What is Digg?50 Comments
- KewlerKid3, on 12/04/2007, -0/+30Human size hamster ball!
Dugg! - silentdragoon, on 12/04/2007, -1/+13http://xkcd.com/152/
for all of those confused. - Regulator980, on 12/04/2007, -1/+11I prefer this virtual reality interface instead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQw1tsgrJOs - The Omni-Directional Treadmill - itail, on 12/04/2007, -0/+10It's really cool, but probably has weird side-effects because of the mechanical nature of the ball itself. For example, you run - the ball rotates faster, you stop - the ball doesn't stop immediately and continues its rotation => you fall. weird effect in the virtual world.
- sark666, on 12/04/2007, -0/+9Why did virtual reality pretty much die in gaming?! I remember back in like 91. Some arcades had a few by a company called virtuality. Their first game was called Dactyl Nightmare. Here's a gay ass early gamepro clip showcasing it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ybu7Q5uK6k
Anyway I played that game and a few others and they actually sucked really bad. Ignoring that the games were so basic and bad, the really big problem was the really low resolution, and even worse, the horrible frame rates. I mean they felt like 10 fps. It' was so choppy it ruined the immersion factor.
When I first heard of virtual reality, I thought (as many did) what an amazing idea! But the idea in practice fell flat on it's face and most people have long dismissed it. But I still think it's a brilliant idea that was just ahead of it's time.
Think about it. in 91, there were no 3d cards, no home console geared for graphics could do 3d, hell there was next to no 3d games in arcades which would typically showcase cutting edge hardware. So they were trying to do 3d on two independent screens, when no hardware was really up to par doing it on even one screen.
But now with games having crazy physics, real time lighting, shadows, shaders etc, and crazy frame rates and resolutions certainly if the graphics were scaled back a tad we could do dual screen gaming at 60 fps.
And screw 30 fps, that immersion factor really requires higher frame rates over higher resolution. 30 is a bit choppy where as 60 fps gives you that smooth as glass feeling. Hell, I'd even accept quake 1 graphics if it was running dual screen at a good resolution with rock solid 60+ fps. I know that (and probably more, probably quake3 graphics would be a more realistic target if not more) this would be easy for todays systems. The pc would do all the calculations/graphics and it's just piped to the headset. The only info needed from the headset is orientation.
So I first tried vr 16 years ago, and it's been dead in the water since! It just doesn't make sense. - DirtySnachez, on 12/04/2007, -0/+8..as long as there's no real lawn mowers !
- Surfrock66, on 12/04/2007, -1/+7Virtual pain from the server after 43 diggs.
- Subvexer, on 12/04/2007, -0/+5http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHu8LAWSKxU
- roflcopterdown, on 12/04/2007, -0/+3I don't know, I think augmented reality seems much more likely. Not that the two are mutually exclusive, it just seems to me that AR has a lot more practical uses in everyday life, and VR is more practical from a strictly technological standpoint.
- NoahK, on 12/04/2007, -1/+4Welcome to Otherland...
- Damaso, on 12/04/2007, -0/+3The only real pain you feel is if you fall...kind of lame.
You can feel the same 'real pain' by falling while holding a wii controller. - JRootabega, on 12/04/2007, -0/+2Virtual American Gladiators!
- Fengpost, on 12/04/2007, -0/+2So, how far are we from virtual orgasm!?
- flytronix, on 12/04/2007, -0/+2failed to open stream: Cannot allocate memory
real php pain - MeMongo, on 12/04/2007, -0/+2One of the cool (to me, anyway) things about the Virtuality games was they used Commodore Amigas. From what I recall, they had one Amiga for each of the pods (the ring thingys that they players stood in) and one central Amiga that controlled the game. At the time, the Amiga was the best choice because it kicked ass in horsepower and wasn't that expensive (compared to a Next or a Mac).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_Amiga - Myztry, on 12/04/2007, -0/+2I'm sure I saw the predecessor at a Computer Expo around that time. Wasn't a game as such then, but I distinctly remember the green pterodactyl. It was done using an Amiga. The viewer had a wired stereo headset (helmet), stood inside a circular fence and direction was done with head turning. The general audience only got a 2d view projected on a screen. Line was too long, so I didn't see the 3d.
- sexybobo, on 12/04/2007, -1/+2no it is between $50 and $100,000.
- Myztry, on 12/06/2007, -0/+1I loved my Amiga. So easy to program in assembly to boot. Damn shame it didn't survive and evolve.
Really bugs me when all these people who have only known Windows rave about new technology which is so often just old Amiga Tech. - jon30041, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1They have that one here in the states, too. You also forgot where Homer gets run over and Bart feeds him a health pack.
- Myztry, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1Now I can't get the Simpson's Game TV advertisement (Australia) out of my head. Where Homer tells Bart video games are fake. Then walks into the wall and his legs keep moving. LOL
- voyvf, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1Unfortunately, that would be a crap interface for Otherland. The gel-filled coffins from the book would be far superior.
