"Rift Rider" Virtual Amusement Park

[geekmaster]

Rift Rider FAQ

Q. What's a "FAQ"?
A. Frequently Asked Questions. "FAQ" is often pronounced "fack". Not to be confused with "Frequently Unanswered Questions" (FUQ), like you find when your Google-Fu is insufficient and all you can find are many people who posted EXACTLY the same question you have, followed by a long series of "me too!" posts, ending in a "Never mind, I figured it out myself..." post, with NO hints whatsoever to help you answer your question. "FUQ" is pronouced "f--", umm... well... you can figure that out yourself. It is what you say when you reach the end of a very long thread and your question remains unanswered.

Q. What's a "Rift"?
A. "Rift" is what we affectionately call the "Oculus Rift", a shiny new tech toy that thousands of us are having horrible anxiety attacks over just WAITING to get our trembling hands on, and that is just the UNFINISHED Dev Kit version! We dream about viciously attacking the box it comes in to rip out its contents and wrap that enticingly seductive device around our grinning faces as quickly as humanly possible. In fact, we even dream about it.

Q. That really didn't answer my question. Let me be more specific. What exactly IS an "Oculus Rift", and what can it do for ME?
A. Okay, fine, if you really want the technobabble mumbo jumbo. But where's the fun in that? The Oculus Rift is an exciting new product from a company named Oculus, started by an infectiously enthusiastic young man named Palmer Luckey, who wanted his own fully immersive Virtual Reality experience. He built a prototype out of duct tape and prayers, and started a Kickstarter campain to help fund it. He sent his prototype to John Carmack, who endorsed it to all the right people at just the right time. The rest is history! This exciting new product uses the latest in affordable electronics technology available to us because of the popularity of smart phones and tablet computers. The Rift is a tool that Oculus will use in its secret plans to take over the world and force us ALL to spend our time with funny looking devices hugging our faces. But to be less scary, it will be designed by an artistic fashion designer so it does not betray its purpose like the "Face Hugger" from a certain movie about "Aliens from Outer Space":


Q. Umm... WTF?
A. [Queue evil laughter]: "Mwa-ha-ha-haaaa!"
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRamB30E9mU[/youtube]

Q. Okay then, I will go look it up myself. [Googles it... Has more questions].
A. May I help you?

Q. Okay, now I know all about the Oculus Rift, but what is a "Rift Rider"?
A. "Rift Rider" is the name of an application for the Oculus Rift, and other consumer and DIY wide-FoV HMD devices. We hope that it becomes THE "killer app" for the Oculus Rift, helping Oculus to take over the world and force us ALL to...

Q. Excuse me! Not that again! What does a "Rift Rider" DO?
A. The "Rift Rider" is a Virtual Amusement Park application, letting you sit in your favorite easy chair, strap on your Rift (or other wide-FoV head-tracked HMD), and relive the fun you had as a kid when your family went to Disney Land or other far away and exotically expensive amusement park wonderlands filled with exciting thrill rides and colorful characters and scenery, taking you into its own "virtual world" to give you the best time you had in your life. Except this time, that virtual world is EVEN MORE VIRTUAL!

Q. Now I am confused... What does "FoV" mean? What is an "HMD"?
A1. That was TWO questions! Let's answer those one at a time: "FoV" means "Field of View". It is measure in angular degrees, and it tells how wide the pixels are spread in front of your face.
A2. "HMD" means "Head Mounted Display". It is what positions those flashy and colorful pixels in your FoV, replacing your view of reality with its own virtual version of reality, as far as the eye can see!

Q. Cool! How much will it cost?
A. We are so sure that you will want to come back for more, that we will even give you your first taste of this addicting experience FOR FREE!

... More to come later ...

[geekmaster]

I do not want JUST a ride, but the whole experience that wraps around it. Like a trip to Disney Land and a trip to Six Flags amusement park all rolled into one, and more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Flags

I want to recreate the experience of "rides" that simulate cave exploration, scuba diving, parachute rides, and more. By wrapping it into an amusement park theme, it will allow us to simulate a SIMULATION that we are more than willing to believe, and the extra level of simulation may help prevent being pulled out of the immersive experience when we experience anomalies. We could even add virtual movie theaters and gaming arcades to this (like another project).

The theme park theme can encompass a lot of projects in a way the feels "natural" because the projects are EXPECTED to be simulations, in a theme park.

But what *I* want to start with is the thrill rides, beginning with the "world's tallest roller coaster". We can go beyond reality here. Our roller coaster can approach the speed of light and loop around planets!

