The gaming world is pivoting towards virtual reality as more and more conferences and festivals begin playing with VR. This momentum was extremely prevalent at this year’s IndieCade in Southern California as about a quarter of the booths contained virtual reality headsets.
There were approximately 25 DK2s stationed throughout the entire event. Most were showcased out front ready for the public to take hold, while others were hidden away for select individuals to try out. We rounded up all the experiences during the four days of IndieCade. Below are the areas that had the largest concentrations of DK2s.
VRLA Brought the VR Revolution to Culver City
Out of all the tents, VRLA‘s attracted the most attention in the virtual reality space. They brought together developers from all around Southern California for the festival. Here are brief descriptions of all the ones that were found there:
Sixense’s Lightsaber Demo
This experience uses a wireless, modular motion tracking system for natural and intuitive interaction while wearing a VR headset. Two 3D printed controllers are held in hand as a lightsaber game is played. A robot shoots lasers at the player who blocks incoming beams of light by moving the controllers around. When the lasers make contact with the lightsabers, a vibration is felt making it seem like an actual deflection occurred. Dozens of people continuously lined up waiting to try the Sixense demo at the VRLA booth.
See Also: Three New STEM VR Controller Videos Show Incredible Lightsaber and Gun Interactions
A Night at the Roculus
Flash back to the 1990’s with this hilarious SNL skit recreation that will keep any game player’s head bobbing the entire time. This was especially true at IndieCade 2014 as Haddaway’s classic Eurodance track What is Love was blasted through the speakers on repeat at the VRLA tent. Gamers who put on the Oculus Rift would bounce to the rhythms of the music as crowds gathered around to enjoy the fun.
Control VR
Virtual Reality gloves are an obvious form-factor for implementing real-time hand tracking into virtual reality. Seeing your hands recreated in full with fidelity down to each individual finger can help make players feel more present within the game. Control VR’s setup addresses those issues as several inertial measurement units (IMU) sense the movements of the body which in turn translates the data into the virtual reality experience. People who tried it at the VRLA tent could put on the DK2 and and jump into a simulation where they could pick up objects and throw them around. They could even press buttons and move sliders.
See Also: Control VR Gloves – Interview With CEO Alex Sarnoff and CTO Ali Kord
