While the Oculus Rift is still in development, we’ve heard from lots of people excited about the possibilities of this next-generation virtual reality headset – especially when combined with the Leap Motion Controller to create immersive interactive experiences. Along with Elon Musk and SpaceX using the virtual reality headset to design rocket components, check out how our developers have used the Oculus Rift with Google Earth and the popular Airspace app Licht little adventure.
Google Earth
Back in May, the Leap Motion Controller was combined with the Oculus Rift and Google Earth at the Google I/O conference. The stereoscopic display on the Oculus Rift creates a realistic illusion of depth and space, while the Leap Motion Controller takes you further into the virtual world by interacting with it directly. People lined up for the opportunity to feel like Superman, flying above the world and through dense cityscapes.
LICHT little adventure
Licht little adventure takes you into a strange, beautiful world of darkened chambers and corridors. Designed to take advantage of the Leap Motion Controller’s unique capabilities, it allows you to explore a fully realized 3D world. Using light and shadows to navigate through dark mines and gravity zones, you must find orbs to unlock your surroundings.
Earlier this year, LICHT creator Gerald Terveen integrated Oculus Rift with the game – making it the first Airspace app that officially supports Oculus Rift.
“When I finally got to use the Oculus Rift in the virtual places I had created, I was blown away – because even though I created everything, I had no idea how huge some places actually are,” he says. “When you guide the orb up and look down, you suddenly realize how high the room actually is – and that you are flying 30 feet high in the air.”
By taking away gamepads and keyboards, Gerald says, the Leap Motion Controller allows us to directly interact with a virtual world – and that’s a powerful experience.
“Using a gamepad, you’re one step further away from immersion, since your brain has to process one more step for each movement. With the Leap Motion Controller in virtual reality, you get the exact movement you make with your hand and that is awesome.”
Our developers are always experimenting with new ways to build uniquely immersive experiences. We’ve seen many videos of additional Oculus Rift + Leap Motion experiments, and this is just the beginning. We’d love to hear your thoughts – which apps would you like to see in a whole new way by using the Leap Motion Controller and Oculus Rift?
Update: Check out developer.leapmotion.com/vr for setup instructions and start developing for VR!
How difficult would it be to use voice commands with this set up?
May 25, 2014 at 1:54 pmHi Jon, that would certainly be an awesome combo! Most of the Oculus experiments we’ve seen are built on the Unity3D game engine, which doesn’t have direct support for voice recognition, so it becomes a matter of finding the right tool or plugin. Building it from scratch would be pretty daunting. What kinds of uses do you imagine for this type of setup? 😀
May 26, 2014 at 6:12 amAsking me for creative ideas is like opening flood gates my friend. I imagine everything from virtual meetings with holographic displays in the middle of the table and avatars in different seats.
Strategy games that you can issue commands to holographic units or platoons. Use your gestures to move around. Enders Game style of game play.
for those with limited mobility a voice command option would make things still accessible where gestures are not possible.
Ultimately every marvel fans dream of a Jarvis type of program would entice literally millions of fans interested in being Tony Stark. A virtual personal assistant where your office and secretary would be inside the hard drive. Possibly linked to your virtual meeting room.
This could used to upload medical charts, scans. xrays etc. Real life holographic technology is in its infancy but this technology could be adapted to save lives. Eventually genetic mapping could be displayed and holographically manipulated.
http://www.medgadget.com/2013/10/realview-philips-video.html
Also movies like Surrogates or Avatar would be one step closer.
I am only spouting ides off the top of my head but they just keep coming. I am envisioning the fully immersible and fully responsive experience. This would be for both utilitarian and entertainment purposes. Living through a movie will be possible within our life time. I believe this is a MAJOR step forward towards that.
Sorry for rabbiting on 🙂 I just get excited about tech and gadgets.
May 26, 2014 at 10:29 pmRabbit away! It’s still early days and we’re pretty excited too 😀 Even beyond the possibilities of VR (and there are thousands), people are also working on mobile augmented reality platforms, like GetVu: https://www.leapmotion.com/blog/look-and-reach-into-another-layer-of-reality/ This sort of tech is still in its infancy, but it’s pretty interesting to see how the digital and physical worlds are increasingly converging.
May 27, 2014 at 5:32 am