Since 12 January Lucid Trips at Steam available. What is special about this VR application is the method of locomotion and the opportunity to experiment yourself.
The idea with the arms
Users can sit comfortably on a chair or - if their stomach is in good shape - stand and still move through the world. How do they do that? With the arms and hands. Various movements with the arms allow the user to either crawl along the ground, glide in the air or push themselves off the ground. This method of locomotion is an ingenious idea because, unlike virtual space, the real space in which you play the application is limited. At the same time, you constantly have a haptic experience, which is very important for the Immersion - mental and emotional immersion in the game - is of course very important.
Lucid dreaming
In Lucid Trips, you slip into an abstract consciousness in which you are immersed in a dream-like environment. The name of the game comes from Lucid dreaming or lucid dreaming. The dreamer can control the dream at will, knowing that he is dreaming, and is virtually the director himself. It is therefore not surprising that the virtual planet is reminiscent of a meditative Alice in Wonderland.
Virtual geocaching
The virtual world of Lucids Trips invites interaction. The developers want players to discover and try things out. The aim is to create a new variant of the Geocaching. In geocaching, the electronic GPS scavenger hunt, you use the app to search for hidden objects (caches) that contain a logbook. As with Lucid's Trips, it's all about the fascination of searching and finding in the most exciting environment possible. The people who hide a cache want to show others the beautiful area. The game is therefore also available in a multiplayer version: other players can leave clues or tracks that can be followed. Positional tracking should also make it possible to intuitively design 3D objects and sculptures yourself or even modulate entire planets.
Developments are progressing
The game is still in its infancy and there is still a lot of potential - in a good way. The experience is already great. You can currently experiment in Lucid's Trip with HTC Vive or an Oculus Rift + Touch. It is also planned for Playstation VR in the future. As the development team from Hamburg does not have a large budget, they are doing everything step by step. At the moment, there is only one planet to choose from and more will be added later.
To ensure the highest possible level of immersion, the Lucid Trips team has also developed a special body suspension system in which the user hangs 30 degrees forwards above the ground. An additional wind generator makes the immersive experience even better. However, the suspension is only an experiment for the time being and is not intended to become part of the commercial game.
When dreams come true
The dream of being able to fly is a dream of mankind. With VR and Lucid's Trips, it becomes at least a little bit true. Nico Uthe, the initiator of the game, has already experienced real lucid dreams himself. And is now realising his dream of making lucid dreams accessible to his friends and interested parties.
Source: Media release, Vice
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