Drone Races To Be Broadcast To VR Headsets (thenewstack.io)

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Drone Races To Be Broadcast To VR Headsets (thenewstack.io)

Posted by timothy on Sunday January 31, 2016 @06:15AM from the upgrade-your-basement-or-garret dept.

An anonymous reader writes: You just plug in the HDMI feed, and you're in the cockpit of the drone," the CEO of the new Drone Racing League tells Wired. "Everyone from Oculus on is expecting to have VR headsets in every home for entertainment consumption, and we're a natural use for it." In anticipation of a new mass entertainment, the Drone Racing League released new footage Thursday highlighting one of their complicated competition courses, "a concrete steampunk torture chamber with cast-iron columns and massive hulking turbines from another era" described as The Gates of Hell. "[T]hese young drone pilots are not just enjoying themselves, but also inventing a new sport," reports one technology site, asking whether we'll ultimately see "drone parks" or even drone demolition derbies and flying robot wars. In an article titled "When Video Games Get Real," they quote one pilot who says it feels like skateboarding in the 1990's, "with a small group of people pushing the envelope and inventing every day" — this time wearing virtual reality googles to experience the addictive thrill of flying.

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Pffffhahahaha by Anonymous Coward · 2016-01-31 06:21 · Score: 0, Insightful

"Everyone from Oculus on is expecting to have VR headsets in every home for entertainment consumption"
That's hilarious. Yeah, I can see everyone tripping over themselves to buy shitty headsets that has no use beyond 15 minutes of playing around with the cool new toy - and costs hundreds of dollars. After all, even my grandparents have their own Google Glass now, right?
1. Re:Pffffhahahaha by rasmusbr · 2016-01-31 06:37 · Score: 1
  
  Google Glass was fundamentally flawed in that it did not have a way to block outside light, which means that it basically only worked well in low light conditions.
  Ideally, an AR device should be able to filter outside light on a per-pixel basis, so that each drawn pixel on the screen can be mixed with anything from 0% to 100% of the light that comes in from the outside.
2. Re:Pffffhahahaha by MillionthMonkey · 2016-01-31 07:15 · Score: 1
  
  Well the Gear VR costs $99 to strap onto a Samsung phone. I was actually pretty impressed until a carrier update bricked it one night.
3. Re:Pffffhahahaha by Anonymous Coward · 2016-01-31 10:22 · Score: 0
  
  No. VR costs a lot more than that if you don't want a steaming pile of shit. VR on a samsung phone is laughable at best.
  The problem with walmart employees like you is that you try the cheapest thing available and think that "this is how its supposed to be". Unfortunately it just shows the rest of us that you're clueless.
4. Re:Pffffhahahaha by BitZtream · 2016-01-31 11:29 · Score: 1
  
  Yea ... thats why it failed ... not because its a worthless device that tries too hard ... that had nothing at all to do with it, right?
  
  --
  Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
5. Re:Pffffhahahaha by golgotha007 · 2016-01-31 12:16 · Score: 1
  
  Also, what's the point of using a VR headset when you only have one video feed? Look closely at the drone video and you will see a simple fpv board camera mounted on the top, with a center-front mounted gopro (or gopro clone). You're not going to get 3d video with that setup.
  And a few other things wrong here: why are competition fpv drones carrying extra weight with a high-def video recorder on board? Stupid. And what's with that "closed like a box" body configuration? Where's the airflow? These folks aren't professionals; they're wannabes. Move on, people.
6. Re:Pffffhahahaha by gl4ss · 2016-01-31 16:09 · Score: 1
  
  it just needs double resolution on the display device and then it's ok for movies etc.. and cheaper than a 80 inch tv.
  thats when it becomes mainstream.
  
  --
  world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
7. Re:Pffffhahahaha by Anonymous Coward · 2016-01-31 19:45 · Score: 0
  
  I can see "drone races" being a niche thing, but only if they switch to CCD's or fix the rolling shutter problem with CMOS cameras. Motion sickness is induced by a combination of low frame rate and latency, if the CMOS frames amplify the wobble in the video feed due to the drones banking or rolling, people will be sick pretty fast.
8. Re:Pffffhahahaha by Hognoxious · 2016-02-01 01:09 · Score: 1
  
  Put a bag over your head.
  As an added bonus, nobody will know that you're a total dork.
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
9. Re:Pffffhahahaha by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-01 07:41 · Score: 0
  
  Only if you also take away his keyboard ...
What good is that? by drinkypoo · 2016-01-31 06:26 · Score: 1

What good is that, absent a 360 degree camera on the drone? I realize that head tracking exists, and that a pilot can use it to be able to look around them (although I have no idea if they're used on racing drones; I would imagine the FPV rig would add too much weight even if there's barely more to it than two micro servos) but you wouldn't ever allow the audience to do it. However, if you could send the 360 degree image data, then there would be a point to using a headset. Otherwise, just get closer to the TV.

