Virtual Reality Pods
“Design something that makes people look cool in VR”
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.
