Most of you would have had this dream as a child and felt the frustration of being stuck on the ground, flightless. Walking seems so boring, and flying dreams are some of the best ever! Great news, now you can virtually fly in real life.
Yes, that is what we said. This new virtual reality machine will allow you to experience exactly what it would be like to fly like a bird.
This latest virtual reality experience is not just exciting because it simulates the feeling of what it might be like to actually fly, but it does so in a way that engages more than just your sight and sound, making the experience become all the more real.
t was just the beginning of my time with Birdly, an elaborate, full-body virtual reality device that simulates the experience of soaring like a bird. Birdly’s creators have taken their simulation on the road, starting in Swissnex, an annex of the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco, where I recently had the chance to give the thing a go. […]
The simulator, created by a team led by Max Rheiner at Zurich University’s Interaction Design Program with funding from the BirdLife wildlife organization, takes on this issue by creating an input and feedback device that engages the entire body, which I found to be a pretty powerful experience.
The two earlier Birdly prototypes that BirdLife kept rendered the Swiss countryside. In that version of simulator, depending on what you’re flying over the contraption taps users’ sense of smell, dispensing controlled amounts of clean air, native flora, and other natural smells distinct to the Swiss countryside.
This has powerful possibilities for virtual reality games, movies, any technology really that aims to transport you to a different dimension.
Check out the video below of the demo in action and more info at Motherboard.
Birdly – Teaser from maxR on Vimeo.
