Project Holodeck with Oculus Rift glasses (via PalmerTech)
Star Trek’s holodeck is coming closer to becoming a reality with a Interactive gaming VR environment project called Project Holodeck. Designed by a myriad of researchers from various departments at the University of Southern California, led by Nathan Burba, the developing virtual reality gaming system puts the gamer in a virtual 3D environment, albeit without the ability to battle tangible Klingons.
The team designed the system using PalmerTech’s Oculus Rift (designed by Palmer Luckey) VR headset which uses to HD screens (one for each eye) that give the wearer a resolution of 1280 X 800 with a FOV (Field of View) 900 on the horizontal and 1050 on the vertical. The field of view is designed to give the wearer the illusion of being immersed directly into a supporting game through simulated peripheral vision. In addition to the head-mounted display, the system utilizes a PlayStation Move that tracks head-movement which sends information to the head-set as to what direction the player is looking in the game.
The team also implemented a Razer Hydra motion/orientation game controller that uses a weak magnetic to detect the precise position and orientation of the gamers hands (actually the controller itself) inside the virtual environment. The researchers are currently working on a game for the system called Wild Skies where 2 networked gamers pilot an airship through virtual islands in the sky. In an extra added effort to immerse the gamers playing Wild Skies, the team implemented a haptic feed-back system that uses a series of window fans equipped with an Arduino unit that simulates the wind while piloting the airship. The Arduino is programmed to increase or decrease the fans speed based on the direction and speed of the airship giving the user the ability to ‘feel the wind in their hair’. The team used Unity3D software to bring the project together creating the first VR system that puts users into a 3600, 6-degrees of freedom gaming environment. It’s unclear if and when the Project Holodeck system may be available, but the Oculus Rift is set to hit up Kickstarter relatively soon, with a commercial version coming sometime in 2013 at a cost of around $500 US.
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