Anyway, this overall simulation can incorporate other simulations as rides and exhibits and events, and eventually even stores full of themed trinkets and services (virtual, and real item purchases). It would be cool to do real paypal transactions INSIDE the simulation.

Just some thoughts, and this is just the beginning of a whole new virtual world!

[2EyeGuy]

"FAQ" is pronouced "f--", umm... well... you can figure that out yourself.

That's a typo. That one is supposed to be "FUQ", you already told them how to pronounce "FAQ".
And man I hate those Frequently Unanswered Questions... The other kind of ending you get is "Can you email/pm me the solution at _____?" followed by "OK sent."

That looks more like the Octopus Risk.

If the Rift is going to give people motion sickness if a game isn't designed well for it, I say go all the way and capitalise on that. Make a theme park game and proudly advertise on the box that it will make you scared, disoriented, and so motion sick you lose your lunch. Advertise its bugs as though they are features, then people can't complain. I know lots of people who would pay good money for that.

[geekmaster]

If the Rift is going to give people motion sickness if a game isn't designed well for it, I say go all the way and capitalise on that. Make a theme park game and proudly advertise on the box that it will make you scared, disoriented, and so motion sick you lose your lunch. Advertise its bugs as though they are features, then people can't complain. I know lots of people who would pay good money for that.

The thing I like BEST about this theme park idea is that it can naturally include projects like the virtual movie theater, and the virtual arcade (both featured in other threads here).

And as you said, any VR sickness or less-than-satisfying immersion can be blamed on the inner simulated "ride" and not on the Rift Rider app, or on the Rift HMD device. And people actually PAY to get sick (or wet their pants) at amusement parks!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5poZ8E1r3o[/youtube]



And with a GVS accessory for the Rift Rider, we could corner the market on barf bags and adult disposable diapers.

Q. What is "GS"?
A. Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation, using a simple electrical device for "electrical stimulation of the sensory organs used for balance for the purpose of inducting a feeling of rotation":
http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=120&t=15403




And I fixed the typo, thanks...

[superbike81]

Now this sounds awesome!

This could easily become a game that Oculus buys from you and packages a free download for with every Rift purchase. Or even include it on a disc.

Would be a great way to demo the technology.

[geekmaster]

Now this sounds awesome!

This could easily become a game that Oculus buys from you and packages a free download for with every Rift purchase. Or even include it on a disc.

Would be a great way to demo the technology.

And I plan to support "plug-ins" too, such as a virtual movie theater and a virtual arcade (available from other members in other threads here):

My bigger plans are for this 3D virtual amusement park to function as a "VR application launcher", to completely replace the traditional GUI desktop now used for a 2D "windows" interface.

Instead of icons, applications can be represented as fenced-in rides, or buildings, or even rooms in a museum or "office park". And we could also support hotel rooms in our theme park, complete with room service and "cable TV".

The possibilities are "virtually" endless...



Like I said, I want this to become the "killer app" for VR, with the Rift and your choice of input device (such as the Razer Hydra) replacing our current methods of interacting with computers (and consuming media). A "better mousetrap", but without the "mouse", so to speak.



To accomplish this, I will need virtual architects, virtual landscape designers, virtual costume designers, artists, actors (for motion capture performances) and all manner of virtual craftsmen.

So, who is with me on making this Virtual Experience become reality?

[Pingles]

Sign me up. I hope that all of the folks who are doing "free" projects at least make a website with a donation box on it.

[Aeroflux]

Have you had a chat with the IBEX developer? Seems you two are trying to accomplish the same foundation.

http://hwahba.com/ibex/

[geekmaster]

The main reason I am working on a cheap "Fov2Go" add-on for a tablet computer is for the use of a ride OPERATOR, while his CUSTOMERS are using his real Oculus Rift. That is one of the things I was thinking all along.

Many of us are only getting ONE Oculus Rift Dev Kit, and of course we want to give demos to our friends and family, but we also want to be in VR with them, sharing the experience.

Imagine how much better those Rift prototype demos would have been if when they turn around and look at Nate, instead of the shock of NOT seeing him, they actually DID see him standing behind them (in all his avatar glory), interacting with them, while he was wearing his own Rift to share the VR world and act as a tour guide, right there, instead of some invisible disembodied voice somewhere "else" to distract from the immersive experience.

