How much does it cost to build a VR set like "ready player one"?

About this movie, the most discussed at present is the “egg” because it is itself a film that looks for eggs and is full of eggs. The movie portrays a group of players to gather together three keys, explore the past of Halliday, the founder of the game, and look for clues to solve puzzles from the logs and life clips; and various classic characters and elements in the movie. Appearing in various ways, it is inspiring a large number of players to remember the past games.

Sci-fi games have always been a paradise for imagination, and all kinds of elements are beyond reality. Recalling some of the early literary or cinematic works that we saw sci-fi, such as “Star Trek” and “Back to the Future”, many “high tech” looks cool at the time and have become a reality now.

Another anime work, “Sword Art Online”, which also uses the theme of virtual reality games, also outlines a world where technology is still unattainable. The construction of “Sword Art Online” is a state of “sneak completely”. The brain nerves are connected to the helmet NERvGear and cut off the physical consciousness of the real world. Therefore, “death” in the virtual world of “Sword Art Online” in the first quarter will also cause “brain death” in the real world, it means “Real death”.

But on the other hand, the technology we see in the world of “Ready Player One” is obviously much more “grounded”. For example, VR head-mounted displays, tactile gloves, and somatosensory accessories are all products that are already in their infancy.

The question is, in 2018 today, how much would it cost to get a game experience similar to that in “Ready Player One” in the 2045 world?

Before this, we must first figure out the specific equipment in the “Number One Player” world. Although this part did not introduce too much in the movie, in the original novel, the author Ernest Cline detailed description of the use of the male actor Wade device, it perfectly solved the “visual, Hearing, Touching, and Olfactory, these parts are excerpted here:

I spend most of my time on fully-adjusted tactile chairs. When I fly, fall, or move on an oasis, it can give me an immersive experience by shaking, spinning, or shaking.

The helmet is called RLR-78000 and has a state-of-the-art retina screen that can project the oasis world directly onto the retina of the human eye. The custom oasis host is equipped with an extra large hard disk, enough to back up all the data in this world three times.

Below the head is a somatosensory garment that covers all of the body under my neck. The outside is a layer of precision sensors that can sense and transmit my movements, helping me to perform better in the oasis; my tactile gloves come from Japan, sensors It also completely covers the palm of the hand, allowing people to feel something that does not exist in the real world.

Underneath the chair is a special treadmill that allows me to run indefinitely in any direction and keep me at the center of the platform, it can also simulate the stairs and take the slope.

The audio system consists of a series of ultra-thin loudspeakers on the walls, floors, and ceilings of the apartments, providing 360° surround sound.
There are also special odor makers that simulate more than 2,000 different odors, whether it is rose or sea breezes, or even the smell of burning can be perfectly reproduced; of course, some people like to estimate the use of disgusting smell to find trouble, so I usually have All are closed.

Anyway, I always felt that the actor in the novel was obviously richer than the first person in the movie (and of course, the limited space the movie can display), but in any case, a VR game is a perfect experience. Both vision and touch are parts that cannot be separated.

The core visual device is the VR glasses. In the “Ready Player One” movie its appearance is somewhat similar to the ski goggles we now commonly see, with an entire holographic display inside.

Given that many players can wear it and walk on the road, it should also support wireless connection.

On the outside, the nearest device to this device is Glyph, a virtual reality device launched by Avegant, which sells for about $400. It also uses retinal projection technology, which can project images directly onto both eyes, but it is still not fully immersive, at the same time, it is not a VR device. It just a product for watching movies and listening to music.

If we just want to find a head-mounted display, the standard will drop a little. eBay will find many styles that cannot even be branded. Most of them are less than $100. We only need our smartphones to enjoy a VR small movie, the feeling is not bad. However, these are obviously not the game choices.

Therefore, HTC Vive and PS VR are more suitable options if you want to do immersive VR devices like “Ready Player One” HTC Vive is the best VR platform for hardware experience. Now it can rely on wireless modules and match headsets to get a better integration experience. However, the price is naturally high, and HTC Vive still needs more than $400 for the first generation. The latest Pro version is Need nearly $1100. Not to mention that there is an HTC VR is not enough, we have to get a high-end PC in advance.

As for the PS VR, although the effect is not as good as the HTC Vive, it does not support wireless connection, and it is more inclined to allow players to sit and play, but it’s cheaper, and the initial set of PS4+PS VR will not cost more than $400.

But VR devices only solve the “visual and auditory” two parts. In the film, touch is achieved by the touch of a glove and a higher-end somatosensory clothing. There is also a treadmill at the bottom to simulate the problem of movement. There are specialized facial recognizers on the neck. to simultaneously show the mood swings in the real world.

Fortunately, we can find corresponding products in the real world.

The first is the “Gloves” launched by HaptX. It was debuted at the end of 2017. The appearance is more similar to the exoskeleton machinery, but there are hundreds of sensor units inside the device and can be linked to the Vive controller. Each time the player touches in the virtual world, the glove will change the internal air pressure to simulate the corresponding touch.

Unfortunately, this product has not yet been put into mass production, so the pricing is unknown. However, according to developers, it will be able to drop to the average consumer’s affordable level in the next 2-3 years. Currently, it is mainly for business users.

Secondly is the Tesla Suit Bodysuit, from the CES 2018’s physical demonstration, it is based on the muscle electric pulse technology, in the form of bioelectricity to send the sensation from the nervous system to the brain, in addition to the human touch, you can also simulate the temperature, so It is said to be richer and more delicate than simple vibration feedback.

However, in view of its crowdfunding price in 2016, a set of clothes will cost about $2000. In the short term, it will only be exclusive to the rich player.

The “Infinadeck” treadmill by George’s team seems very close to the equipment in the movie both in appearance and function.

Finally, facial recognition. The best solution I have ever seen is the real-time motion capture system presented by Unreal Engine at this year’s GDC conference. The facial expressions, as well as the mouth shape, can be perfectly restored to the virtual character. The effect is very amazing. But you said that the realization of commercialization, short-term estimates are also difficult to achieve.

The above is probably the best equipment we can find at this stage. From an individual user’s point of view, you can get the device together and spend $15000-20000? This theoretically we can create a “low-quality version” of the “Ready Play One”, the effect may be close, but playing a gun shooting game like “Battle Royale” will not be a problem.

If you just want to experience virtual reality, I actually recommend you to try some VR simulator. Egg pods cinema for VR movies, VR Racing Car and VR motorbike for the racing game, and VR “King Kong” that is the best VR simulator to play rollercoaster.

Although the various devices in the “Ready Player One” have already been traced in real life, the most crucial software part – the large-scale online game “Oasis” game world has really exceeded our imagination. According to the movie’s description, this is a “virtual world built with a real-body-stimulation simulation system” and is an era in which “everyone spends time in the same game” so that even the founder himself cannot control Its speed of development, and choose to create a button that can destroy the whole “Oasis”.

The movie creates the dream, and “Ready Player One” uses a sci-fi game world based on reality elements to create a future that is infinitely close to us. When the technology can support the virtual world we want, will you desperately flee to your “Oasis” world?

Reality is the only thing that is real.