Third person video games are never really that realistic — you get a much wider range of vision, you can typically see around things your character can’t actually see… the list goes on. But what would it be like to have a third person perspective, in real life?
That’s exactly what some hackers in Poland decided to do! This is their Real World Third Person Perspective VR / AR Experiment. It makes use of an Oculus Rift, two GoPros, a microprocessor and a few servo motors. It’s essentially a glorified camera on a stick that you wear as a backpack, but nonetheless it has a really cool effect.
The project was built in under 2 days to get into the tight deadline for Intel’s Wearable contest, which has an impressive prize list, including a grand prize of $500,000 for business development! They didn’t place, but it’s still a Hack a Day worthy project!
Check it out!
[Thanks Itay!]
Downvoted on youtube, this is not sustainable technology.
Watch out we have a badass over here..
Huh?
Oh get over yourself.
Nice, they should call it “Giant View”.
1) I seriously want to try this.
2) It would be really awkward to balance, but could the cameras be placed a few feet further back so more of the body or even one’s feet would be visible? I Can foresee some difficulties on rough terrain or steps while using this.
3) Those cameras need a much sturdier articulation – wobbling on the end of two servos made me cringe.
instead of an arm, make it a little quad copter!
I know. its against the law NOW but would be the best way to do it and accurately ish to video games
Its actually not against the law.. You may want to go back and see that they are suggestions and not regulations as of yet.. Even if they went into effect, their is so many organizations that would sue the FAA and Federal Government on those restrictions..
The Mario camera!
Wasnt that the april fools joke from Razr this year ;)?
Darn it Chris I was about to suggest this too! :-)
However, I would add a power tether as battery power is only good for 5-10 minutes. A flat wire telephone cable is lightweight and flexible. It could supply unlimited power to the quadcopter drone until the motors overheat. And cameras are already built into let’s say the Brookstone Parrot (and others). He could use the VR Occulis device as a FPV goggle too. For those who can’t afford an Occulis just get one of those small old analog pocket TV’s with video jack and an old VR video game toy headpiece and mate them together. The SpyGear night vision goggle and also the SpyTank has it’s own FPV monochrome video monitor goggle. Both only cover one eye though not both.
The FAA is not enforcing this anti-personal-drone-thing until 2015 (in deference to future US Congress’ rulings on this) and it’s only for commercial use they are concerned with. As long as you are no closer than 1/4 mile to an airport of any kind and less than 400 feet high you are safe from them getting involved. I heard they may consider FPV goggles a problem though but I am not sure about that. And this is only if someone reports you like a pilot or a super-nosy concerned citizen. Just don’t put any laser pointers on it or you will also get a visit from local police.
Similar to Avatar Machine from a couple of years ago: http://www.marcowens.co.uk/Avatar-Machine
Yes, it was on hackaday at the time, though the link in the article is not good anymore. (The one you posted is, of course.)
http://hackaday.com/2007/07/10/real-life-avatar-style-video-recording/
Bout to go do this with my FatShark Teleporter V3 FPV Headset. YAY!
Amazing!!
What about throw away the servos and fix the cameras directly on a long stick on the back of the head? This should make it more videogames-like, as you turn your head the camera stay in line with you eyes. (Surely in this way it’s too much easy ;) )
Head motion tracking would be really cool for something like this. Maybe even a up-down motion to raise and lower it too. Could use progressively smaller pieces of PVC or similar material to make the armature compact down into a backpack when lowered all the way.
This would make for a cool periscope for looking into windows and over hedge rows. Needs taller stick though. What does the Arduino do again here? Wasn’t he already using a computer interface?
This reminds me of Google Glasses without the pole…
To drive the servos.
If you can’t afford Oculus Rift check out Google’s new answer to that. Enter Google Cardboard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KgW8w5QTNQ
Very cool, a friend and I did this with a pair of video goggles and a camera mounted on a boom-backback back in 2010. Looks a little ridiculous, but the Oculus Rift wasn’t even announced yet and we were both poor students :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCul2JdH5do
http://www.instructables.com/id/Viewing-Myself-in-3rd-Person/
Seeing your pole’s shadow reminds me of the Google StreetView cameras. Have you seen them on the road yet? Like an NASA spaceship with wheels. Really crazy looking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi-ljpuEGnA
Immersion did it first, although a lot less complex. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIRUavithF8
[Not sure where my previous comment got to, so delete this if it’s a dupe]
Previously – Avatar Machine: http://www.marcowens.co.uk/Avatar-Machine
I love how they used a breadboard to mount the GoPros on!
Zenith. The point directly above the observer.
Nice.
But how about other ways to see the world;
– Alternative spectrum. Compress non-visible wave lengths to visible?
– Stretched depth – space cameras further/nearer for (I think) Jaws-style zoom effects ?
–
It probably feels much like the dream state.
what is the song?
Julius Von Bismarck did this in 2007
https://vimeo.com/20736117