For those of us who have a tablet computer (or even a smartphone with a Fov2Go or Hasbro My3D), we can be inside VR with the person who is wearing our Rift. That would be SO MUCH BETTER than the current demos being given, without needing to wait until we can get a SECOND Oculus Rift.

And so we do not need to buy TWO expensive state-of-the-art computers, I am working on the "PTZ Tweening" technique, to uncouple head tracking from rendering, so we can use our OLD computers to run two or more synchronized VR simulations, without needing to wait until we can buy additional expensive computer equipment and more Rift HMD devices.

At least that is my plan.

Any thoughts or ideas on this stuff?

[geekmaster]

Have you had a chat with the IBEX developer? Seems you two are trying to accomplish the same foundation.

http://hwahba.com/ibex/

I did not talk to the IBEX developer, but his app seems like it could make a nice software foundation on which to build my virtual theme park. I do not see our projects as competing with each other, but rather, as two pieces of a larger puzzle, or two tools in a toolbox...

I want my app to run sufficiently well on even minimal hardware, such as a Raspberry Pi, perhaps streaming the greater experience from the cloud when it needs to borrow some processing power or asset storage. I want it to transparently use whatever extra power it has available, up to and including quad-SLI GTX 690 video cards if you can afford them. If we use a RasPi mainly for its HDMI output that can feed a Rift HMD, we can provide fun little "theme park based" demos, with very simple "line-art" style graphics, perhaps with simple procedural texturing when available.

The reason for uncoupling head-tracking from the simulation, is so we can look around at will, while waiting for the world around us to update to the next state, hopefully fast enough to maintain the illusion of continuous motion. The continuous uncoupled head tracking inside the "semi-static" scenery of our slower VR simulation is to provide continuous full immersion, even when we are strapped in place in a seat on a ride, waiting for it to start moving again.

[BOLL]

Ahahaha, lovely FAQFUQTHING geekmaster! As a person prone to motion sickness this sounds like a complete nightmare! Or is that just from watching that last video? But also like a very neat application. Looking forward to whatever this will generate... I think

[geekmaster]

Ahahaha, lovely FAQFUQTHING geekmaster! As a person prone to motion sickness this sounds like a complete nightmare! Or is that just from watching that last video? But also like a very neat application. Looking forward to whatever this will generate... I think

Yeah, I know what you mean about motion sickness, and I "feel your pain" (literally). I feel a little dizzy much of the time, with accompanying "ear ringing" (tinnitus). That is common for men as they get older, but I think mine was aggravated by my experience in professional fireworks the "old school" way, hand loading shells into "guns" buried in the ground below me, while flames were still shooting out from the previous fireworks shell. Just trying on my "fresnel lens stack" goggles even for a moment WITHOUT any video content makes me feel significantly motion sick almost immediately, lasting for many minutes afterward. This does NOT decrease my desire for VR though. I plan to "get used to it".


Regarding the "FUQ" acronym, it has been around quite awhile, but pronunciation difficulties have prevented it from gaining widespread popularity:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umVj5XQYAi8[/youtube]

EDIT: Back in my professional fireworks days, rules were simpler and costs were lower. Now everything has to be "idiot proof", with all shells pre-loaded and electrically fired, triggered by an "approved" firing control panel with safety interlocks. Back in the "good old days" we just had the rule "don't put any body parts over a gun that you want to keep!". Hearing protection was optional, and some of us thought is was safer WITHOUT it, so we could hear somebody shouting "RUN!" when a lift charge failed to function, risking a large crater under you when the timer fuse detonates the burst charge in a previous shell you loaded moments ago. Ahh... the "good old days" when life was fun and we did not have all these stinking government bureaucrats telling us what to do... Which makes me think that doing a VR simulation in which you load fireworks "old school" style without losing body parts could make an interesting VR game...

[twofoe]

doing a VR simulation in which you load fireworks "old school" style without losing body parts could make an interesting VR game...

Could even incorporate it into your theme park. Have a booth somewhere with a big "Hiring" sign, and let people do a "trial by fire" to get a job as the theme park's fireworks technician

[KBK]

doing a VR simulation in which you load fireworks "old school" style without losing body parts could make an interesting VR game...

Could even incorporate it into your theme park. Have a booth somewhere with a big "Hiring" sign, and let people do a "trial by fire" to get a job as the theme park's fireworks technician

That's the "Saving Ryan's Privates" version.

