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Oculus Rift Glasses Wow Flight Simulator Enthusiasts

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • PC flight simulators are significantly limited by a narrow field of view, making tasks like pattern work challenging for virtual pilots.
  • The Oculus Rift virtual reality display, combined with custom software (e.g., for X-Plane), provides an immersive, head-tracked view that seamlessly follows the pilot's head movements within the virtual cockpit.
  • This new technology is set to revolutionize the flight simulation experience and also suggests future possibilities for synthetic vision in real airplanes, even in adverse 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:

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