With the onset of 2011 we are starting to see new and exciting technology. With 3D becoming a forerunner of technology today, there is a one company that is taking it a step further by putting the user in a full virtual environment, which they are calling 6D. Virtusphere Inc. is doing just that with their cutting edge new product the Virtusphere.
The technology is really the wave of the future for the gaming industry. You are truly in the game. For about $10 you get a 4 minute or so level inside what looks like a giant hamster ball. The game I tried at a mall was an Area 51 type base with aliens coming at you from every angle. Armed with a gun controller it was my task to shoot as many I could. What sets this apart from other games is while I was shooting aliens I actually believed I was walking around the base. This was achieved by wearing a full visor headset in addition to the gun controller. With it on I had a full panoramic view of the base and heard aliens blasting at me through the headphones. Whichever direction I looked was whatever I saw in the visor. So if I turned left I would see what was left and I could freely walk around the game while staying in place inside the ball. This combination of wearing the headset while being inside the ball really gave a sense of full virtual reality, a totally new sensation for me. As a hardcore gamer this blew my mind and the 4 minutes was not long enough. Sure the technology is new and little buggy but overall very impressive and a 2.0 version is already in the works.
But gaming is not the only use for such a sphere. Imagine a trip to the Great Wall of China, where you enter the Virtusphere and are free to walk and explore the wall like you are really there but your still in your local mall! Maybe you are in the sphere, and you see a movie screen in the visor and then all of a sudden the screen shots forward and wraps around your head and you are now truly in the movie. The possibilities are truly endless. Look for the Virtusphere coming to a mall near you or buy your own and invest in this amazing new technology on the ground level.
Interesting topic! I like how you have come up with lots of different applications for this technology. While it is too big and expensive for the average consumer to buy for their home entertainment center, it can be experienced by the masses at a local mall, almost like a movie theater. In addition to games, I like how you have mentioned that it can be used to travel off to far off lands.
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