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| The giant sign at the San Diego Convention Center advertising the AMD event at the Omni Hotel |
Comic-Con 2011 is finally over and I have been going through my photos. During the AMD promotion I was able to use a virtual reality product called
Virtusphere. I posted about it describing it as a
"Hampster Ball" since that was my first impression of it. The Virtusphere was a little difficult to get into for the first time. The sphere is very well balanced and it only requires a little bit of force to move it. A first time user like myself needed a little help to get in but after a few times people would be able to get in fairly easily. They had the Virusphere set up to play Fallout New Vegas. Once inside with the virtual reality goggles on you were "inside" the game. You could move in all directions. You could also move in one direction while looking in another which was a different experience for me in a video game. The gun was set up to only act as a trigger mechanism for the in game weapon. It felt natural to point the gun in the direction you were firing but you were actually aiming with the goggles. Where you were looking was where you were firing. I am sure this could be changed to make the gun independent of the goggles and foot movement but it may have been a choice that the exhibitors made for the show. Some people are naturally very good at orienting themselves and others are not. The people who are good at this become Olympic divers and fighter pilots and others like myself walk into a pool and stay away from flight simulators. By eliminating the independent gun orientation it helped new users like myself to have a little more fun. It takes a bit of orientation to get used to the sphere's movement while using those goggles. I was in the Virtushpere for maybe five minutes and by the end I was starting to feel comfortable and was forgetting about the controls and getting into the game. Too bad I couldn't have spent the day in it! The AMD people working at the exhibit were nice enough to offer to take pictures with your camera of you in the Virtushpere. Except for the Convention Center sign the following photos were taken with my camera by one of the women working the exhibit.
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| Getting some help going into the Virtusphere. |
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| Here I am as another happy Comic-Con attendee. |
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| Last Year's Comic-Con T-shirt wasn't the greatest camouflage. |
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| The hatch was closed and I was moving. |
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| Finally getting the hang of the movement inside the Virtushpere. |
For more photos and videos of the
Virtusphere in action visit their website.
