Get a Taste of Space Travel With Oculus Rift in UK Kickstarter
Virtual space tourism thanks to Oculus Rift.
While Oculus Rift will no doubt be amazing for gaming, the peripheral's real life applications will also have a huge impact. While checking out the product at CES, the company talked about telecommuting and visiting places you've never been able to visit in real life. Taking that to the next level, a lecturer from the University of Surrey in the UK is offering people the chance to go to space.
Dr. Aaron Knoll lectures in plasma propulsion for spacecraft within the Surrey Space Center and has interned with the Canadian Space Agency. He and several research fellows have taken to Kickstarter to fund a project that will send a balloon into space. An attached rig is comprised of 24 GoPro Hero 3 cameras, an Arduino micro controller, a GPS receiver, a magnetometer, gyro seniors, a pressure sensor, SD card data storage, a SPOT satellite messenger, a hand warmer and a battery pack will all fit into a custom built styrofoam enclosure. This rig will capture video in all directions, and the video will be stitched together to form an immersive experience that can be enjoyed using Oculus Rift.
The catch here is that you must have an Oculus Rift unit to enjoy the experience as it is intended. Contributors can also opt for the PC or smartphone experience (both require lesser contributions compared to the Oculus Rift experience), but you'll just be navigating via your smartphone or mouse. Not exactly the same.
The Kickstarter currently has 22 backers and has funded about a tenth of its £30,000 goal. The project expires on April 3, 2014, which is less than a month away.
Oculus Rift still hasn't been released to the public, but Oculus VR, the company behind the HUD, has said it will be affordable for everyone. Obviously, with this kind of peripheral, it's not going to be cheap. However, given one of the big appeals is the possibility of experiencing things you otherwise might not be able to afford, we're glad Oculus plans to sell it for "as cheap as [it] can while still existing as a company."
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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RobotCaleb Very cool. I did something similar with six cameras about two years ago.http://robotrising.orgReply -
SuperFrosty 'Oculus Rift still hasn't been released to the public, but Oculus VR, the company behind the HUD, has said it will be affordable for everyone.' Can it really be classified as a heads up display? Isn't that a more Google Glass-ey kinda thing?Reply -
Ehsan w I also came to ask for a link to the kickstarter...This is the first project I actually want to fund. -_-*Reply -
haze4peace It's listed as the source of the article, but here you go: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1592839372/virtual-ride-to-space-using-the-oculus-riftReply -
cats_Paw This was quite obvious.With a good VR set we will see entertainment move to a new direction.Just wonder how long more we will have to wait for the damn Occulus To be actually finished...Reply -
dennisburke Oculus VR would be wise to take as long as they need to get this thing right. They are crossing into some new territory here and a successful launch will be important. Using the word "Cheap" should have not been used as it means many different things to many folks. I'd be surprised if it comes in at under $400.00 and considering what your getting as compared to a $1,000.00 GPU? My only criticism of the unit so far is that it looks huge and bulky. Something like ski goggles is a size that would be cool, lightweight and portable.Reply