A marketing agency that specialises in creating Virtual Reality experiences approached us recently with a challenge that we found fascinating. A project they were working on needed people to be supported in a particular position and moved around smoothly to enhance the digital immersive experience. To provide a truly engaging piece of virtual reality it seemed that a bit of genuine reality needed to be injected back in!
A smooth motion platform
To solve this The Imagination Factory researched all the available motion platforms to find one capable of carrying the load of a person plus the structure that would be built on top. A platform made by Motion Systems was selected for its smooth movement and because all the 3D design data we needed was included for us to work with.
Scaffolding and bubble wrap
The design process was great fun and involved making numerous ergonomic rigs from bits of scaffold and bubble wrap. We tested it out with a range of people from teenagers through to large adults, until we had found the optimum position to support them throughout their time in the experience, whatever their position. Once this had been defined we could design the structure that would be seen above the ground.
Naturally in control
The final design had to be lightweight, rigid, comfortable and look great from all angles. To make the final system we relied on Ogle Models and Prototypes and Prototrim to produce our design as a beautiful, glossy white fibreglass moulding, trimmed with high quality black leather.
To allow visitors to take control of the experience in a natural way, we designed an ergonomic housing for the HTC Vive controllers which we 3D printed to give us total control over the finished form. The housing was attached via a custom designed self-balancing mechanism. This project is still top secret so we can't tell you more for now, but the image here give you a brief glimpse until the launch when we will show you more.