08 Freshers Week - HTC Vive and Nosulus

I attended the Liverpool Freshers Week and found one of the cubicles was to promote computers and gaming and offered students a chance to win computer towers. They were also showcasing a VR shooting game using the HTC Vive and motion sensor handheld controls. This was probably more to promote the headset rather than the game since they didn't mention the title of the game. I was intending to try it out myself, however the man ahead of me was quite the dedicated gamer and I didn't have the time to wait for him to defeat all waves of enemies or to finally get a "game over".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1nCSPsrK04

http://nosulusrift.ubisoft.com/?lang=en-GB#!/subscribe

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/174579/20160822/forget-oculus-rift-meet-nosulus-rift-this-wearable-tech-will-let-you-smell-fart-in-new-south-park-game.htm

I've also found a few days ago that a device called Nosulus Rift has been developed through watching youtuber Pewdiepie's video where he's been given exclusive access to play the upcoming South Park: Fractured But Whole role-playing game. The Nosulus Rift is of course a play on the name of "Oculus Rift", as the name suggests this device enabled wearers to smell smells to match whatever smell is introduced in the game. In this case, South Park's RPGs use the power of flatulence as attack moves, and since you can't progress in the game without having to encounter enemies to battle or to access certain areas using farts the player will have to endure the smell provided. The Nosulus Rift does provide a step up to the game's humorous element compared to the first game though and there has been many positive feedback on its immersiveness.

The Nosulus Rift is essentially a form of smellivision for gaming, however this particular version seems to be only for this particular game, but it won't be long before game developers come out with games all to do with the sense of smell.

07 Madame Tussauds and Experiencing the Marvel Super Heroes 4D Film

Captain America

Iron Man

4D Cinema Screen

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Super_Heroes_4D

While on holiday to New York with my family we went on a number of tours, within New York and others outside of the city. The tour within New York included visiting Madame Tussauds, the popular tourist attraction wax museum with a number of branches in major cities around the world. The museum has a Marvel section where wax figures of Marvel's characters were on display, towards the end of this was a showing of Marvel Super Heroes 4D. The New York version of this 4D film has a different plot to the one showing at London; Dr Doom and Loki attack Stark Industries, Iron Man, Spider Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America unite as the Avengers to stop Dr Doom and Loki's army of robots.

The 4D aspect of the film consisted a pair of 4D glasses, the interactive aspects were light sprays water, gushing wind, things beneath the seats that tapped the sides of viewers' feet, and seats with a hidden contraption to poke the back of viewers to match the actions of the characters in the movie.

Having experienced this 4D film first hand I'm confident in saying that personally, the 4D effects using water, wind, and poking was actually more distracting than immersing. On top of the water and wind being uncomfortably cold and the glasses not doing any significant effect when worn, I was also always aware that the cinema and the setting within the film were very different; Stark Industries was CGI and brightly lit whereas I was sitting was in a very dark room. It was probably the combination of cold and dark that made me feel more detached from the film.

Despite not being immersed in this film it doesn't mean that other 4D films will give me the same reaction nor does my own response apply to any other person. But for now, until I come across another 4D film, I will say that 4D might need some development in order to fully immerse their viewers.

The Hulk

The wax models themselves were crafted very accurately to the point that I found them eerily believable as flesh and bone beings (the human ones at least). There was a particular model sitting on a bench and my mother's friend genuinely thought it was a woman taking a rest. Whether it was the manager of NY's Madam Tussauds museum or personal decision, a person working in the museum took advantage of believable models by standing at the entrance of the Ghostbusters section in a mid-greet pose, and after tourists stand up close to his face he would surprise them with a "Boo!"

Ghostbuster's Slimer ghost

The room itself displayed a hologram of Slimer menacingly flying around and laughing behind a glass wall. To the side of the glass wall was a table with a red button and pressing the button would activate the Ghost Trap beneath Slimer, the hologram appears to get sucked into the trap and is gone for a while. The hologram itself was the first I'd seen in person and I wasn't sure if the hologram was projected to a clear wall, but the effect did as it intended.

06 Reading Materials

https://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cognitive_surplus_will_change_the_world?language=en

For reading material on the subject of technological advancement I found "Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age by Clay Shirky". This book explains how we as a society are capable to help one another through the wonders of technology and that we now use our free time not for pleasure but to create and share.

https://www.ted.com/talks/ray_kurzweil_on_how_technology_will_transform_us?language=en

Ray Kurzweil believes that with the exponential progress with technology we will soon be able to reach nanobot tech as well as increasing the life of humans. Towards the end of his TED Talk he shares the idea of being able to experience virtual reality using nanobot technology:

"...full-immersion virtual reality from within the nervous system, the nano-bots shut down the signals coming from your real senses, replace them with the signals that your brain would be receiving if you were in the virtual environment, and then it'll feel like you're in that virtual environment. You can go there with other people, have any kind of experience with anyone involving all of the senses."