To take a break from previewing the MMO's of E3, I made it over to 3001AD's booth to check out their Trimersion VR headsets. The first thing I noticed was that this thing is wireless, which means no cords to tangle you up. The guy trying it out was playing Quake and I could tell from the monitor that he was having very little trouble aiming and navigating around. It was also obvious that he was aiming and turning by moving his head around, his controller only moved forward/back and fired. VR's always been cool, so of course I headed right for the set but was intercepted by the person I was actually supposed to meet with... no problem, that's what I was there to do, I'd play with it later.
As we headed for the meeting room, he introduced himself as Marc Rifkin, VP of 3001AD. Through our talk, I found out that the technology for Trimersion is 8 years old. It has traditionally been used for theme parks and is only now making it into the realm of the private user. The trimersion itself has been in development for 3 years and it is currently the only wireless tracked headset slated for use in the home. By "tracked" I mean there is a box that sits by your monitor or television that watches the headset. As you move your head, your character in the game changes his direction and angle of sight to match your movements. So basically, you turn your head toward what you want to kill, and press the button. Rifkin says the next step for 3001AD will be a tracked gun to match the headset.
Ok, finally I got to put it on. I've had other VR sets on before, so the Trimersion's light weight immediately impressed me. Calibration was easy, I looked straight ahead and pushed a button. Amazingly simple. So then I started turning, looking up, looking down... there seemed to be no difference in my degree of rotation and that of my character. It was then that they told me the Trimersion interfaces just like a keyboard and mouse... that's all the computer thinks it has connected. This didn't really sink in until after I was done playing, because I was a killing machine... headshot headshot headshot... it's not hard when you deal out death just by looking at things.
After I was done it was Fafnir's turn. I hope I didn't look as stupid as he did. =) VR headsets still have a way to go before we're Geordi LaForge, but the Trimersion is by far the best home solution I've seen. It's plug n' play compatible with the Xbox, PS2, and PC. 3001AD boasts that the Trimersion will work with any FPS with mouselook. It comes with two LCD video panels, built-in speakers, gyro head tracker, and adjustable straps. The base unit connects to the PC, Xbox, or PS2 and rests directly beside your monitor or TV.
Interested? It's shipping in August at an estimated price of $395.00, which may seem expensive, but its closest competitor costs roughly twich as much and has wires.
