The Oculus Chair: Let's build it

[Leahy]

I like the kneelchair idea but I think it would be counter-intuitive to use one foot for walking and another foot for turning. Perhaps it might be possible to move the turning/crouching/jumping into the chair (knee/seat assembly) itself and let the feet focus on walking and strafing. It will surely require a certain deadzone tuning to get rid of minor natural movements but a rotation of the seat and a bit of leeway between the seat and the knee cushion could work

[Diorama]

That knee-chair/pedal setup would be PERFECT for flying a speeder around the forests of Endor

[STRZ]

I like the kneelchair idea but I think it would be counter-intuitive to use one foot for walking and another foot for turning. Perhaps it might be possible to move the turning/crouching/jumping into the chair (knee/seat assembly) itself and let the feet focus on walking and strafing. It will surely require a certain deadzone tuning to get rid of minor natural movements but a rotation of the seat and a bit of leeway between the seat and the knee cushion could work

Counter intuitive it would be only in the beginning because you're not used to multi task this way. But once you "learn" it it could be easy as driving a car and you do it without thinking about it. I think the important thing is that you use the movement abilities of your ankles and try to avoid a gamepad like input scheme, and turning with the kneepad would be the same than pressing a anologue stick into a direction.. you really want to get rid of this layer for competitive gaming. I'd like to enter normal servers with the Rift and kick some ass. I'd like to see someone really mastering the multitasking, plus the independent aiming with a novint like device and Rift headtracking. It's a uberhuman VR

I had the idea to put the WASD movements into the seat itself and control them through loadcells by weight shifting, i mean under the arse because the weight is mainly applied on your knees with those seats. But you'd want the turning to be precise, i think the Jogwheel/disc controlled by your foot is best for this. I had the idea of a sort of foot mouse with a optical tracker before, but then concluded that a jogwheel/disc with a good potentiometer could be better, because you'd have the advantage to push it and then stop it when you're in the position you desire. You'd be able to turn very slow and very fast, and even to turn around your axis several times with one push of the heel.

@ Diorama

That would be a fantastic game idea, a sci-fi racing game with this chair

[squibbfire]

They Do have chairs with handles...but strafing sounds like a foot thing....moving forward might have to be something else...and aiming and turing just might have to be oculus controlled...

[Aeroflux]

Three pages and not one mention of the R360?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caoakr9gZB8[/youtube]

This was the go-to arcade machine at Disneyland...before they shut down the arcade. Naturally Sega took the single greatest arcade cabinet I've ever seen and coupled it with a game that didn't even correspond 1:1 with the hardware...Afterburner. Even then it was fun to fly upside down.

[superbike81]

I'm not going to go as far as some of these ideas, but I am planning doing up a nice office chair with a couple tactile transducers for haptic feedback in game.

[squibbfire]

Here are some cool ideas...






http://www.webtechglobal.co.uk/blog/har ... rkstations

[STRZ]

I find them unneccesarly overdesigned, just "good" looking and pricey designer furniture for Appleish minded people, and not contributing to solve any control issues. I'm totally against this superficial cheesy designer stuff.

[Mystify]

Making it look pretty is what you do after it is fully functional.

[STRZ]

Nah.. i like the raw looking industrial stuff which often doesn't need any design beyond beeing functional

[oculusfan]

This is all I need.

[bobv5]

Who needs a chair?

[Diorama]

Who needs a chair?

That was my wallpaper a few years back!

In fact, the first night I heard about the Oculus and started reading all about it, I kept thinking about that picture!

[squibbfire]

no no...these are overdecorated...but look at the placement of things...if windows does go VR and we have a much larger work space controlled with out hands. Some of these might be worthwhile ideas. Char arms and desks might just get in the way.

[Cathodoluminescence]

With all those chairs I would go for a custom made split keyboard or two keyboards (one per arm/hand). For now two weeks or so I write with two keyboards simultaneously (2 normale keyboards placed directly two each other, small angle of 20-30°), and it works out pretty well. I can sit very relaxed in my office chair, leaning back and write easily. Sometimes - I have to admit - I have to look where my fingers are exactly.

[Leahy]

With all those chairs I would go for a custom made split keyboard or two keyboards (one per arm/hand). For now two weeks or so I write with two keyboards simultaneously (2 normale keyboards placed directly two each other, small angle of 20-30°), and it works out pretty well. I can sit very relaxed in my office chair, leaning back and write easily. Sometimes - I have to admit - I have to look where my fingers are exactly.