- Myztry, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1Vertical jumps would be fine, but unless you're playing Donkey Kong, you're going to want to jump over stationary objects/gaps. That's just going to lead to face plants.
- Murdats, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1defiantly need at least some sort of full body suit or something to even come close to consider otherland style stuff.
I am looking forward to the day when when I play an RPG, I get to 'physically' attack with a staff while throwing fireballs. - j4200, on 12/09/2007, -0/+1Not so much a pain as a blunder. See its very simple to modify the ini so your php mem liimit is higher than default 8mb.
- sark666, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1Yes to me as well it's damn cool that amiga's were used. Hell anything that used amiga's was cool (babylon 5 anyone). But sadly not even the amiga was up to this task. At this rate I think I'm going to be old and grey before I get another crack at VR. And Myztry trust me you didn't miss much and you can see the graphics in that link I posted. And they look actually better there then on two small screens right up at your eye balls.
- lharrod, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1In conjunction with this sphere, you could wear a force feedback harness of some kind, or even a full suit, which would allow you to feel "pain" anywhere on your body. I don't think it could be real pain, however. It would have to be a body-size equivalent of a DualShock controller.
- srodolff, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1So that's how the holodeck works............
- renagadex2, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1Wow.
- lharrod, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1The reality is virtual, but the orgasm is actual, which would become quite messy in that sphere.
- fightclub, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1Great...Until you run out of air!!! o_O
- AirPortPanic, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1I've tried this system at Wired NextFest. It actually doesn't work so well because the same "feel" of you pushing off the ground during normal walk is not the same as rotating a ball with your legs. Also, when the ball gains momentum it's hard to switch directions. In fact, I was having fun and started running in one direction and then when I tried to turn around I fell and nearly flipped over like a hamster in a hamster wheel.
Also, I didn't have goggles on, if I did I would have fallen much easier because the feeling is not the same as walking. - pictor1973, on 12/04/2007, -0/+0..and nobody noticed the mention to "negative energy"??? ;)
- OhhWell, on 12/04/2007, -1/+1That interactive whiteboard thing is nothing like an omnidirectional VR input device.
- garambenny, on 12/04/2007, -0/+0VR is still hanging somewhere between reality and science fiction I feel....but the possibilities are so exciting!
- KingBunny, on 12/04/2007, -1/+1Well, video arcades are obsolete. This will suffice as a replacement.
...wait.. $100,000 for a big plastic bubble, some rollers, and a head-monitor? - mydave, on 08/13/2008, -0/+0I think soon we'll see Matrix. It will be very interesting. I hope we have such genius in our space.
http://sooslic.com/?id=523
http://blog.ashtech.info/2007/10/16/
http://mitip2007.org/cfp.html - chingy1788, on 12/04/2007, -1/+1surviving the digg effect is real pain, it doesn't load for me
- Disillusion, on 12/04/2007, -1/+1That looks like second life with a fancy interface minus the other players. Neither this nor the "VR" in the article are anything near what we were promised years and years ago.
Also, why aren't the graphics in either of these at least up to par with Unreal Tournament 3? It doesn't even seem like the graphics are far beyond the lawnmower man yet. - mrspize, on 12/04/2007, -0/+0Since you don't go into freefall when you walk around and then fall over, I imagine that falling in the sphere would be accurately represented (though more "fun" from the article...)
- lolo2007, on 03/05/2008, -0/+0
Think about it. in 91, there were no 3d cards, no home console geared for graphics could do 3d, hell there was next to no 3d games in arcades which would typically showcase cutting edge hardware. So they were trying to do 3d on two independent screens, when no hardware was really up to par doing it on even one screen.
http://download.paramegsoft.com/
http://www.paramegsoft.com/forum/ - invzim, on 12/04/2007, -0/+0It doesn't say it simulates falling, the article says that if you fall you'll feel it, because you'd be ACTUALLY falling.
- inactive, on 12/04/2007, -1/+1I for one welcome VR technology advancement. It's obviously the future.
However, I'm quite confident it's not going to happen nicely for at least 10-20 years more. - denniscross09, on 12/05/2007, -0/+0This is looking like it will eventually be a great technology for the collaboration of info
- Myztry, on 12/04/2007, -2/+1You could put a mouse in a hamster ball, but
this is like putting a human in a mouse ball.
(Well... Trackball really...Same principle) - halohunter, on 12/04/2007, -2/+1It says that is realistically simulates falling. How? I cant imagine how you could simulate freefall.
- benjp2k1, on 12/04/2007, -2/+0And it's down.
- dddeskt0p, on 12/04/2007, -2/+0does he have a ponytail or is that the goggle strap? i vote p-tail
- munkeyhatecleen, on 12/04/2007, -3/+0*Mandatory "But will it blend" comment*
- numbnuts, on 12/04/2007, -7/+1Roughly the same thing - for about $600 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ9VK-yyThI
CrunchGear last week
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