Oculus Rift Glasses Wow Flight Simulator Enthusiasts

Stephen Pope

Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 08:46 PM ET

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Key Takeaways:

Traditional PC flight simulators are limited by narrow viewing angles, making tasks like pattern work difficult.
The Oculus Rift, a new head-worn virtual reality display, is poised to revolutionize sim flying by offering seamless, head-tracked views within the virtual cockpit.
A simulation enthusiast has already made the Oculus Rift compatible with X-Plane, with plans for the device to hit the market soon, promising a significantly enhanced simulation experience.
Beyond simulation, the article speculates on the long-term potential for such VR technology in real airplanes for synthetic vision, even in poor weather conditions.

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One of the serious drawbacks of training with a PC flight simulator is the viewing limitation that generally restricts what we can see to a narrow field straight ahead. That can make for awkward pattern work as virtual pilots toggle between forward and side views to judge their proximity to the runway. Now, a new head-worn virtual reality display in development called Oculus Rift is poised to take sim flying to a new level.

Simulation enthusiast Mike Akers has created plug-in software for the Oculus Rift virtual reality glasses that make them fully compatible with the X-Plane flight simulator. Check out this YouTube video of Akers testing his setup: