Oculus Rift / Virtual Reality Flying - Senior Activity

Highlights from the last year and a half running a Virtual Reality activity for seniors on DK1 and now DK2. Everybody from retired pilots, centenarians to veterans has been flying Warbirds, touring space, exploring the oceans, etc. Quite a lot of fun :) Using GoPro's 360 Hero setup we are able to create a wide variety of experiences from virtually attending a thanksgiving dinner, attending a family event, or just watching the ships down by the shore.

[@dennisrichards2540]

I would love to hear their reactions. I bet it would be great

[@thepretenda]

I want to see grandpa take down Nazis again

[@kagalo]

How to trigger PTSD in your grandpa.

[@briandang236]

Warmed my heart. My dad was an F5e Tiger pilot during the Vietnam War for the south. I know he would love to virtually get his wings back! He loves flying, but after the war, all South Vietnamese pilots wer grounded by the communist vietcong. I'm getting this for him!

[@Wortlethal]

Brian Dang Go get em Tiger!

[@Wortlethal]

Brian Dang Also downside, the plane game that was shown here was War Thunder, and i never heard of a jet Tiger there.

[@Senbatorii]

The Huey was from DCS and DCS has a F-5E www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/products/planes/tiger/

[@somedonkus69420]

Cool, could you maybe do a short interview with these guys to show us what their experience was like?

[@mdbuehler]

Next time I'm up there I'll ask, sure they won't mind at all :) The former pilots say it is a lot like actually flying. You miss out on g-forces and feedback in the controls, but visually / controls / sound / buttkicker for some sensations make it quite like real life. Some of them flew over an hour at a time (Huey was especially a big hit).

[@saburusakai]

mdbuehler There are some feedback controller devices around, so the technology exists. It would be great if CH or somebody would incorporate that into the flight sticks and pedals.

[@stephenblankenship2696]

Im so glad that this is being done this was the first thing i thought of when using vr, was to bring back joy to elders stuck in a nursing home or a dying patient who cant leave the hospital who just wondered what it would be like to scuba dive or fly or go to space. I hope to see more things like this in the future.

[@BradKwfc]

The guy at 3:54 looked like he knew exactly what he was doing. You should do more of these videos.

[@Droneme]

Great video, it must to be a joy for them t to being able to fly again.

[@whopperlover1772]

Robert Fortuna I wish I could do this with them :/

[@longbowdt]

Bravo! Well done. Thank you for this.

[@gavinkcfrancis9470]

Beautiful

[@OXYOXYOXY444]

ur a good man , respect

[@user-kh4we2ti9z]

that is so awesome! blessings to you man!!

[@letoburito23]

Awesome!!! I Cant Wait To Get An Oculus Keep Making Great videos.

[@saburusakai]

AMAZING. I have Trak IR for my cmbat flight sim stuff (DCS, IL-2 1946) and ground combat (Arma 3), that tracks head movement, but THIS is a Starfleet holodeck. GOT to have me one of these in the near future. I wish my Dad could have seen this, he had 13000 hrs on everything from an O-1 to a T-37 and an AH-1J (life long flight instructor for military pilots). He had many hrs in a UH-1 also. He would have been a great source of technical eval on this.

[@jeanchristo8648]

Man!this is very cool,good job.

[@toutytouty4045]

It's awesome guys ! the end is great but make me sad...

[@SoldierGamingUnite]

this is beautiful

[@TWKILL3R]

This is great!

[@phuri5636]

A Japanese veteran would only rammed their plane into a ship or turn like god.

[@GahMehGrrrr]

Excellent Sir!

[@ImmersiveGamer83]

This is beautiful.

[@randomusername818]

This is awesome.

[@ogerepus]

VERY cool. I am helping a friend who is researching ways to 'kick start' memories in those afflicted by Alzhiemer's Disease, and this shows a lot of promise. Would you be interested in doing an interview for an academic paper on the subject?

[@mdbuehler]

+ogerepus Sure :) You can message me and I'll get you my email address. Has he attempted anything with VR? The flight simulation was a great way to bring back memories (very specific ones even). I'd be very curious how this could work with Alzheimer's. Some demos like Apollo 11 take you back in time into rooms from the 1960's. Immersion like that could be a great way to stir up memories as opposed to small photos.

[@anarchyandempires5452]

buying an oculus!!!

[@zigro20]

What flight sim software is this, or what other flight sims work with the Oculus? Thanks.

[@mynamesjudge]

Could you tell us your setup? Especially that floor mounted flight stick.

[@mdbuehler]

The stick is the Max Flight stick with their helicopter collective. Saitek combat pedals, Saitek throttle quadrant. PC an Intel 4770 with an Nvidia 780. Some of the other panels seen in a few photos are Saitek;s Pro Flight Gear (the radio panel, autopilot, etc).

[@potatopotato4802]

Isnt this war thunder?

[@supergreatoli2]

potato potato yes, it is :)