×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

News
IBM's Sword Art Online Virtual Reality MMO Project Posts More In-Game Footage

posted on by Egan Loo
Brief view of what testers saw inside the "Nervegear Prototype" in last month's test

IBM Japan posted more in-game footage from its "Sword Art Online: The Beginning" virtual reality demonstration on Friday.

Those who participated in the demonstration were able to scan their bodies, which were then rendered as 3D avatars for the demonstration. Users were then able to manipulate their in-game avatar using a variety of hardware, including an Oculus Rift (Developer Kit 2) for head-tracking and VR visuals, Leap Motion and Ovrvision for hand manipulation, a Microsoft Kinect 2 for body movement, and special footwear to detect foot movement. The hardware was labeled "Nervegear Prototype." "Nervegear" is the name of the virtual reality hardware used by the characters in the original Sword Art Online story to interact with the game.

The beginning of the demonstration placed users in a "bazaar" environment, allowing them to test their ability to manipulate world objects. Later in the demonstration, users were able to fight The Gleam Eyes (from the 74th floor of the game in the original story), alongside three other users.

Pre-registration for the "Alpha" of the demonstration reached 99,800 people, although only 208 applicants were chosen. The test took place in Tokyo from March 18-20.

IBM Japan refers to the project as a "virtual reality massive multiplayer online game (VRMMO)," although it has not laid out any plans to continue the project past the initial test, nor has it specified if the alpha test will be the the precursor to a larger VRMMO project.

[Via Siliconera]


discuss this in the forum (13 posts) |
bookmark/share with: short url

News homepage / archives