The “Ultimate Battlefield 3 Simulator” features hi-def video projected on a 360-degree screen, motion tracking, an omnidirectional treadmill – and 12 paintball guns pointed at your head.
With the release of Battlefield 3 in the offing, The Gadget Show decided to see what it could do to make the experience a little more visceral. With the help of a $650,000 budget, this is what it came up with: a 360-degree dome screen powered by five hi-def video projectors, an omnidirectional treadmill to allow for walking any distance in any direction, infrared motion tracking, a pile of LEDs and a Kinect setup to tie everything together.
And paintball guns. 12 of them, to be precise, aimed “in the general direction of the player” and set to go off when the player is shot at. That’s right, when you’re getting shot at, you’re getting shot at. It’s not hot lead flying around the room but believe me, getting tagged by these things from just a few feet away stops being fun in a hell of a hurry.
Which is why it’s so awesome! To watch, at least. Getting my junk punched by a 300 feet-per-second pellet isn’t very high up on my list of things to do, but watching it happen to some other poor bugger? I am all over that action.
Oh, who am I kidding? I’d climb into this thing at the drop of a hat and love every second of it. This is the future, kids. And the future leaves welts.
Source: Dvice
Published: Oct 21, 2011 04:43 pm