Killing Zombies In VR With the Latest Version of Project Holodeck At E3 2014

muterobert (2927951) writes with an update on the full immersion VR system from Project Holodeck (now renamed Survios). The system combines an Oculus DK2 with external sensors to make a fully immersive 8x'8' space "Ben Lang from Road to VR goes hands on and heads in with virtual reality technology company Survios' newest version of untethered VR system 'Prime 3'. He moves around the virtual space, holding and reloading weapons as you would in real life. 'At one point while playing, I was wielding the shotgun with two hands, with the table of weapons was on my right side. Several zombies were approaching and I needed a bit more fire power. I dropped the shotgun, reached over with my right hand to grab the tommy gun off the table, then virtually tossed it from my right hand to my left hand (because I'm a lefty), then pulled my pistol out of the holster with my right hand and continued to shoot both weapons.'" The article has a video, and it almost makes me think it's what being in the metaverse would be like.

Comments

cool but bulky

[Nyder]

Looks like fun, but the gear is at a nice bulky stage. lol. While the backpack probably wasn't that bad, that headgear seamed crazy.

But whatever, I want.

Re:cool but bulky

[Anonymous Coward]

Forget both of those, the equipment around is what makes the VR work, and that is going to be the killing blow for it.
Nobody wants to make huge entertainment rooms, or literally cannot afford to.

That VR with the ball or the omnidirectional moving floor will likely be far better in regards to actually getting anywhere, despite the price, simply because they are compact.
This system will (seemingly) require some external sensors dotted around in at least 3 or 4 places. I've not even checked, but likely a square so 4.
So you are, in most likely scenarios, going to have 2 towers sticking out somewhere in the middle of a room (while the other 2 are against a wall)
That is going to put off so many people. It'd be like surround sound, but annoying and sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of a room. (unless they can be placed any distance that is!)

Re:cool but bulky

[JMJimmy]

I can't say as I have any interest in VR... sure it's an experience but like Kinect it's too involved. Gaming is relaxation for me - not moving around with a stupid rig on. Give me a controller, a screen, and something comfy to sit on.

If I wanted a realistic combat sim I'd go paintballing.

Re:cool but bulky

[Anonymous Coward]

Not paintballing, airsoft. Airsoft has a much more involved and detailed MilSim community and you look a lot cooler while playing :) Word of caution... just because you know they're fake guns doesn't mean everyone else does. Be smart lol

Re:cool but bulky

[RZR_LZR]

Likely to get really immersive gaming you will need a lot of tech. I've been following this tech fairly loosely, but here's a price range for what I've seen (including this product):

1. 1. Omni motion "trackpad" -- $500 (or similar product)
2. 2. Oculus rift headset -- $350 (devkit2 pricing)
3. 3. Razer Hydra or similar -- $140 (priced from here)
4. 4. playstation move motion controller -- $70
5. 5. at least commodity laptop worth of components to power it all -- $450 (based on middle tier notebook here)
6. 6. At least basic surround sound or decent headphones -- $90 (here and here)
7. 7. A decent gaming computer ~$1500

So that brings the overall price to ~$3,100 if you don't already have a gaming box and ~$1,600 if you do. Plus the const of your living room. This is totally in price for a lot of people. It's all available in hardware form now (to varying degrees of "done").

The major problem is what you pointed out: it will eat your living room/den. These costs and tech are also only for one player and you might get interference/tracking issues with more than on person in the same room. Only people who have solo/networked gaming as their primary form of entertainment will be willing to to make this trade off (that still is a lot of people). BUT, it's super affordable from a business aspect. Take a building, divide it into sound-proofed closets. Put one of these units into each of said closets. Have a desirable set of games (could even be one a la LaserQuest) that people want to play (or with telepresence bots: virtual tourism! (project tango?)) and it's really something to get in on. You could also see it used easily in therapies, spas (walk through a beautiful garden), military training (not as good as the real thing, but decent),and whole lot more.

That said, businesses won't be willing to invest in this without content Just like 3D movies and TVs, the life and death of an entertainment technology depends on the content available to it. There are a lot of companies jumping on the VR bandwagon right now. I think there will be a good set of initial IP that launches with these products or it will integrate with previous games (Skyrim, etc.), but there has to be something that makes you throw your money at them.

Overall, it's getting cheaper, faster and better. I think within 5 years everyone will know someone who has VR in their house.

Re:cool but bulky

[JasonGoatcher]

Prototypes are always crap. The first Macbook Air was probably a shoddy piece of crap in it's first couple iterations.

!Porn

[Thanshin]

It is not porn.

As long as it keeps being not porn it won't have the required money to put one on every living room.

Someone smart and a bit rich must make the porn version of this and become much richer and famous.

(Unless someone finds a way to turn this into an exercise machine.)

Re:!Porn

[SuricouRaven]

It can be both!

Re:!Porn

[Anonymous Coward]

porn is coming: http://www.veiviev.com/news/

Re:!Porn

[Anonymous Coward]

On a previous Occulus thread here, someone posted a link to a subreddit decidated to porn for the Occulus rift, so it exists.

You dropped the shotgun??

[Kargan]

But that's the perfect anti-zombie weapon!

I'd take a shottie over a Tommy gun and offhand pistol any day.

Re:You dropped the shotgun??

[Arker]

"I'd take a shottie over a Tommy gun and offhand pistol any day."

Depending the smoothbore, I'd probably take the Tommy but I would keep the pistol tucked away as a weapon of last resort rather than waste ammo trying to fire it offhand. Is he using an aimbot?

Clip vs magazine.

[Anonymous Coward]

They need to learn the difference between the two. I hate when people use clip for magazine. It's not a clip!!

Re:Clip vs magazine.

[mythosaz]

Uh oh. We woke up the AR forum guys :)

Re:Clip vs magazine.

[HornWumpus]

I own a M1 rifle you insensitive clod. My mags are clips.

Re:Clip vs magazine.

[Mycroft-X]

No they aren't you dimwit, your magazine is in your rifle and loaded by your clips. Magazines have springs. Clips do not.

Forget Porn.

[westlake]

As long as it keeps being not porn it won't have the required money to put one on every living room.

It won't be porn that puts VR in every living room. It will be family oriented entertainment from companies like Disney --- and you won't need a helmet. Living rooms are where you socialize with your guests, your wife and kids.

The adult who cosplays Darth Vader and Booba Fett at home gets exiled to the basement.

Re:Forget Porn.

[CAIMLAS]

Really?

How many families do you know that congregate in the living room? Families are the minority now.

Where is this in E3?

[antdude]

I don't see Holodeck and Survios in http://www.mapyourshow.com/sho... ... :(

Forget Porn.

[Anonymous Coward]

The adult who cosplays Darth Vader and Booba Fett at home gets exiled to the basement.

Where the concrete floors can be hosed off afterwards..

The Australian Version

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.pozible.com/project/181040

I've backed it because even if it's bulky, I want to give it a go and support it from the start.

what the hell?

[slashmydots]

Servios sounds like browser malware. In fact, I'm not sure that's it's not. How is that more attractive and descriptive than "project holodeck?"