Something like this http://www.ergonomicsmadeeasy.com/store ... tyle-solo/ but with a longer cord?

For years now if I am just surfing I sit in a la-z-boy type chair with my feet up using a monitor arm that swings over the middle. I am a leftie that uses a right hand mouse so it wasn't too hard to learn to type with only my left hand and the full keyboard. I don't claim it's very good for typing papers but for small comments, urls or search terms it's just fine.

[Cathodoluminescence]

Something like this http://www.ergonomicsmadeeasy.com/store ... tyle-solo/ but with a longer cord?

For years now if I am just surfing I sit in a la-z-boy type chair with my feet up using a monitor arm that swings over the middle. I am a leftie that uses a right hand mouse so it wasn't too hard to learn to type with only my left hand and the full keyboard. I don't claim it's very good for typing papers but for small comments, urls or search terms it's just fine.

Yeah, somethink like that with a longer cord would be good. But two keyboards of the same model are also fine. Especially because you have an overlap of keys (you can use from the middle of the keyboard with both hands). Ideally, would be a relaxing chair or so where the keyboards would be at the side. If the chair would be too thick, you could attach the keyboards right under the seating surface. So far, I haven't found a suitable (and affordable) chair for that. Mostly, they are either to wide (should be as wide as your body), too thick to attach the keyboards or just too expensive....

[STRZ]

Many use this chair for simracing, flightsimming and other computer tasks. You could try and mount a Novint on the place where you would mount a steering wheel.

[youtube-hd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b8uOZmBU_g[/youtube-hd]

[youtube-hd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNZiilfXdDk[/youtube-hd]

[QUAKE]

Three pages and not one mention of the R360?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caoakr9gZB8

This was the go-to arcade machine at Disneyland...before they shut down the arcade. Naturally Sega took the single greatest arcade cabinet I've ever seen and coupled it with a game that didn't even correspond 1:1 with the hardware...Afterburner. Even then it was fun to fly upside down.

I remember that! It was my first time in Disneyland when I've tried it.

I remember distinctly, it was a plane in third person, and I was flying through some kind of giant brown brick temple. I couldn't concentrate on the gameplay because I was having too much fun making myself move around.


I enjoyed it more than any of the rides, and made me so optimistic of the future.


Apparently, Michael Jackson loved arcade games, and after his passing it sold for around 5 grand.
Now that's really cheap for a full motion control simulator! I wonder if anyone hacked around with one to get it working with flightsims

[Ryuuken24]

There is a german site all about motion platforms DIY. Just google DIY 2dof motion chair.

[QUAKE]

There is a german site all about motion platforms DIY. Just google DIY 2dof motion chair.

Found it:
http://www.x-sim.de/documents/quick_gui ... _types.pdf

But that's all about racing/sit down simulation.

What about standup?

Imagine a simple body harness that will lift up user gently a few inches off the ground during a 'freefall' moment ingame.
That sensation alone is worth building a rig for it.

[geekmaster]

A lot of variations on this theme have been explored here, including the "ExoHaptic EasyChair". Check out the links in this post:
http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.p ... 77#p129177

And there are some "standup" variations in this thread:
http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=140&t=16484

[FR3D]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc0GxMk0kk4


http://www.motion-sim.cz/index.php/our-products


best regards FR3D

[mickman]

Can someone please recommend software that controls a stepper motor with game input ?

Currently I use Unity & Uniduino... but am thinking if I want to play a game like Hawken, I'd need some third party plug in that recognizes an in-game event than triggers the stepper motor. yes ??

I have a couple of stepper motors & Arduino mega + a motor shield.
Will this suffice for simply rotating an office chair L/R ? I wonder what size stepper motor would be required to pivot a chair with 80kg on it ??

[Kazioo]

Ben Krasnow from Valve made something like that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfqtKJAnJHg

Considering that he just hacked X360 controller this could be used to make even console games playable to some people with disabilities in hands.

[geekmaster]

Ben Krasnow from Valve made something like that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfqtKJAnJHg

Considering that he just hacked X360 controller this could be used to make even console games playable to some people with disabilities in hands.

I did not know that Ben was from Valve. Interesting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_olmdAQx5s

Ben's acrylic rocket engine is cool too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLPWqCMb7DE