Skyrim virtual reality demo uses Oculus Rift and omnidirectional treadmill

Stream:

News Bot

Your News Bitch
3,282
0
0
0
Console: Headset:
Games By James Plafke Feb. 3, 2014 5:51 pm
The Oculus Rift seems to be the wave of the future, but the gap between the present and that future is much larger than fans of the VR headset are usually willing to accept. Out of all the wacky gadgets we’ve seen over the past couple of years — Android gaming consoles, a PC gaming tablet with a detachable controller the size of a laptop, poorly implemented motion control for the PC — the Oculus Rift is one that actually does what it sets out to do. Though it is only currently available in the form of a development kit, the concept has many flaws that won’t be ironed out by what is essentially this dev kit beta cycle. The most noticeable issue when using the Rift is that you’re still stuck in your chair, facing the direction of your keyboard and mouse, when using the peripheral. Virtual reality company Cyberith aims to alleviate that issue with its new peripheral, the Virtualizer.
Cyberith’s Virtualizer is an omnidirectional treadmill that works in conjunction with the Oculus Rift in order to give you the freedom of movement that a VR headset is supposed to afford. We’ve seen one such treadmill before, the Omni, and the Virtualizer isn’t too different in terms of interactivity and, importantly, volume.
To demonstrate Cyberith’s treadmill, the team strapped one of its own into the rig — as seen above — where he became Dovahkiin. The humankiin looked around using the Oculus Rift — essentially replacing the mouse with his head — and used some Wiimotes to control the character’s weapons and magic. Rather than press W on a keyboard to walk around, the demonstrator walked around on the blue circular padding of the Virtualizer, the omnidirectional treadmill.
The Virtualizer isn’t available for purchase yet, but its competitor, the Omni, is available for pre-order for $499. That’s not the only cost, of course, as the Oculus Rift will set you back a cool $299 as well.
Aside from expense, the biggest issue with the full VR experience (a headset and treadmill) is that the treadmill rigs are sized as such — they won’t comfortably fit near your gaming computer. However, if you’re planning on dropping $800 on a VR headset and treadmill, chances are you’ve made the appropriate furniture adjustments by removing it all from your bedroom.



More...