[geekmaster]

Could even incorporate it into your theme park. Have a booth somewhere with a big "Hiring" sign, and let people do a "trial by fire" to get a job as the theme park's fireworks technician

As a theme park staff member, you could travel underground around the hidden machinery that operates the park, and only "leave character" when out of public view. With this theme within a theme, many things are possible. As a virtual employee, you could even get a discount at the company store. All major credit cards accepted, and PayPal too, all from the comfort of your favorite chair (or ODT / locomotion platform).

Amateur explorers could pick locks and do unauthorized exploration or other mischief underground, as part of the "urban exploration" scene. Or sabotage the rides, for unexpected adventure and exciting novelty. The park could have an "adults only" section too, with a club theme unburdoned by the bothersome "morality laws".

[geekmaster]

The "Rift Rider", a "Fully Oculuscious" Virtual Reality experience!

lus·cious adjective \ˈlə-shəs\
...
2: sexually attractive : seductive, sexy
3a : richly luxurious or appealing to the senses

[nateight]

Reading this thread leaves me slightly shocked that Disney didn't champion the cause during or after the VPL Research days. Apparently they had some interest in the subject, but today you almost never encounter "Disney" and "VR" in the same mental space. It's easy to consider the Rift as a gaming device and not explore any implications beyond that, but things start to get really exciting when you begin thinking about everything else that could be impacted by VR properly catching on. Each can of worms opened yields worms with further cans; it's a fun time to be interested in this stuff. My enthusiasm continues to be tempered by a creeping anxiety, though - if an excellent idea like this succeeds, before long you'll either have a large anthropomorphic mouse driving a dump truck full of money up to your house or launching candy-colored Heckfire missiles through your windows. I'd love to try some of these virtual amusements in the meantime, and I agree completely about the need for a device that can bridge the divide between virtual space and physical space, but please, when they offer to buy, sell.

[geekmaster]

... It's easy to consider the Rift as a gaming device and not explore any implications beyond that, but things start to get really exciting when you begin thinking about everything else that could be impacted by VR properly catching on. Each can of worms opened yields worms with further cans; it's a fun time to be interested in this stuff. ... I'd love to try some of these virtual amusements in the meantime, and I agree completely about the need for a device that can bridge the divide between virtual space and physical space, but please, when they offer to buy, sell.

These old ideas all become new again, with more realistic expectations that they CAN catch on, with the inexpensive new technology that allows them to be a couple of orders of magnitude more affordable than they were in the past. On top of that, there are also a couple of orders of magnitude in what CAN be rendered in real-time. Combining this new tech with old ideas will surely be a turning point in the history of VR, and all we have to do is reach out and GRAB it!

It may be an unfair advantage that some of us "old-timers" were actually there when this old stuff was new, and we have had decades to think about the possibilities. Be thankful that some of us share our ideas openly and freely, and that we got over greedily seeing $$$ behind all of our ideas long ago. Of course, It would be truly wonderful indeed if somebody decided to throw $$$ my way anyway, just to keep me "motivated" and to support my ideas and efforts in the advancement of VR... But we all secretly dream that dream, now don't we? I would gladly do this just for the love of it, but money helps me buy the tools and tech toys I need, and to hire people who can do the mundane stuff for me, so I can keep my head inside my ideas long enough to see them come true. Sad but true, money makes the world go 'round...

[Mystify]

I would never even consider using something like this, because you would be missing out of the G-forces involved in the rides, which is the entire point. Its the same reason the motion platform rollercoaster simulations are a worthless experience compared to a real roller coaster. watching the view of a roller coaster is not important- a roller coaster works even if you are blind, or you close your eyes, or if you go in the dark of night. GVS may be useful for dealing with balance and rotation, but I don't think it is sufficient for the raw G forces of an amusement park ride. If you could simulate the G-forces, I would be all over something like this. Without it, its pointless.

[geekmaster]

I would never even consider using something like this, because you would be missing out of the G-forces involved in the rides, which is the entire point. Its the same reason the motion platform rollercoaster simulations are a worthless experience compared to a real roller coaster. watching the view of a roller coaster is not important- a roller coaster works even if you are blind, or you close your eyes, or if you go in the dark of night. GVS may be useful for dealing with balance and rotation, but I don't think it is sufficient for the raw G forces of an amusement park ride. If you could simulate the G-forces, I would be all over something like this. Without it, its pointless.

It is a subjective experience. The earlier additions to my "3D animation collection" typically had "rollercoaster ride" scenes in them, and those were pretty darn convincing even without G-forces.

