SWEET: Fly like a bird with the Oculus Rift immersive flight simulator

As a quick introduction, the Oculus Rift device is a virtual reality display designed to provide an immersive experience. The company behind it was recently acquired by Facebook -- for reasons yet undetermined -- but this application is way cool.

The quest for a device that will allow humans to soar like birds has led to some strange contraptions over the years... But this one could outdo even the most bizarre designs – and you don’t even have to take off from the ground to use it.

The Birdly machine lets you flap your way through the air in a similar way to the red kite that it’s modelled after.

...Developed by the Zurich University of the Arts, a motor translates hand movements from a simulator into the flapping of virtual avian wings...

Meanwhile, an Oculus Rift VR headset provides a stomach-churning bird-eye-view of the flight.

If that wasn’t enough, the system also replicates the headwinds that a red kite would face using a fan... Users will even smell whatever landscape they’re flying over...

‘Soundwise you perceive only the roaring of the wind and the flaps of the wings,’ the designers write on their website... ‘The olfactoric feedback is based on the location which the bird flies over in the scenery and ranges from the scent of a forest, soil, to several other odours of the wilderness.’

This is so cool.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News