James Bruton, a graduate of the University of Portsmouth, together with fellow students in the framework of the graduation project has developed a robot that brings virtual reality unexpected kind of feedback. This device to attack the player, so that in the real world felt the consequences of their blunders in the game.
Feedback in virtual reality – the most important direction of development of the industry, which is still in the initial stage. Portsmouth students decided to focus on a narrow niche — type games, with simulated hand-to-hand combat in first person. They added to the gameplay element as a one-handed shield, which performs the functions of the joystick and real protection.
The robot is just a platform on which is mounted a pair of manipulators under control of the Arduino Mega, complete with sensors Vive. This system monitors the movements of the player in the real world to guide the blow of an iron fist in the area of the shield, not to hurt people. But the shot is real and fairly strong, so for safety used Boxing gloves.
The system operation is synchronized with the game in virtual reality, the robot has only when a player makes a blunder in the game and had to receive punishment. The battle is not with a real machine, namely a playable character – the robot is only a complement to the process, it’s just an accessory, not a standalone device. About the prospects of such development is difficult to judge, because on graduation Bruton and his companions are not to think, to create a commercial version of a robot they do not plan to.
Source — James Bruton