... I used to play Descent while sitting 5 feet from an 11 foot diagonal projection screen. It filled most of my FoV and was very immersive. It caused horrible vertigo and queasiness at first, but over time I could play longer and longer before the onset of motion sickness. Eventually, I could play for hours. ...

Descent was a serious stomach churner. No doubt.

The biggest gut-wrenching experience was when you turned a corner and your sense of up and down changed, because what was the floor and ceiling are now walls, so you need to rotate the craft. ... Astronauts in the space station expressed a similar phenomenon, when their sense of up and down suddenly shifted. Worse, when at the end of a long tunnel in weightlessness, it can suddenly appear that you are at a great height and about to fall, which can trigger panic if you have a fear of high places. Vomiting in weightlessness can be a serious problem from the danger of inhaling vomitus. ... I wonder if head tracking would make the motion sickness worse. And I wonder if my adaptation to it years ago has faded from disuse... However, I want to play Descent in my Rift!

So, at least as far as my personal experience goes, though you may not wish to participate in this as a stationary experience, I believe there are those who would love it, being much more immersive than playing video games or watching TV.

Of course, there is no reason to NOT add a motion platform to this, and we could support that as an output device as well. It would be best to add motion control support early on in this project, so that "ride" developers and producers can incorporate the motion API into their content. Although I have extensive experience with motion control programming, my only thoughts about using it in this context were of the "haptic feedback exosuit" variety. We should also consider simpler motion control platforms as well. Thanks for the suggestion. I hope you get an opportunity to enjoy this experience WITH motion controlled G-forces. But many of us will not want to pay extra to install a motion control platform in our homes, in which case the visual immersion alone may be good enough to distract us from our normal worries much more effectively than flipping on the TV. And as I said, playing a game on a video screen that fills most of your FoV without head tracking is already convincingly immersive for people such as myself.

[twofoe]

Yep, you can still get a thrill from the sense of height and speed given by purely visual cues. Example of a video game that makes use of height: Against the Wall. Example of one that uses speed: any racing game. The Rift is just going to make it all that more immersive.

But I can see how a person might be disappointed if they're a big roller coaster fan and they try comparing it to reality. Such a game, if it became popular, might even increase amusement park attendence when people start yearning for the real thing. Once they visit the real thing, though, maybe they'll be disappointed by the paltry heights and speeds that they're seeing visually

[geekmaster]

But I can see how a person might be disappointed if they're a big roller coaster fan and they try comparing it to reality. Such a game, if it became popular, might even increase amusement park attendence when people start yearning for the real thing. Once they visit the real thing, though, maybe they'll be disappointed by the paltry heights and speeds that they're seeing visually

My virtual coaster rides will travel at astonishing speeds and loop around planets and moons, when not busy rocketing through ocean trenches and plummeting down volcanic vents to careen widly through molten planetary cores!.

Yeah, Real Life roller-coaster rides will be BORING!

Now, what we REALLY need is to ride a real roller-coaster while wearing a PORTABLE RIFT!

The ultimate amusement park would be a real amusement park with real rides to provide haptic feedback, while VR provides a MUCH more "enhanced" version of the total experience. The real ride could stay safely near the ground, while the virtual ride lifts you into the clouds.

EDIT: It may be necessary to hose down and sanitize the rides after each use, but an automated "car wash" tunnel could be installed on the ride between the exit and entry points to provide this service.

[Mystify]

Speed and height are visual cues though. G-Forces are not. I'm kind of a roller coaster nut, and a roller coaster that is merely tall and fast is boring. You need to do something with that speed, like have turns, twists, loops, and hills which turn that speed into G Forces. This includes negative G-forces, air time when you don't need a seat is also part of it. For the spinning rides, they use rotation to get the G-forces in a much smaller footprint. A bullet train is plenty fast, but its not a thrill ride. Speed alone is not important. There are roller coasters which go slower than people drive on the highway. The speed primarily matters because more speed means you can have a longer track and do more things during that time.
Without G forces, all you will have is yet another pale mockery of a roller coaster, reliant on visually impressive scenery and tracks to distract you from how weak the experience is compared to the real thing.

[geekmaster]

Speed and height are visual cues though. G-Forces are not. I'm kind of a roller coaster nut, and a roller coaster that is merely tall and fast is boring. You need to do something with that speed, like have turns, twists, loops, and hills which turn that speed into G Forces. This includes negative G-forces, air time when you don't need a seat is also part of it. For the spinning rides, they use rotation to get the G-forces in a much smaller footprint. A bullet train is plenty fast, but its not a thrill ride. Speed alone is not important. There are roller coasters which go slower than people drive on the highway. The speed primarily matters because more speed means you can have a longer track and do more things during that time.
Without G forces, all you will have is yet another pale mockery of a roller coaster, reliant on visually impressive scenery and tracks to distract you from how weak the experience is compared to the real thing.

