Nismo
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Registered: 12th Sep 02
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http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/26/wiimote-head-tracking-meets-first-person-shooter-die-marshies/
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Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
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doesn't look as good / effective as that last guys...
that just seemed to track his head position, so he could jump up or crouch. rather than altering the perspective inside the application relative to the position of the wiimote...
That other one was like as if you were looking through a window, that vid here is just like a normal 2d screen / playing experience.
I definately think VR is becomming a bigger thing again though...
- The wii has shown people that tactile games are fun / more enjoyable
- A lot of people are living virtual lives in virtual realities already (WoW, second life etc) but lack the sense of touch or full immersion
- graphics are now at a stage where things look realistic (Crysis 2)
- Technology is reaching a time where hardware can be developed and produced cheaply / innotively.
I honestly believe 'the matrix' will be a reality in 5-10 years or so, where people are living a virtual life in a fully immersed environment (every sense fooled, touch, sight, hearing etc... i.e. you can't tell the difference between real + VR) ... when that happens it'll open the biggest can of social / moral and ethical issues 
can't wait.
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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The matrix won't be a reality in 10 years.
The best we have at the moment is a band you strap to your head that can control some computer functions if you spend ages learning how to do it.
The most immersive thing i've seen so far is blind people with electrodes implanted into the brain, the electrodes can produce flashes of light from an input camera, far far from fooling you into thinking you are there.
I think it will happen but it'll be at least 10 times longer than that before we are anywhere near the matrix, no matter how fast the computers are you still have to interface the brain.
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Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
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There's a lot more than that currently possible john.
Medical Training / Nasa Training have full haptic force feedback so you can feel an object you touch, and grabbing it stops you pulling your hand back or pushing your hand through it.
but it all works on clunky tech and they look like planks + the costs are huge

then you've got things like the emotiv
http://www.emotiv.com/corporate/

That monitors the brain processes... requiring calibrating first (so you think of doing an action and it stores that 'brain process') - so later in the game you think about doing that action and if it sees that pattern of brain activity it re enacts it.
I don't think people will have ports in the back of their head in 5-10 years, but i believe people will be able to experience a immersive VR (feeling inside the environment and able to touch things) within 10 years and this will naturally get combined with MMORPG style things to provide a matrix like reality...
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Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
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End of the day, it's all about research and people investing in the technology... If companies pump a lot of money into the research of these technologies it'll get developed sooner... if no one invests then it'll go v.slowly.
Previously people never saw a market for this shit (and after the laughable VR of the 80's / 90s) it was swept under the carpet and forgotten about.
But things like the Wii have shown people do want to be able to interact with the environment a lot more... also many people semi living in second life and such say the one thing that's missing is the sense of touch.
In the same way people are willing to pay £150 for a force feed back steering wheel to play racing games with, I think people will be willing in the future to pay £150-£250 to buy their immersive hardware.
It just requires some true innovation and thinking outside the box to come up with solutions that don't rely on the expensive / clunky old tech ways or currently impossible (interfacing directly with the brain) of doing things.
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Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
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and like, potentially for haptic, that doesn't require brain control or a clunky device...
potentially a type of material that goes stiff and solid when a electric current is run through it, but then goes flexible and soft when the current is switched off.
If you made a whole body suit out of that, you'd essentially be able to stiffen up parts of the suit to represent feeling certain forces.
So as you push with your hands the bit around the elbow / sholder / bicep all locks up, stopping you moving your hand any more forward.
or as you go to grab a can, you wrap your fingers around the can and as you squeeze the inside lining all your fingers lock up and go solid, making it feel like you're grabbing a solid object.
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