The Rift & Out of Home Entertainment

[kevinw729]

Hi,
first post at this site, been focused on some other industry related forums, but thought would join this side of the fence.

We have been following the out-of-home (amusement / attraction) application of VR since 1995 and have also been developing a number of applications through our consultancy and previous positions.

We have discussed on the OculusVR forum the whole scope of how VR out-of-home is a injector of initial interest in applications and how we expected to see the first applications in the coming months - well as has been discussed on this forum we just saw the first placement:

-Location: Six Flags Montreal
La Ronde is an amusement park in Montreal, owned and operated by Six Flags - have started a investigate the creation of a VR attraction - rumors suggest the company serious about a fully operation concept

- Oculus Rift attraction (called Zone Immersion)
La Ronde has accumulated 12 Oculus Rift HMD's for the attraction and have re-themed them with the 'Genial' logo obscuring the Oculus brand name

Games reported so far:
- Alien Attack Standing up, you shot aliens with a plastic riffle
- Delta Plane You lie down on a padded table and fly around over the Grand Canyon
- Cockpit You site down on a chair and shot around in space
- Toon City you get on a real bike on a stand and ride around a virtual city

To play these you pay between $8-$10 (CAD)
(cockpit=$7.95, stand-gun=$8.95, racing=$8.95, laydown=$8.50)




- Immersion Coaster Ride (called Rider Hero)
Tests of the system started on the Goliath at the La Ronde facility
To ride with HMD proposal is to pay $5 (CAD)

Company developed a rollercaoster and 3D cinema experience, riding on the rollercoaster using an integrated HMD and PC - currently being tested, they have modified a Rift and PC:



(Note - a Six Flags' computer engineer, sitting on the Goliath Roller Coaster collecting data for panned experience)


But the company is looking as a unique combined HMD in the future:



(Note - this is not a new idea - a German theme park developed a VR rollercoaster sing a mounted HMD system (Galaxy Express, 2003))

- Final observations (Six Flags)
This is not the first time that Six Flags has invested in such concepts, the company developed an attraction based on Guitar Heroes and Rock Star, and was one of the first to play with VR and simulator attractions during the late-90's. The company hoping that notoriety and popularity will encourage interest to pay and experience ("...come see what all your friends are talking about!")

There is now concern that the operation may be infringing the Liability and usage agreement for the Oculus Rift kits breaching the "Headset for your own personal, non-commercial purposes" clause - as of yet no word of any action from OVR.


PS. Another Out-of-Home VR product coming to market:

http://www.mocapgames.com/#_system

[youtube]t-u7ywDoMeM[/youtube]

[kevinw729]

nukemarine-
No offense guys, but what's wrong with people using monitors, joysticks, mouse controllers, graphic accelerators or personal computers in their private businesses?

I have answered this point a number of times, and will repeat this one last time and then in future just point commentators to this answer:

The DevKit is only for 'development' usage, and has a warranty agreement that states that the unit is "not for commercial use" and that the product is being improperly used and breaking usage agreement if used in commercial (public-space) application. Liable to legal action, and also voiding insurance and operation certification if found breaching usage agreements.

All consumer electronics have a consumer warranty and liability agreement when you buy a products, as dose consumer game software and movies. It states that the product, content can not be used for commercial usage - ignoring this or ignorance of this agreement is no excuse, and you are liable to legal damages. You will be familiar of places that run PC games in retail venues (LAN sites), they have on the whole obtained a license to use content in public-space, and those caught running games and console hardware without this agreement are closed down and fined (this is very common, and you usually never hear of those that fall foul as they usually disappear (run away) when caught).

Ignorance is no defense - and is far from unreasonable - as electronics in the commercial sector need to be correctly developed for public usage includes the recognition of quality and electrical performance requirements (the same way a consumer system has to abide by the FSA requirements for systems in the home). I am sure you would be the first to cry out if someone was hurt using the Six Flag system, or encouraged to legal action after improper usage. The attraction dose not even have correct cleaning requirements for usage of a face-contact display system in a theme park environment!

