What do you get when you combine RC cars with arcade style racing games? The racing simulator titled "Racer" of course!
Racer is developed by an independent group of guys at www.sputnic.tv. These guys have managed to build a complete RC track out of cardboard on which they drive a camera equipped RC car controlled by a sit down arcade driving cabinet. The camera enabled players to get a real first person experience as the car is driven around the elaborate homemade racetrack.
Racer is currently in its demo phase but the team has plans to expand the project even further.
More Details:
The project allows visitors multiple perspectives on immersion and on the creation of virtual reality. Visitors are faced with the challenge to mentally overlay the physical reality of the installation with the virtual reality of the game and vice versa.
This is done in a playful approach by emulating a popular and familiar genre of computer arts.
While certain parameters are necessary to recreate the gaming feeling,
i.e. the handling of the car, the look of the race track, consistent lighting,
the gaps and irritations in the asserted reality are equally important:
Sometimes, the architectural space behind the race track can be seen on screen while playing the game. Sometimes visitors pick up the car or interact otherwise, leading to a sudden breakdown of game reality for the player.
Technical description:
The system consists of following components:
vintage arcade machine with steering & speed controls and tilt mechanism
rc model car with tilt/speed sensors and wireless camera
model race track with photo sensors
microcontrollers for processing user input, remote control output and communication with PC
PC application for overlaying graphics and sound
Technical and spatial requirements:
The arcade machine requires a space of around 2×3 metres.
The race track should be installed in an adjacent room, connected by a doorway.
This room should be minimum 8×10 meters of size, ideally with a spot light system
for lighting the model and with possibilities to rig bluescreen plates from above.
The system is modular and can be adapted to the architecture of a given room.
It can be extended to a maximum area of about 30 by 30 metres.
If no separate rooms are available, a temporary wall with the arcade machine and the racetrack on either side could be a soulution.
Source: http://racer.sputnic.tv
RACER DEMO 0.1 - video game mashup from sputnic on Vimeo.
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