Virtual reality for your home console
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:47 pm
Last fall my little brother serendipitously landed one of the sweetest jobs in the world. He basically gets paid to write a quick hack for a variety of computer games and spends the rest of the day playing them, on top of playing console games on their giant plasma screen TV in the break room in his free time. I think he reads some web comics too.
The company is called Vuzix, and they make a visor peripheral. It comes in a number of different models, which link to different devices. There's one that connects to Ipods and portable DVD players, a one eyed version that links to a PDA that he likened to a scouter [insert >9000 meme here] but I think more closely resembles Joanna Dark's com link, and most of their money comes from a military contract to produce some kind of Metroid-esque heads-up display for Project Future Solider, but we know nothing about it.
Then, of course, there's the gaming version, which is the one he works with. They've recently perfected stereoscopic version - genuine depth perception. He takes existing games and programs in a second camera, shifted a prescribed amount over to the left, one camera for each screen. On top of this, there's some kind of sensor in the thing that knows when you turn your head. When you turn, the cameras turn in harmony. I've yet to get my hands on one, but he says it's phenomenal. His first experience was with a flight simulator. He could see every detail of the cockpit as if he were there, the clouds passing by, the birds, etc. I was too excited to really pay attention.
One of his noteworthy projects was the Orange Box. Unfortunately Steam kept erasing his .dll patches whenever he booted the game so he couldn't do Portal or Halflife itself, but he got it to work in deathmatch. Surprisingly, he says it doesn't lend itself well to existing FPSs. With a mouse you can do 360 degree turns instantly, but he said the neck sensor isn't good for that. I think it was that the sensitivity isn't high enough or something. There's also the fact that your view determines where your gun is pointing. Ideally you'd want to make aiming and looking separate entireties.
I know they're currently in talks with Microsoft to put something together for the Xbox, but you know this thing belongs on the Wii. With a few improvements on the turn sensor and a decent powerglove expansion for the Wiimote, you've pretty much got the essential components of VR. The fantasies of Nintendo dreamers for the great "Revolution" may yet be realized if this product can market itself intelligently (and cost less than an Xbox. They're working on it!). Current Wii sales would look paltry by comparison.
I just thought I'd show off my insider info. This probably isn't something that'll happen within the next 5 years, but it's coming sooner than you think. Go on, fantasize.
The company is called Vuzix, and they make a visor peripheral. It comes in a number of different models, which link to different devices. There's one that connects to Ipods and portable DVD players, a one eyed version that links to a PDA that he likened to a scouter [insert >9000 meme here] but I think more closely resembles Joanna Dark's com link, and most of their money comes from a military contract to produce some kind of Metroid-esque heads-up display for Project Future Solider, but we know nothing about it.
Then, of course, there's the gaming version, which is the one he works with. They've recently perfected stereoscopic version - genuine depth perception. He takes existing games and programs in a second camera, shifted a prescribed amount over to the left, one camera for each screen. On top of this, there's some kind of sensor in the thing that knows when you turn your head. When you turn, the cameras turn in harmony. I've yet to get my hands on one, but he says it's phenomenal. His first experience was with a flight simulator. He could see every detail of the cockpit as if he were there, the clouds passing by, the birds, etc. I was too excited to really pay attention.
One of his noteworthy projects was the Orange Box. Unfortunately Steam kept erasing his .dll patches whenever he booted the game so he couldn't do Portal or Halflife itself, but he got it to work in deathmatch. Surprisingly, he says it doesn't lend itself well to existing FPSs. With a mouse you can do 360 degree turns instantly, but he said the neck sensor isn't good for that. I think it was that the sensitivity isn't high enough or something. There's also the fact that your view determines where your gun is pointing. Ideally you'd want to make aiming and looking separate entireties.
I know they're currently in talks with Microsoft to put something together for the Xbox, but you know this thing belongs on the Wii. With a few improvements on the turn sensor and a decent powerglove expansion for the Wiimote, you've pretty much got the essential components of VR. The fantasies of Nintendo dreamers for the great "Revolution" may yet be realized if this product can market itself intelligently (and cost less than an Xbox. They're working on it!). Current Wii sales would look paltry by comparison.
I just thought I'd show off my insider info. This probably isn't something that'll happen within the next 5 years, but it's coming sooner than you think. Go on, fantasize.
