Birdly-How to fly like a bird

Since the beginning of life, man has dreamed of flying. From da Vinci to the Wright brothers, clever minds have taken their inspiration from nature. The flight of birds inspires us and makes us rave, makes us dream of a world, detached from everyday life, far up there. In the meantime, we have found many ways to conquer the airspace for ourselves, but not a single person has yet succeeded in truly flying like a bird. This experience has been imagined by a project of the Zurich University of the Arts made a goal, and thereupon Birdly a bird flight simulator that thinks of everything.

Unlike other flight simulators, the flight novice does not sit in the cockpit of a plane or stand in space, while everything can be controlled via controllers. With Birdly, the whole body is used for the first time. The user lies on a construction of wooden panels and pads that stylise the body of a bird; the hands are placed on two paddles that imitate the wings. In front of this is a fan that provides the headwind during the flight. Now all that's left is to put on a headset and headphones and everything is ready to go. To steer, you have to shift your body weight to the left and right, front and back, and to get lift, you flap the artificial wings. They were keen to make the experience as intuitive as possible, says Max Rheiner, one of the brains behind the project. "In your dream, you don't want to learn to fly. You just want to fly."

The entire device with a unique design is approx. 2 metres long and 1.50 metres wide, weighs 132 kg and is compatible with Oculus and Vive. Birdly can often be found at trade fairs, but can also be bought and rented. Well then, have a good flight!

Sources: ZHdK, Somniacs, Tested