From: Philip Smythe Subject: APPS: "VR at sea" - New VR Game, from Go Virtual, sighted! Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 20:21:27 BST Last week I caught the Konigen Beatrix ferry which sails between Harwich in the UK and Hook of Holland in the Netherlands. This is a large and recently refurbished Dutch vessel complete with several bars and restaurants, a couple of cinemas, dance floors, duty free shops and so on. On the day I travelled there was also a VR games system of a type that I hadn't seen before. It was produced by a company called Go Virtual from Surrey, England and consisted (I think) of two Virtual Research VR flight helmets linked to a Division Provision system. The game was a shoot-em-up in which each user piloted a space craft and used a 6d input device (with "Fire" and "Acceleration" buttons) to destroy other ships. If 2 players took part then they could either chase each other or work as a team to destroy other ships. Stereo sound was delivered to each player via a headset and both sound and vision were relayed on large monitors to the crowd of onlookers. The game was plagued by the same problems of low image quality, excessive HMD weight, input lag and non intuitive control devices which I have seen with other VR games set-ups. There was not a lot that would tempt you to come back for a second go at present although I was told that they are planning to upgrade some elements of the system in the future. It was good to see a new operator on the scene however and interesting to note how the rocking boat and proximity to a late night bar led to long queues (lines) of people waiting to play all evening: clearly this was a prime spot for a VR game. Look out for it if you find yourself on this boat. Is there anybody who could tell me anything more about Go Virtual? |Phone: | PHIL SMYTHE |E-Mail: | |+44(0)473 644 758 | Human Factors Division |philip@hfnet.bt.co.uk| |Fax: | BT Laboratories |Location: | |+44(0)473 637 557 | IPSWICH IP5 7RE,UK |1'E,53'N (GMT) |