Why hang out here, then? If VR does not supply sufficient G-forces for you, go do some "extreme sports" or something. But be sure to film it in 360-degree 3D, so us "common folk" can live your thrill vicariously in VR.

[Mystify]

Speed and height are visual cues though. G-Forces are not. I'm kind of a roller coaster nut, and a roller coaster that is merely tall and fast is boring. You need to do something with that speed, like have turns, twists, loops, and hills which turn that speed into G Forces. This includes negative G-forces, air time when you don't need a seat is also part of it. For the spinning rides, they use rotation to get the G-forces in a much smaller footprint. A bullet train is plenty fast, but its not a thrill ride. Speed alone is not important. There are roller coasters which go slower than people drive on the highway. The speed primarily matters because more speed means you can have a longer track and do more things during that time.
Without G forces, all you will have is yet another pale mockery of a roller coaster, reliant on visually impressive scenery and tracks to distract you from how weak the experience is compared to the real thing.

Why hang out here, then? If VR does not supply sufficient G-forces for you, go do some "extreme sports" or something. But be sure to film it in 360-degree 3D, so us "common folk" can live your thrill vicariously in VR.

Yes, because this is the only application for VR
I am saying that this specific application is not well suited to VR with current technology. It is fundamentally lacking the key element of the experience. Efforts spent towards such a project would yield better results on a different project.

[geekmaster]

I am saying that this specific application is not well suited to VR with current technology. It is fundamentally lacking the key element of the experience. Efforts spent towards such a project would yield better results on a different project.

Actually, earlier in this thread (and in conversations with others), I mentioned how the "Virtual Amusement Park" app is intended to be a wrapper around (or app launcher for) other VR apps. Those apps would be represented as "Rides" or "Exhibits" (or other related activities), instead of flat icons on a desktop like we have now. This has been mentioned before. This is a "Virtual" amusement park, using the "Amusement Park" theme to replace a windows desktop, for launching apps. It can obvious run apps that simulate amusement park rides, and that is what I want to start with.

Of course, a roller-coaster simulation is an obvious first choice for built-in apps, just like it was a common theme for early computer animations and for early 3D films (and for that matter, to show off early large-screen movie formats such as Cinerama and Todd-AO formats). As with those, it may work well here too.

And I want some sufficiently immersive apps included that work well in a standalone portable environment, using minimal processing hardware with HDMI out (such as a Raspberry Pi, or perhaps a bit more powerful).

And although we can support motion platforms, we do not want to make that a requirement because of added cost (both money and storage space) for such extra hardware. If you have it, we should support it, but not require it...

[Fredz]

I would never even consider using something like this, because you would be missing out of the G-forces involved in the rides, which is the entire point.

Some years ago I watched a downhill skiing movie at a Showscan theater (70mm projection on a curved screen at 60fps) and I felt my stomach moving when the skier jumped from the ground. I guess it can be different from people to people and it can certainly not emulate all the effects of the real thing, but I'd still like a lot to be able to experience that again with the Rift.

[Moriarty]

Nice idea Geekmaster, an amusement park is a good playground for testing out all kinds of ideas and concepts.Disney tried to create the feeling of a virtual theme park with Kinect Disneyland Adventures. They recreated Disneyland with a lot of attention to detail (Main Street, rides, sounds, shops, monorail,...), unfortunately it's in third person perspective although some of the rides (rollercoaster, tea cups,...) are in first person perspective. You can tell that they wanted to make it more interactive and immersive by using Kinect but it seems from the reviews that this was not really successful and it ended up with clunky controls. A game like this would be far better in VR.

I think a more ambitious project like "Rift Rider" could definitely work even without G-forces.Just by watching some of these rather childish attractions like those tea cups in a youtube clip I get the feeling that it would be dangerous to experience this in the Rift if you are not sitting down :




[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB4u0hfGeSk[/youtube]

rollercoaster :
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXU8LoHnGqA[/youtube]

[hal10000]

I love this idea. It sounds like a ton of fun and I love the idea of wandering around trying different rides/experiences. I'll be waiting impatiently for this one!

[geekmaster]

Nice idea Geekmaster, an amusement park is a good playground for testing out all kinds of ideas and concepts.

