‘Action Star: Parachute’ VR Experience Has You Throwing Yourself Out of a Plane

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Istanbul based digital workshop Codemodeon have come up with a VR experience which adopts some clever mechanics to sell the illusion of throwing yourself out of a plane and parachuting to an island paradise.

We’ve come across Codemodeon‘s brand of bespoke virtual reality experiences before. Now comes the latest instalment in their occasional VR series ‘Action Star’, subtitled ‘Parachute’.

The game utilises an Oculus Rift DK2, two steering lines (attached to sensors) and a pressure sensitive footplate to sell the moment you step forward and leap from a plane before descending to an island paradise which happens to be surrounded by vicious, man-eating sharks.

We’ve already seen the importance of the standing VR position as a ‘presence’ enhancer. Adding subtle physical cues, such as the small lip the player steps down to trigger the pressure sensitive plate which trigger the jump, are an interesting experiment along these lines – albeit wrapped in a one-shot experience.

The experience was designed and built to demonstrate the startup’s aptitude with emergent technologies such as virtual reality.

Codemodeon used a similar physical / virtual system for their previous entry in the series, which had players traverse a real-life plank synced with a virtual, death-defying walk.

 

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Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.