Full-Body Force-Feedback Simulator

For your tracking problem, if you don't want to go the optical tracker route, and if the virtual rig doesn't work out, maybe add the same sensors to the chair and calculate the difference from the ones in the rift? Nice job. I can't even get my wife to wear the rift, so no robot arms in my future.

For now KydDynoMyte we will focus on finishing our sample rides and setting up the Virtual version of our machine. Positioning is fed back from the machine, which has 4 axis so it get's a little complicated :)

Then we can see if we can mix the real position, VR cockpit position and pilot's head position.... :shock:

"KydDynoMyte" wrote:
...Nice job. I can't even get my wife to wear the rift, so no robot arms in my future.

My wife is as much a VR nut as me I think! - She even asked to go first! 8-)

Placing the DK2 tracking camera on the peak of the 'arm guard' should give it good visibility in all but the most flailing-of-the-arms situations, and being strapped in should nicely constrain the user's head within the camera's tracking volume.
With the amount of moving the platform does, it may be best to ignore the gyros and accelerometer data entirely and rely entirely on the optical tracking for both position and orientation (relative the the platform, which you already know the position and orientation of from joint feedback). That way you are just doing coordinate transformation on the measured values, rather than having to simulate the linear and rotational velocities the platform is imparting on the Rift (in order to subtract them from the measured values) simultaneously with using the derived value to determine the orientation of the rift in order to perform the simulation! Not impossible, but it does make a lot more work for yourself.

On the name: it might be more accurate to call it 'full-body motion simulation', or even 'full-body motion feedback' rather than force feedback. There's no force feedback for individual appendages, and only limited force can be applied to your body as a whole (limited range of linear movement).

Way out of my price range, but this looks like a looooot of fun.

@Edzieba: Thank you for your comments! I would like to dig into them here if that's ok :)

Last point first: Our stretch goal with our product is to produce a 'Force-Feedback' simulator that will not only move your full body (as it does now) but to also provide feedback to the arms and legs. Still this is something we are working towards and by no way represents it's current form :) - If I could figure out how to change the original thread title I would :)

ok so back to your other comments...

I think that your proposed solution (DK2) is the only viable and realistically practical solution for us and is why we have already placed orders for the DK2 kits (at least it is in progress). I guess once we receive the kits we can work out where the camera is best placed for operation, (mounting on the chair seems our only real option as the arm is not always in position to see the pilot (although I am not sure if this is a line-of-sight issue) still that said it clearly means that using any gyro's for positioning can be removed and as you say if we compare the position of the pilots head from the camera with the current position of the platform and do the maths.

Currently we are deconstructing the platform to make some changes to the location of the client PC which formally was over wireless connections, now we're looking at mounting a micro-pc directly into the chair and the server in the base unit. Still it's very early days and we're still experimenting with the platform.

If anyone wants to get involved in our project or is interested in integrating their games/experiences with it, drop me a PM :)

Thanks again Edzieba :)

@Mariom: We have no concept of a price range at the moment, we're hoping we can develop a range of chairs that include everything from the full experience to more subtle home application. Ideally we want to partner up with VR / Oculus games and experiences that could benefit from our platform. It would be a personal achievement for us to even help to bring back arcade gaming experiences as well as finding application in private sector use....

I guess most importantly we are investing our time and money in this product because we love VR and think that when we can collectively achieve 'presence' without relying heavily on 'shared presence' we will be able to do some amazing things.

Thanks to everyone for their comments and feedback, keep it coming :P :ugeek:

I can still see how some stray limbs or wires could get knocked or entangled during a roller coaster ride, so may I suggest you fully encapsulate the user. This would also provide you with a good place for the DK2 camera at the front of the capsule.