Screenshot can be viewed through Rift at 1280x800 in full screen mode (F11)
Screenshot can be viewed through Rift at 1280×800 in full screen mode (F11)

A few weeks ago we showed you a mesmerizing program called Boxplorer2; a fractal exploration program which recently gained Oculus Rift support. The developer has just shared with us six fractal scenes, ready for viewing with the Oculus Rift.

First, a bit of background for those of you just joining us: fractals are intricate, infinite, and often beautiful repeating patterns that are created from an equation. The topic is far beyond my mathematical comprehension, so I’ll point you to the Wikipedia page on fractals if you want to learn more.

Boxplorer2 is a program that turns math into 3D fractals. This video shows and example what 3D fractal exploration on the Oculus Rift looks like:

Different equations and mathematical rules result in incredibly diverse scenes.

Developer Marius Schilder recently added Oculus Rift support to Boxplorer2, but the program lacked a front-end interface and was thus limited to those who know their way around a command line.

Explore 3D Fractals on the Oculus Rift with Boxplorer2

Schilder has kindly pre-compiled six new fractal scenes in Boxplorer2 with full Oculus Rift support, including headtracking; opening the world of 3D fractal exploration on the Rift to the rest of us. Download the scenes here. You’ll need a pretty meaty gaming rig to get a solid framerate in Boxplorer2.

After unzipping the program, run the SensorBoxTest.exe to initialize the Rift’s tracker (make sure the value in the window title bar is changing as the move the Rift). Leave the SensorBoxTest window open, then launch any of the following fractal scenes:

  • Angels-oculus
  • Catacombs-oculus
  • Insect-oculus
  • Mandlebox-oculus
  • Reflectoids-oculus
  • Rrrola-oculus
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Boxplorer2 Controls:

  • <enter> – fullscreen.
  • <tab> – switch between various points of view
  • <wasd> and mouse – move
  • <q/e> – roll
  • <z/c> – change inter ocular distance
  • <ESC> – quit

My two favorite scenes so far are Catacombs (for the creepy never-ending darkness) and Reflectoids (as seen in the screenshot above, for its incredible patterns).

What are you waiting for, go check it out!

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • WormSlayer

    Sweet! Downloading now! :D

  • Fluke

    Excellent!

    Not wanting to make any puns, but that really does add a new dimension to viewing a fractal. Moving towards what initially seems a small feature, and seeing it just grow in size in front of you with more detail is absolutely stunning.

    Couldn’t get the Mandelbox-oculus one to run, but apart from that, this great (and utterly fascinating) stuff :)

  • Patrick Hogenboom

    Oh wow, I’ve been waiting for this :)

  • Xavier Alienska

    This thing is crazy ! No rift yet, I use a loreo lite viewer. I Just run Rrrola-oculus.bat, resized the window for viewing with the loreo, and could not stop hitting “tab” for discovering and travelling into some new wonderful worlds. Now I get my main reason for buying a new rig.
    I still don’t understand why this great sofware didn’t have better audience. thanks for letting me know about this gem.
    But will there be new scenes later ?

  • Patrick Hogenboom

    This is just amazing!
    I can just cruise through these worlds ad infinitum.
    This is the exact reason I got myself a Rift!
    I love the way the sensitivity decreases when you get near the solids, you can explore tiny features and crevices without much trouble.

    • Ben Lang

      Are you able to run it relatively smoothly?

  • Patrick Hogenboom

    Its interactive rates, but at some parts of Rrrola and Reflectoids it gets slow, Insects was really slow and Mandelbox didn’t run for me.

  • Patrick Hogenboom

    Oh my god, what wealths of details are still hidden to realtime interaction….
    Check this screenshot: http://www.ms.mff.cuni.cz/~kadlj3am/big/boxplorer/screenshots/20100801_134409.jpg
    Exciting times!

    • Ben Lang

      Beautiful!

  • laser632

    No.

  • Parker

    Downloaded this but the “SensorBoxTest.exe” is not there! What do I
    do?