Hey, here’s another from Scientific American. I think that we might have talked about less immersing virtual training environments in class but the Office of Naval Research’s new $40 million research program is on a different level. The program, Virtual Technologies and Environments, has developed a sort of hamster ball for a Marine to stand in that monitors his/her movement and propels them through an urban combat sim. The journalist who tested it complained that he actually was afraid and nauseous while playing. When he finished, he was sweating since he actually had to walk around himself. The ball might be sold commercially for $20,000 USD. Here’s the article.
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Wicked good find. I wonder if this will be the future of gaming…where game success depends on actual physical attributes instead of skill with an abstract control layer. Of course, most people will still be looking for a simple, fun Wii-like experience, but for the most hardcore gamers, this might be pretty neat. I wonder if it has other training implications? I could picture a fancy gym having a couple of these programed with footrace programs. You could take a run with famous athletes.
It also reminded me of a short gaming\training scene in the movie “The Island” with Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. Here’s the youtube of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy5LYUntW5w. I’ll post it as a separate post too.