on that before they try uphill and downhill effects.
...kinda cool I suppose. Does limit the sorts of thing you can walk on - pretty difficult to simulate stairs, for example.
:)
I always though that some sort of moving tile system with lots of small, tilting variable height tiles would work pretty well for simulating walking on undulating terrain, as well as being able to cover stairs etc.
Maybe a large spherical room with walls covered in shifting variable tiles of this sort, that way you could have overhangs etc as well. Go rock climbing up a virtual Eiger, with only a few feet to fall if you slip
Game dev and music blog
Its been a while, but when I was younger (like 20, i'm 29 now ;)) I pondered on a "real life Doom" technique. The way I saw it, after countless hours of Doom level editing, is to make it just the way Doom made it. With heightmaps.
I know it would be hard and probably not pratical but... You take a big warehouse, rig the floor and ceiling with 6' high wooden or plastic rod. Each rod is controlled by pneumatic (or whatever) to raise (in the case of the floor rod) or lower (for the ceiling one) and they meet in the middle (assuming a 12' space between the rods)
Anyone that made Doom levels will know how that would work. One could create any kind of levels, provided you keep the stairs to a minimum. But you can have Doom like doors (that open like in the game), window, walls and stairs.
Mix that with a VR helmet so that the user can see a gun, textured walls and ennemies instead of rods, and you have yourself a real life Doom. Reflective patches on the rod coupled with IR on the helmet could even be used to track if the player crouch or jump (god forbid)
It would not work for space infinite levels, but it would be great for hi-tech paintballs games. You'd have infinite maze for the players to play into.