One of the things we’re written about many times on the site is the possibilities for virtual reality inside the entertainment sphere but outside the scope of traditional games. Virtual Tourism, VR Cinema and Virtual Arcades are all tantalising prospects when the virtual reality experience becomes convincing enough, which by all accounts won’t be long at all.
Virtual Theme Parks however I’d never specifically considered. Unlike developer Rift Away, who liked the idea so much, they made an Oculus Rift demo around it.
Cyber Space puts you in the seat of a physics bending, stomach churning pendulum ride – propelling you from the ground 100s feet into the air, flipping you high above a detailed townscape. As with every good ride, Cyber Space starts you slow and builds to 360 degree loop the loops – think of this as your final endurance test before congratulating yourself on earning your Rift Legs.
For all the stomach flipping action, the title is actually great looking with a fully realised park town to gaze upon whilst you concentrate on keeping your lunch down so kudos to Rift Away for not just relying on brain flipping for the core experience.
It’s an interesting experiment in the kinds of experiences VR will excel at once it hits the market, providing developers who might not be interested in creating traditional games the opportunity to produce content that virtual reality users can enjoy in a way they couldn’t on any other platform.
You can find more about Rift Away at their homepage here – and you can download the Cyber Space demo here.