In the spirit of Christmas, some members of the VR community have mashed up their passion for virtual reality with today’s holiday. We offer a quick roundup of some of our favorite Christmas VR creations.
One of the best parts about covering the emerging virtual reality industry is the sense of community. Virtual reality would not be where it is today without the grass-roots support of a worldwide group of passionate technologists. To anyone following along, it becomes quickly evident that the community extends beyond the technology—we find folks weaving aspects of their own life into their virtual reality passion (or vice versa). On Christmas we’ve spotted a few VR demos, gags, and even a poem that we enjoyed.
Christmas Cards
This first card comes from our pal Andreas Aronsson who says that this is his 2014 Christmas card, complete with the Sweetish version of ‘Merry Christmas & Happy New Year’ across the top. We love the detail of the DDR-matt-turned-VR-navigation-device, along with the use of the Razer Hydra to enable 6DOF candy cane placement in this would be Santa simulator.
While a lovely photo by itself, the way that Aronsson created it is equally interesting. For maximum pose accuracy, he used a webcam aimed at the LCD on his still camera to project himself onto an overlaid view of the Santa photo which he saw in his Oculus Rift while taking the photo.
From the Dutch VR Meetup comes a Christmas card featuring a Gear VR equipped Santa Claus urging readers to have a “VRy Merry Christmas.”
Santa Training
With some 7 billion people to deliver gifts to, Santa has to be at the top of his game every year. That means adopting the latest technology so he can be in tip top shape when the big day comes. Thanks to Inition, Santa can simulate hours of flight training with his new wingsuit from the comfort of the North Pole, allowing him to hit houses more efficiently than ever before—and this year, Rudolph apparently gets to see what it’s like on the other end of the reins.
The Night Before Riftmas
Reddit user Svansig brings us a poem that would make Clement Moore proud:
‘twas the night before Christmas and all through VR
the Elite was showing a new shiny star
The cables were hung from the ceiling with care
In hopes that this next time, they wouldn’t snare
The children were nestled with Oculus faces
With visions of Aliens and strange far out places
With Mama in her Morpheus and I in My Gear
Set to watch Cinema until the next year
When out in Irvine, there arose a commotion
I ran to r/oculus with preconceived notion
Away to the PC, I flew like a flash
To start JanusVR, and clear my whole cache
Some brand new news to light up the reddit,
While someone named ZeniMax tries to take credit
When something did my weary eyes then assuage,
Cyberreality was on the front page
Maybe a driver? But with upvotes like this?
“Click anyways” I say to myself with a hiss
More rapid than eagles the posters they came,
And I knew one and all, at least by their name
Look Carmack, Look Abrash, Iribe and Luckey
And just when I thought that this year would end sucky
“We’ve all been silent, but now it must end
For we have a product, it’s ready to send”
My wallet was already out of my pants
When the very next line, I happened to glance
“With 4k, eye tracking and wide FoV,
We are proud to announce a new DK3”
Christmas VR Experiences
Aldin Dynamics created the Living Room VR Tech Demo, for the Oculus Rift DK2, which puts players into a classic fireside scene with the ability to vary their scale from a giant all the way down to the size of a fly!
VR Cover created a branded Rift DK2 experience called Cool Christmas VR which takes more of a trippy post-apocalyptic approach to Christmas. It features a giant Santa Claus with an 8-bit head that bumps to the beat of dubstep… yeah, it’s as awesome as it sounds.
On Android, for Google Cardboard and other VR smartphone adapters, Rewind FX created Defend Santa’s Grotto VR, where players are asked to “defend Santa’s Grotto from the hordes of hungry snowmen, all intent on stealing your mince pies.”
From the Road to VR team, have a merry holiday and a happy New Year!
