DIY Holodeck Gaming System To Be Built By University Students

There are pretty much three ideas from Star Trek that, if real, would make the world a better place. The replicator, the teleporter, and the holodeck. The replicator is getting there, maybe come back to 3D printing in 100 years and see how that’s getting on. The teleporter? Well, we can but dream. And the holodeck… while not yet a reality, it soon might be as a group of students from the University of Southern California try and make it so.

Titled Project Holodeck, the group aim to bring immersive, 360-degree virtual reality to gaming with a custom-built device using off-the-shelf components. This hybrid holodeck hacks an Oculus Rift headset, Razer Hydra motion controller, and a PlayStation Move together to create the system. They say it will have “inexpensive headmounts, body tracking, wind-based haptic feedback, binaural audio, smell systems” to give you the full package.

Now all they need to do is build it, which they say they’re doing, along with building a game for the system called Wild Skies, a co-op where you pilot an airship. Above is a concept video of how they think it might work.

[via Engadget]

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