Games By James Plafke Apr. 18, 2014 3:14 pm
The Oculus Rift and, by all accounts, Sony’s Project Morpheus*are impressive devices. Though they’re not the Matrix-style*virtual reality sci-fi movies thought we would have by now, they are without-a-doubt the first step toward the development of that kind of technology. Aside from slapping phone screens over our eyes and turning our necks into the right analog stick of a console gamepad or mouse-look of a PC, these preliminary virtual reality headsets can give users a different kind of escape that video games are generally known for providing. For one terminally ill housebound cancer patient, the Oculus Rift provided one last vacation underneath the Tuscan sun.
After Roberta Firstenberg was diagnosed with cancer and her treatments failed, she became too weak to even walk around her own yard. Doctors gave her just a few months to live, but she wanted to take one last vacation. Roberta’s granddaughter Priscilla, a games artist, had an idea: if her grandmother couldn’t take a physical vacation, maybe she could take a virtual one. Priscilla wrote to the guys at Oculus VR for help, and received an Oculus Rift in return to help make her grandmother’s dying vacation wish come true.
Using the Tuscany Villa demo, Priscilla and the Oculus Rift team helped Roberta experience a sunny vacation. The demo, one of the Rift’s best so far, allows users to explore a two-story Tuscan villa that opens out into a sunny garden overlooking a seaside cliff — but that isn’t where the idea ended.
Priscilla brought up the Oculus Rift-compatible version of Google Street View, where you can navigate the service using the Rift’s VR-like interface, essentially walking around a virtual representation of the real world. When Roberta was presented with the idea, she remembered a time when she was healthier and waved to a Google Street View car. Priscilla found the actual shot on Street View, and Roberta was able to walk by her old self. After that, Roberta compiled a list of places she wanted to visit in the same manner, Sadly, Roberta died shortly after and never got to go on her virtual world tour.
So, the next time you remember Facebook purchased Oculus VR and are mad that Zuckerberg wants to expand the Rift beyond the gaming space, calm down and remember that this could be the kind of experiences Facebook wants to deliver.
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After Roberta Firstenberg was diagnosed with cancer and her treatments failed, she became too weak to even walk around her own yard. Doctors gave her just a few months to live, but she wanted to take one last vacation. Roberta’s granddaughter Priscilla, a games artist, had an idea: if her grandmother couldn’t take a physical vacation, maybe she could take a virtual one. Priscilla wrote to the guys at Oculus VR for help, and received an Oculus Rift in return to help make her grandmother’s dying vacation wish come true.
Using the Tuscany Villa demo, Priscilla and the Oculus Rift team helped Roberta experience a sunny vacation. The demo, one of the Rift’s best so far, allows users to explore a two-story Tuscan villa that opens out into a sunny garden overlooking a seaside cliff — but that isn’t where the idea ended.
Priscilla brought up the Oculus Rift-compatible version of Google Street View, where you can navigate the service using the Rift’s VR-like interface, essentially walking around a virtual representation of the real world. When Roberta was presented with the idea, she remembered a time when she was healthier and waved to a Google Street View car. Priscilla found the actual shot on Street View, and Roberta was able to walk by her old self. After that, Roberta compiled a list of places she wanted to visit in the same manner, Sadly, Roberta died shortly after and never got to go on her virtual world tour.
So, the next time you remember Facebook purchased Oculus VR and are mad that Zuckerberg wants to expand the Rift beyond the gaming space, calm down and remember that this could be the kind of experiences Facebook wants to deliver.
More...
