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VR Traveller

Werner

SOC-13
I saw some videos on YouTube showcasing omnidirectional treadmills, high resolution VR helmets, force feedback datagloves and bodysuits and I was wondering what you think. Is the time approaching that we should consider a VR implementation of the Traveller setting?

Basically substituting physical hand-eye coordination and actual targeting skills for the die rolls used in the Traveller game. How would that go?
 
Expensive.

Cool ... but expensive.
There's also the "log out for a week" during jumps factor.
The most expensive piece of equipment, I believe, would be the omnidirectional treadmill. You know how that works? There are two kinds, one kind the more expensive kind is a treadmill of treadmills, there are a bunch of X-treadmills stitched together, into a loop called the Y-treadmill. Each treadmill works like a standard linear treadmill, there is a continuous belt, wheels, and and electric motor to spin the belt around. The X-treadmills are stitched together side by side to form a continuous Y-belt that loops around at a right angle to the motion of the X-Belts, in this way as you stand on the treadmill while wearing the trackers, the omnidirectional treadmill will run in the opposite direction from the direction you are walking or running in to keep you centered on top of the treadmill, this is the more expensive kind because of all the electric motors and belts involved, this is likely to run you a few thousand dollars.

There is a cheaper version of the omnidirectional treadmill, this involves a shallow metal bowl and a pair of tracking shoes with nearly directionless soles that you walk in, this treadmill isn't and actual treadmill, you walk and slide your Feats on the surface of the metal bowl, and it tracks your foot movements, and it takes a little practise to learn to walk this way and stay on your feet, but since it doesn't have moving parts except for your feet, this is the cheaper kind, that will probably run you about $500. The other gear is the head mounted VR goggles, the haptic force feedback gloves, and that is pretty much all you need to control your avatar, it's a good way to get some exercise as well.

As for what you do during the long jump periods, the answer is whatever you want. Your characters can get stuff done while they are in jump space, you can use the various rooms of your ship as meeting rooms to plan out your actions when you arrive. Naturally you aren't going to spend all your time playing the game, so you can fast forward the parts where there is not much happening. My guess is this would be limited to small groups with the computer controlling the opponents with AI software running the NPCs of course.
 
Ya know, I remember Minority Report, and that UI was awful. Do that all day long and your arms get really tired.

Better are the video tables that you see nowadays, with documents spinning around, or meta data showing up. I liked the stuff they had in Hawaii Five O (I think) where they throw down an ID on the table and a bunch of stuff lights up about the person. Great for collaboration, but they take up a bit of space.

Static VR expands a persons private space. For example, imagine your generic modern stock broker with the 30 square feet of screen space at their work station made up of several flat panel displays. That takes up some room.

Stick a VR set on the brokers head and you can cram them in to a call center cubicle and get twice the density. Not a bad proposition on a cramped starship. But you shouldn't need to walk anywhere. Why "walk" to engineering when you can "teleport"?

What you really need is a combo AR/VR set. The VR needs to be a all encompassing, so that the user can turn their head and view things around them. And with detailed charts and graphs and data, you don't want a cluttered background. But at the same time, it's not really great when someone walks up and touches you on the shoulder. When you have no awareness of the "real world" surrounding you.

So it would be nice that you can be in your VR world, but should some one walk up, you can hear them, they can appear in your VR field of view, etc. And, of course, you as an operator should be able to just dial down the VR part and let the rest of the world show through.
 
there are so many types of VR fiction out there. wonder if I'll still be alive to enjoy it when they make it available and cost friendly in reality.

Ready Player One & Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline has a virtual world that has a corner to fit Traveller in. the equipment is similar to what is mentioned in this thread.

Sword Art Online (anime) just uses a VR helmet and nothing else. later in the series, you just need a VR visor for full immersion, and a headset for VR augmentation of the real world.

and these are just a drop in the bucket of what's out there.
 
there are so many types of VR fiction out there. wonder if I'll still be alive to enjoy it when they make it available and cost friendly in reality.

Ready Player One & Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline has a virtual world that has a corner to fit Traveller in. the equipment is similar to what is mentioned in this thread.

Sword Art Online (anime) just uses a VR helmet and nothing else. later in the series, you just need a VR visor for full immersion, and a headset for VR augmentation of the real world.

and these are just a drop in the bucket of what's out there.
Ready Player One was better that Ready Player Two, the first one was about role playing games and video games , the second one was about Prince, and I could care less about musicians, especially when one is writing about it in a novel.
 
I liked the first book better also, and the seconds wasn't ALL about Prince, but Cline did a pretty great job with that Prince World. The VR technology progression from the first to second was pretty interesting.
 
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