UPDATE: This was our contribution to the April Fools joke brigade today. I denounce myself 😛 Although in all honesty, I imagine that if the Vortek unit was redesigned and re-released right now, it would likely do very well on the market, whether the content was interactive or no. Enjoy the original post:
A new start-up by the name of VRf has shared with us some pre-release information on an upcoming project for arcades, a coin-op VR movie viewer by the name of VR SHOW.
Using a license for the design of the old V3 Vortek Arcade machines by GlobalVR, they have created a prototype that runs 6 VR films which run on average about 3-5 minutes each. The final design
All the action happens inside the big red viewer
will be more “streamlined” but they are already seeing stellar earnings from the initial test on a cruise ship and some other unidentified locations. The HMD is a new proprietary design, using ultra high-density resolution curved displays and stereoscopic 3D to create the visual effects; a high end PC powers everything and the connecting arm allows the user to look around freely without wandering off with the HMD after they are done. The joysticks from the Vortek design have been kept to maintain a simple level of control over the headset, while preventing the need for straps which tend to squeeze the blood out of some user’s heads when improperly installed. Thanks to the crane, the user can look around at their leisure to witness the various angles of each 360 film experience with zero latency and at those super fast frame rates we know and love.
The thinking behind the design it similar to what is seen with other popular non-interactive coin-op titles such as the Trio Tech Typhoon or the earlier Tsunami Tsumo with virtual roller coaster motion rides. A model featuring a seat is in development and units will feature the ability to link up to 8 units for the ultimate social movie viewing experience. MST3k Shorts VR? Done and done. And I mean done.
The six films to ship with the cabinet package include:
- Opportunity – An Exploration of Mars (Honey VR)
- Firefly: Enchanted Forest (Honey VR)
- The Big One (Hulu)
- Adrenaline Rush (SilVR Thread)
- Yellowstone Park (National Geographic)
- The Pawn (VRf, short film based on an old text adventure game)
And the company is promising more films to come and depending on the success, a possibly interactive follow-up that would include content similar to what was found on the old Vortek V3s, such as a new BeachHead VR or Operation Blockade experience. So what do you think, does this look like something you would check out at your local arcade?
hey its April First. What a coincidence, eh?
Let’s just hope they improve the swivel connector in the the top of the helmet. Not a cheap/easy part to replace. I think I went through 5 in 4 years (I think that is on the low end). Hopefully a gyroscope instead of potentiometers. Maybe have all signals via bluetooth/wireless HDMI and just have power through the helmet to prevent problems.
Cool! I wonder if you can convert any existing V3 cabinets to this! I also saw Crusin’ was testing at the Irvine Spectrum D&B, I found the picture of it (it was in a Tumblr post), but it was taken down as soon as I was going to save it (had to do stuff and refreshed the page when I came back). Basically the cabinet was a mix of MotoGP and Batman, with a huge Crusin’ sign on top of it. From what it looks like, there was online play, and a recording feature. It also seems like there was a ticket redemption feature (that can be turned off, I suppose) as well!
Thanks Jdevy, I heard from someone else that the game is testing so its definitely out there. Need to keep our eyes peeled!
Hopefully that’s no late April Fools joke 🙂
I have a Tsunami Motion deluxe model. Is anyone putting anything together to go VR ?
I will be interested. Thanks