But the "main attraction" at this "theme park" will be the "Rift Rider". If you put on your Rift when you enter the park, and take it off when you leave, the park "staff" do no have to be in costume all day, or travel in underground tunnels (or hidden behind the scenery).

Besides the "home version" you "play" from your favorite chair, we could have a real "amusement park", with some haptic feedback equipment (including "real" rides to supply G-forces), but the scenery can be minimal or non-existant, because the "real" experience is in VR. For people who are not satisfied with the home version, they will be able to buy a season pass at the physical VR park, so they can get that "G-force fix" that they crave...

And for a shared experience, we can network the home users into the real amusement park, so they can participate in the group zeitgeist of the whole shared experience.

EDIT: And for those videos, if they did not have the sudden camera jumps, it would be like taking your kid to the park, and following him around while he explores the park. That extra level of disconnect could be a good thing, requiring less haptic feedback for what you see transpiring in front of you.

[Mystify]

Actually, earlier in this thread (and in conversations with others), I mentioned how the "Virtual Amusement Park" app is intended to be a wrapper around (or app launcher for) other VR apps. Those apps would be represented as "Rides" or "Exhibits" (or other related activities), instead of flat icons on a desktop like we have now. This has been mentioned before. This is a "Virtual" amusement park, using the "Amusement Park" theme to replace a windows desktop, for launching apps. It can obvious run apps that simulate amusement park rides, and that is what I want to start with.

Of course, a roller-coaster simulation is an obvious first choice for built-in apps, just like it was a common theme for early computer animations and for early 3D films (and for that matter, to show off early large-screen movie formats such as Cinerama and Todd-AO formats). As with those, it may work well here too.

And I want some sufficiently immersive apps included that work well in a standalone portable environment, using minimal processing hardware with HDMI out (such as a Raspberry Pi, or perhaps a bit more powerful).

And although we can support motion platforms, we do not want to make that a requirement because of added cost (both money and storage space) for such extra hardware. If you have it, we should support it, but not require it...

Ok, I did not understand that.
I still think a roller coaster is a bad choice for a built-in app, as obvious as it may be. I disagree that it worked well to show off animation or 3d films. All those accomplish is show how poorly visuals convey a non-visual experience. Avatar worked to show off 3D because it spent most of its time showing a visually rich environment. It played to the strengths of the medium, and it did so well enough that even I liked it, and I have a hard time with 3D movies in general.
And motion platforms don't really help for roller coasters. You end up with shaking and rotations and none of that is really what adds to the experience- if anything, I'd like to remove the shaking from real roller coasters. I truly despise the roller coaster simulators, all they do is show how incompetent we are at simulating that experience. Then they try adding wind simulators to them which feel like bad AC vents and add water spray which is like spattering you with a broken spray bottle, and its all a lot of money and effort for a huge joke.
Don't encourage adding a roller coaster simulator for the rift. All it will do is highlight the shortcomings of VR technology, rather than embrace its strengths.

[geekmaster]

I love this idea. It sounds like a ton of fun and I love the idea of wandering around trying different rides/experiences. I'll be waiting impatiently for this one!

I plan to provide a plug-in mechanism (or app launcher), that lets you seamlessly run other VR apps by walking through a door into an auditorium or exhibit hall, or stepping through the entrance to a ride. Some kind of fade-out and fade-in or other non-jarring transition will be needed.

I like the idea of a doorway composited over the opening scene of the app, and as you step through the doorway all you see is the app. I am sure that developers will design interesting "opening scenes" for their apps, to ease this transition so you can feel like you are still in the park. We need to figure out a "standard" way to exit the app back into the park. Any ideas for that? Perhaps a closing animation that takes you out an exit door, back into the park...

[geekmaster]

... Avatar worked to show off 3D because it spent most of its time showing a visually rich environment. It played to the strengths of the medium, and it did so well enough that even I liked it, and I have a hard time with 3D movies in general.
And motion platforms don't really help for roller coasters. You end up with shaking and rotations and none of that is really what adds to the experience- if anything, I'd like to remove the shaking from real roller coasters. I truly despise the roller coaster simulators, all they do is show how incompetent we are at simulating that experience. Then they try adding wind simulators to them which feel like bad AC vents and add water spray which is like spattering you with a broken spray bottle, and its all a lot of money and effort for a huge joke.
Don't encourage adding a roller coaster simulator for the rift. All it will do is highlight the shortcomings of VR technology, rather than embrace its strengths.

