Researchers have taken the completely immersive Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets for a test run, sending roller coaster technology to a different dimension.

Thomas Wagner, professor in the department of Virtual Design at the University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Germany, created a programme on Oculus rift, which was synchronised to two roller coasters (Blue Fire and Pegasus at Europa Park) built by German manufacturer Mack Rides and used for research and testing.



The tests, which now tally more than 100 runs, initially required an on-board operator (as seen in the video footage) to constantly monitor synchronisation between the reality of the roller coaster and real life, manually speeding up or slowing down footage appearing on the Oculus headset.

After much testing, the team has now installed an automatic synchronisation system, which uses an inductive sensor to detect speed via the train’s wheels, sending the data to the computer to calculate position.



While motion sickness was thought to be a concern for future VR use on roller coasters, the research team says that people do not become motion sick while wearing a VR headset if using the real thing, attributing the lack of sickness to the VR track eliminating the vertigo usually induced while being pulled up the ride’s lift hill.

During research, the team also discovered that the technology was more exciting without rails (in the VR world) with the added bonus that through tricks of the mind, braking can seem like acceleration. Meanwhile the track can even be virtually adjusted if desired, without confusing the rider. Concepts now being looked at include having virtual canon on the rides to effectively turn the roller coaster into a full game.

Following Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s purchase of Oculus Rift in March, Attractions Management looked at what implications the technology could have for the industry, with Zuckerberg predicting augmented reality will become part of everyday life in the near future.