I think we all need to temper our enthusiasm with a little business acumen - the "Six Flags guys" have now admitted they are using the Rifts without permission of OVR, they have also adjusted previous claims on their FB page, and are now playing coy to admit what hardware or software they are using. I think we will find that all of the hardware used is not under license and so breaks the fundamental "not for commercial use" issue (not to mention who owns the games employed).

And before you say it is okay to use Windows in a public-space application (as these guys are doing) there is also a "not for commercial use" agreement issue on their software, and the joystick and displays placed in this attraction. There is also the whole issue of liability and operation license that Six Flag demands all video amusement and attractions adhere too (for insurance and governmental certification reasons). I am sure that by now the corporate Six Flag commercial team in CA have received news of this attraction and are talking to the operator in Canada - so do not be surprised if all news on this system vanishes before we can get a video of the system in action!

Finally, guys - just dropping devkits into attractions that charges to use it is not a simple no-brainer - the commercial public space entertainment sector in which I work and for which association I chair, is a complicated and very professional industry and takes public operation and commercial usage very seriously - as we all should.

[WiredEarp]

Really, is there actually an issue legally with using the Rifts in this form?

You'd think it would be a rather poor move by Oculus to actually try to sue them, considering they could just go develop their own Rift clones if it became an issue - which would mean Oculus would miss out on sales.

Regarding the hygiene/human factor/safety issues, I see these as being more of a concern. The Rift is not really designed for use in a high traffic environment, the foams and headstrap etc can trap sweat, hair, etc, quite easily.

[WiredEarp]

Re http://www.mocapgames.com/#_system:

Is that a force feedback system on the arms (looks similar to the XIO)? Or are they using it for mechanical sensing only?

It looks like they have put some thought into the system. I think they are using the swivel chair technique for turning, not sure how they are detecting moving forward. I wonder if it can detect them doing a seated 'walking' motion, or if theres just a button etc to move forwards?

[kevinw729]

WiredEarp-
You'd think it would be a rather poor move by Oculus to actually try to sue them, considering they could just go develop their own Rift clones if it became an issue - which would mean Oculus would miss out on sales.

Regarding the hygiene/human factor/safety issues, I see these as being more of a concern. The Rift is not really designed for use in a high traffic environment, the foams and headstrap etc can trap sweat, hair, etc, quite easily.

Protecting your brand, and ensuring that the warranty is not infringed are good enough issues to at least ensure that the brand is not taken advantage of, though will legal action be needed rather than a cease and desist notice is another thing all together. The hygiene and operation issues are a big factor, but again the DevKit is not designed for commercial usage so the issue reverts back to my original comment.

Is that a force feedback system on the arms (looks similar to the XIO)? Or are they using it for mechanical sensing only?

It is a mechanical tracking system through the MoCap Suit system, with movement (walking) achieved through the thumb sticks.

[iswasdoes]

I too am interested in pursuing a commercial venture involving a number of OR/Virtuix Omni setups. I had wondered about the legal status of using the technology commercial and this thread is useful for answering some of those questions, so thanks for the information.

Any other insight/POV on this, particularly what steps could be taken now to ensure fast implementation when the final Rift unit is available, would be also appreciated.

Cheers!

[WiredEarp]

It is a mechanical tracking system through the MoCap Suit system, with movement (walking) achieved through the thumb sticks.

Thanks for all this info you have provided about these systems kevinw729, its very interesting, as are the points you have raised regarding legal issues with commercial Rift usage.

[kevinw729]

Any other insight/POV on this, particularly what steps could be taken now to ensure fast implementation when the final Rift unit is available, would be also appreciated.

The Out-of-Home entertainment sector is a complicated market for application of consumer hardware - the iGame contract business a good examples of the hurdles to try and apply consumer in public-space.

As we know, OVR is focused on the launch of the CSK v1.1 system - and we have to hope that after this we will see a dedicated move towards creating a 'commercial' usage contract with a hoped out-of-home approach.

For more information on this approach I would point you to the DNA Association (http://www.dna-association.com)