It sounds like you will stick to the richly decorated "Avatar" themed area of the park then (and other similar "look and see" exploratory environments). You may prefer to spend your time in the Science Museum exhibit, and in the virtual movie theater, and in the virtual arcade (where MAME games run on VR models of their original arcade game machines).

We can even have a library in our park. As I mentioned, we can have a park hotel too, with room service even, and use paypal to have a pizza delivered (in game, and to your real house at the same time). Your avatar needs to feed its human host now and then, right?

It would be cool to have a real paying job INSIDE the park, where you sell trinkets or services (delivered to your avatar, or drop-shipped to your real home), or you get paid to "perform" with motion capture animating your avatar in front of a "real" (networked) audience.

What we can do is only limited by our imaginations.

EDIT: I *WILL* add a roller coaster simulator BECAUSE I WANT a roller coaster simulator. You can either not bother to use it, or pretend that it does not exist. I know others will want it too. Roller coaster videos were popular attractions back in the early days of 3D TV. There are those who will want to relive that experience, or to experience it the first time and be thrilled by it. I cannot make you enjoy a roller coaster simulator any more than you can discourage me from wanting one myself.

[geekmaster]

Other members here are working on movie theater and arcade simulators. I want to support plug-ins so that those apps can seamlessly be launched from inside the "Rift Rider" park, as though they occupy attractive appropriate buildings located in the park.

[Mystify]

And there are those who will think it sounds cool, try it, be completely disappointed, then never try VR again.
I'm sorry, I'm getting carried away. The hypothetical existence of such a simulation offends me far more than it reasonably should.

[quote="geekmaster"You avatar needs to feed its human host now and then, right?[/quote]
I am now picturing using a telepresence device to feed yourself while in VR.

[geekmaster]

Your avatar needs to feed its human host now and then, right?

I am now picturing using a telepresence device to feed yourself while in VR.

You are visiting your great-granfather in a elderly care facility, and as you place the food up to his mouth, a robot arm places the food up to YOUR mouth. But that would be living vicariously in both bodies at once (which could make for interesting intimate encounters, but I would want a YOUNG avatar for that).

Better yet that you just eat your pizza in Real Life while wearing your Rift, and your motion-tracked avatar eats his virtual pizza too. Nice haptic feedback going on in that one. But what if you ordered a pepperoni and mushroom pizza, which you can see your avatar is eating, and they delivered yours with green olives and anchovies instead?

And while your avatar sits in the restaurant at the park, waiting for the pizza he ordered, your Real Life pizza delivery guy is on his way to your house. How to you answer the door while wearing your Rift?

[drifter]

Well it won't be realistic (framerate speaking) to have a whole Virtual Park, I think, especially if we want scalability.
We can go with one attraction = one level with his own environment.
With a special zone to serve as hub, a very simple 3d environment because we don't want stuttering while the next level is loading.
That could be a teleport pod or an elevator (Mass Effect, anyone ?), a transparent one which ride down across the soil, and through the clouds and the sky of the next attraction.

[Mystify]

an elevator (Mass Effect, anyone ?)

*truly hates that elevator with a passion*

[geekmaster]

Here is a little demo. It runs on Windows. It was my first little test to get my dev tools installed on my new computer.

It uses the SDL library, which is available on just about anything with any kind of video output. This demo comes with SDL.dll for windows, which it needs in the same folder as the bump.exe file. Just unzip it, and run bump.exe.

This is just a tiny taste of things to come. It (and much more) will be converted to stereoscopic 3D, and dynamically head-tracked and warp mapped.

Despite appearances, this demo is extrememly light on CPU usage, and should run on just about anything, including a RasPi and smartphones (with HDMI output).

Let me know what you think...

I will provide executable binaries for other platforms later (when I get my cross-development tools installed on this computer).

This is just a small taste of things to come.

Enjoy!

[twofoe]

Well it won't be realistic (framerate speaking) to have a whole Virtual Park, I think, especially if we want scalability.
We can go with one attraction = one level with his own environment.
With a special zone to serve as hub, a very simple 3d environment because we don't want stuttering while the next level is loading.
That could be a teleport pod or an elevator (Mass Effect, anyone ?), a transparent one which ride down across the soil, and through the clouds and the sky of the next attraction.

I was thinking the hub world might be a museum with posters and scale models. You walk up to a miniature roller coaster, see the world start growing around you, and the screen fades to black. Then the new scene fades into view and you're in front of a full-sized roller coaster.