Fly like an eagle and swoop down on your prey!
A VR flight simulator created for the “One with Nature” Hunting and Nature World Exhibition.
About the project
The One with Nature Hunting and Nature World Exhibition took place from September 25 to October 14, 2021, in Budapest at the renewed Hungexpo fairground. In the exhibition's Traditional Hunting Methods hall, visitors could get acquainted with traditional hunting methods such as coursing, falconry, archery, and muzzle-loading firearm hunting. In connection with this, we created a Virtual Reality application called VR Eagle Simulator, aimed primarily at a younger target audience. Using an Icaros Pro or an Icaros Home VR fitness device together with an Oculus Quest 2 VR headset, users could take on the role of an eagle. They could experience what it feels like to fly over a landscape typical of Hungary, spot prey on the ground below, and swoop down to catch it. To catch the prey, users first had to fly through a series of floating rings in order, just as a real bird circles above its future prey. The biggest challenge during development was controlling flight within the VR space. With the Icaros Pro fitness device, the user can lean forward and backward, as well as twist sideways with their body. After testing several possible solutions, we ultimately decided to attach one of the Oculus Quest 2 controllers to the Icaros frame and determine the flight direction based on its movement. This way, the user could turn the headset in any direction while flying to look around freely. The user could control the direction of flight by leaning their body. Whichever way they leaned in the Icaros, the VR flight direction followed based on the positions of the controller mounted on the frame. Visitors could try out the game in a specially designated area of the hall.
