Universal Motion Simulator: real enough to evoke panic (video)
A fighter sim just isn’t realistic unless it makes you throw up and scream for your mother, which is why the sadistic folks at Australia’s Deakin University created the Universal Motion Simulator. It’s a barebones cockpit attached to the end of a seven-meter robotic arm that can pull up to six Gs — indeed it’s uncomfortable enough to mimic external disturbances, mechanical failures and crash scenarios as well as normal flying. The system also monitors a pilot’s brainwaves, pulse and other bodily functions to discover if they have necessary nerve. Check out the video after the break and then imagine combining it with a 360-degree viewing dome for utter perfection.
Continue reading Universal Motion Simulator: real enough to evoke panic (video)
Universal Motion Simulator: real enough to evoke panic (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Flight sim bubble offers 360-degree view, makes earth seem round
You’ve got the yoke, you’ve got the ridiculously over-priced gaming chair, so now all you need is Barco’s 360-degree display dome. It uses 13 separate projectors to create a hi-def simulacrum of paradise inside a 3.4-meter acrylic sphere. The pilot sits in the middle, suddenly remembers why he took up aviation, and then connects with up to seven other bubbles to practice complicated squadron missions. More desperately inviting pics after the break.
Continue reading Flight sim bubble offers 360-degree view, makes earth seem round
Flight sim bubble offers 360-degree view, makes earth seem round originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Gaming gets immersive thanks to union of pico projector and eye tracking camera (video)
Although in the earliest stages of development, this virtual reality gaming rig already looks pretty intriguing. Engineered by clever kids at the University of Texas at Austin, it hot-wires an eye tracking camera to a motorised pico projector with the result that the player literally can’t take their eyes off the screen. Wherever they look, that is where their view of the gaming world is projected. The rig makes most sense in a first-person shooter, although the students have also tried it in a flight simulator where the player uses their head to roll and pitch the aircraft. Yes, it looks rather similar to the Microvision PicoP laser projection gun we wielded at CES, but there’s a key difference: the player does not need to hold anything or have anything attached to their body. This unencumbered Kinect-esque approach could potentially allow a greater sense of freedom — except that, for it to work, the player is forced to sit directly in front of the eye tracker. Find a way to fix this, dear Longhorns, and you could be onto something. Video after the break.
Gaming gets immersive thanks to union of pico projector and eye tracking camera (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 May 2011 09:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Android quick app: X-Plane 9
The intricate and realistic flight simulator finally comes to Android
It’s been many months since we saw the X-Plane flight simulator for Android demoed at Google IO — long enough that we wondered if we’d ever actually see it. But it’s here, folks. And it’s got all the airborne goodness you could have hoped for (and that we saw in our demo).
But at $9.99, this isn’t a cheap app. Is it worth the 10-spot? Let’s take a look after the break.
Android quick app: X-Plane 9 posted originally by Android Central
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Hands-on with Laminar Research’s X-Plane Android flight sim [#io2010]
I’m pretty sure I could probably fly myself home after spending a few minutes with Laminar Research’s X-Plane Android flight simulator (this is no mere "app"), which we toyed around with at Google IO. You have seven airplanes — 
Piper Malibu, Beach King-Air, Eclipse Jet-500, Piaggio Avanti, Cirrus Vision, Cessna 172 and Columbia 400 — from which you can choose, and it features custom terrain (no Google Earth here) and even shows where lift is affecting the aircraft. It’s not available yet in the Android Market because they’re waiting for a few technical issues (with the Market, not their app) to be resolved. But hopefully we’ll see this soon. Check it out after the break. Anybody want to navigate for me?
Hands-on with Laminar Research’s X-Plane Android flight sim [#io2010]
I’m pretty sure I could probably fly myself home after spending a few minutes with Laminar Research’s X-Plane Android flight simulator (this is no mere "app"), which we toyed around with at Google IO. You have seven airplanes — Piper Malibu, Beach King-Air, Eclipse Jet-500, Piaggio Avanti, Cirrus Vision, Cessna 172 and Columbia 400 — from which you can choose, and it features custom terrain (no Google Earth here) and even shows where lift is affecting the aircraft. It’s not available yet in the Android Market because they’re waiting for a few technical issues (with the Market, not their app) to be resolved. But hopefully we’ll see this soon. Check it out after the break. Anybody want to navigate for me?