The team at VRcade in Seattle have been working on concepts for a large scale virtual reality system back in 2010, but found complications along the way. However, the Oculus Rift technology's wide field-of-view seems to have solved many issues and the team have fast tracked demos of some of their concepts.
Using a co-ordinated, wireless system that includes full body and prop motion tracking, in conjunction with the Rift technology, VRcade has designed a range of virtual experieces, such as:
- Target Practice in which players stand at an intersection of virtual corridors with a prop rifle in hand. They must listen for cues and fire at targets lining each hallway.
- Crate-Physics Simulator in which players use the prop rifle to interact with a pile of boxes, which feature varying degrees of gravity and mass, in a test of physics similar to the way the OR Tuscany demo worked.
- Visit the Zombie Apocalypse is the final demo which places players in the midst of a post-apocalyptic cityscape where you're forced to confront a small wave of zombies.
So far the response from players and developers has been incredibly positive, and although there is still a long way to go before this kind of technology could be widely accessible, this is still an amazing start for the Seattle team, as well as an important development point in true, immersive virtual reality as a concept.
If you would like to see the technology at work, below is a video courtesy of VRcade:
