Virtual Reality Pods
“Design something that makes people look cool in VR”
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The Virtual Reality Pods were born from the need to keep people safe, and look cool while playing motion-simulator VR. We built two 10’x 6’ beasts that house 4 Dbox chairs. Using HTC Vive headsets, you play co-cooperatively with your teammates to take down the system in a custom modified version of Battlezone VR. You use tank controllers to drive around, attacking enemies.
This project was completed over the duration of 4 months, where I digitally designed these pods, accounting for 95%-5% of guest’s ergonomics, portability, repair-ability, and style. We prototyped the user ergonomics in cardboard, where we could find VR occlusion issues, pinch points, and scale. We then made a first version. The design focuses on a “freestanding” glowing bezel, so quite a bit of support was needed. Glowing panels were quite a challenge: to get the most constant, other-worldly, Tron-like glow, I ended up rear painting acrylic with UV reactive paint, edge lit with UV LEDs. Custom trim was milled in-house to house the LEDs and acrylic. After we built the computers and tested everything, it was time to build another.
You can check these out in-person at Two Bit Circus in DTLA.
