I was asked to be a judge last weekend for the Dare to be Digital Game Jam in Dundee, organised by IGDA Scotland. The winner of that Game Jam created something amazing. They combined Kinect and Oculus Rift to create the most convincing version of Virtual Reality I have ever experienced. I am not sure anyone has ever been as close to being in The Matrix as I was when I pulled on the Oculus head set and saw all my movements in this new virtual world.
The game was called Dragon Eyes, and it was created by Jock Findlay and Jack Schofield along with a third team member who wants to remain unnamed.
In Dragon Eyes you fly over a polygonal landscape. You move your arms to fly, glide and swoop and dive. The most impressive aspect of the game is how intuitive it feels. I have had dreams about flying my whole life. And they felt like this! The weight and balance of your flying avatar feels perfect, and by leaning forward and back you can control your height. Diving low over the landscape then quickly climbing and flapping your arms to gain height, I have never experienced anything quite like it. Being able to blow in a microphone to shoot flame is just the icing on the cake.
Taking the Oculus headset off afterwards, it’s impossible not to be disorientated. There are two reasons for this. The first is that you feel like you have literally been to another world, and coming back to ours is an adjustment. The second reason for your confusion will be that you have witnessed the future of virtual reality. And you’ll wonder why no one else is doing anything quite like this.
Lets hope people read this, share it and some high ups realise what an amazing combination these two technologies make. And lets hope someone gives Jock and Jack a huge sack of money to make something even better. If they can do this in a Game Jam over half a weekend, imagine what they could do with a budget and six months!