Article courtesy of John Beck, from The Processor.
Good news for sedentary sports fans with frustrated aspirations of grandeur. Thanks to the wonders of technology (and UK-based firm Real Time Race) they should now be able to take part in some of the worlds biggest sporting spectacles. Well, kind of.
The basic concept is designed to allow gamers to take a virtual place in real environments and events – all with naught but an internet and web browser enabled device.
Real Time Race says the technology could be applied to “skiing, mountain biking, equine eventing and water sports etc,” but that sounds a bit pants, and fortunately they’ve been focusing on motor racing so far.
Prior to a big race, the track environment will be captured by a Google Streetcar-alike vehicle, which along with 360 degree cameras sports a gizmo on the back which fires lasers all over the place to work out how far away everything is. The data is then processed and makes its way to a browser where it should play something like a conventional video game map.
The (real) cars participating in the race will also be captured, as well as fitted with navigation systems which transmit their position on the track, allowing couch-bound speed freaks to test themselves against the best in the world.
The technology still appears to be in the proof of concept rather than “actually fun” stage, and the car handling and physics are woeful, but it does seem rather promising all the same.
If you can stand the massive and utterly gratuitous use of exclamation marks and apostrophes, you can read more and download a demo here.
[ Real Time Race ]
Very interesting. Certain to get your heart pumping.
Equine?? Who Cares??? Car physics are the hardest to master for sure.
Neat concept, but I really don't see the need for it. Video games are meant to simulate, not be. I don't think it makes a difference what it looks like. I think it's all in the equipment used, are you in a full seat with wheel and pedals.
Neat concept, but I really don't see the need for it. Video games are meant to simulate, not be. I don't think it makes a difference what it looks like. I think it's all in the equipment used, are you in a full seat with wheel and pedals.