--
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
1. Re:What good is that? by nospam007 · 2016-01-31 06:33 · Score: 1
  
  "However, if you could send the 360 degree image data, then there would be a point to using a headset."
  That's the idea they had. Now imagine you can connect to a drone in the Grand Canyon or Paris. Even if they would ultimately not want hundreds of tourist drones in the sky, there would still be the possibility of ground based 'drones'. Imagine Venice in summer in your cool apartment without the heat and without the stench.
2. Re:What good is that? by Opportunist · 2016-01-31 06:39 · Score: 1
  
  Without the heat, the stench and most of all without getting your wallet stolen it's just not the Venice in Summer experience.
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
3. Re:What good is that? by drinkypoo · 2016-01-31 06:41 · Score: 1
  
  That's the idea they had.
  Well, I did skim TFA to find out if it said anything about that before I chimed in, and it didn't
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
4. Re: What good is that? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-01-31 08:10 · Score: 0
  
  Head-tracked gimbal mounts have been used for reconnaissance and video, though the weight and latency wouldn't work well for this. 360 degree video would be great for slower-moving tourist drones, but I think even just a 120 degree front fisheye would fill your FoV and give enough "presence" to make VR viewing worthwhile. You wouldn't even need stereo cameras for high-flying races, though they'd add a lot to obstacle runs with
Not unless by Kohath · 2016-01-31 06:27 · Score: 2

they find a way to prevent viewers from getting motion sickness.
1. Re:Not unless by BarbaraHudson · 2016-01-31 07:00 · Score: 1
  
  I found out by trial and error that trying to read my smartphone on a bus ride makes me queasy. Never happened before on a bus, a plane, a boat, a car, not even the roller coaster. Not going to even try this (besides, the 3d effect needs 2 good eyes).
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
2. Re:Not unless by 110010001000 · 2016-01-31 07:01 · Score: 1
  
  Agreed. There is no way currently to do that. And it is unlikely there ever will. Almost all people get motion sick from the Oculus and similar VR systems (except for Slashdotters of course).
3. Re:Not unless by 110010001000 · 2016-01-31 07:15 · Score: 1
  
  As you get older it gets even worse. I get queasy even riding in the back of a car sometimes.
4. Re:Not unless by Anonymous Coward · 2016-01-31 07:54 · Score: 0
  
  Come on. That is a concern to grow an audience, not start one. I'd be interested in this, even with the possible motion sickness (doubt I will get it).
  Personally, I see this as a good step forward to recreating Motor Ball. I'd love that sport. Think F1 racing + American Football + MMA combat with cyborgs. Better viewing systems gives a better adrenaline rush.
  Think of what this would do, if you could get an in-helmet view on the field or on the track of a sports game. That is something that would be better.
5. Re:Not unless by maligor · 2016-01-31 08:47 · Score: 1
  
  As you get older it gets even worse. I get queasy even riding in the back of a car sometimes.
  It's inverse for me. I used to get motion sickness from facing the wrong way in busses or reading while in a moving vehicle, but now I can do both at the same time with no ill effects.
  I imagine it's the same for VR, do enough and you'll become immune.
  What I'm not sure about is how I ended up resolving the nausea, because the nausea from motion sickness isn't something I really want to inflict myself with, but with VR you could easily just pace the session length.
6. Re:Not unless by AmiMoJo · 2016-01-31 09:51 · Score: 1
  
  They will just build special stadiums, called vomitoriums.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
flying battreies by phantomfive · 2016-01-31 06:45 · Score: 1

Those drones look like batteries with propellers.

--
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
1. Re:flying battreies by ScentCone · 2016-01-31 06:58 · Score: 1
  
  Yup. A lot easier to service, that way, after the inevitable repeated crashes.
  
  --
  Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
I'm just going to go ahead by Anonymous Coward · 2016-01-31 07:42 · Score: 0

and start throwing up now.
Drones don't have cockpits by DNS-and-BIND · 2016-01-31 07:53 · Score: 0

You won't be in the "cockpit" of the drone, because drones don't have cockpits. By the way, can we get rid of the word "cockpit"? It means "a pit or enclosure for cockfights" or "a place noted for especially bloody, violent, or long-continued conflict". If we could talk about aviation without reminding ourselves that we put innocent animals to fight for our amusement in blood sports, that would be great.

--
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
This is the killer app for VR headsets. by MMC+Monster · 2016-01-31 08:32 · Score: 2

Sporting events are likely THE killer app for VR headsets.
Would be pretty cool to watch the football game from the point of view of the quarterback or someone else on the field. Similarly, would actually make Nascar racing interesting to be able to watch it from the driver's perspective.
I would certainly go and watch a sporting event with VR headset enhancements.
Come to think about it, the bandwidth for this is probably more than most people can push down from their home ethernet in realtime. This would make it the perfect sort of app for those Off Tack Betting sort of places.

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1. Re:This is the killer app for VR headsets. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-02 08:17 · Score: 0
  
  first, depending on the software architecture, the only thing that needs to be pushed down the pipe is the view you are watching, depending on your resolution, this can easily be done for the home viewer
  Don't just think of a view from the drivers seat, think about any view that they already have a camera on which you could choose which feed (both audio and video) you wished to see, with full pause, rewind and slow motion replay.
  Hood cams, Roof Cams, quadra copters, essentially any view that you could already choose in a racing game or sports game +more
Stop calling it a sport by dargaud · 2016-01-31 20:53 · Score: 1

Can you stop calling 'sport' activities that are anything but. Piloting a drone by moving your thumbs around is not a sport. Mountain climbing is. Chess isn't. It's not because you have smelly armpits at the end of the day that it's a sport, you need real sweat for that. Call it what it is: a game.

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Non-Linux Penguins ?
If... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-01-31 23:08 · Score: 0

if they manage to make the whole experience any close to the videogame wipeout... it might actually be an interesting project (or toy).