Featured Image Credit: Photo by Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Topics: PC
We all remember the first time we ever sat down at the cinema to watch a movie in 3D and being amazed that technology was capable of such a feat.
However, what if I told you that a 4D computer setup may just be possible, allowing you to quite literally be “shot” in real life when you are gunned down in game?
Well, it is most certainly possible for Chinese engineer @ryc._1216 who has gone viral for building himself a computer which shoots “bullets” at him every time he gets shot in game, in an aim to feel the “realism of war”.
The video, which has understandably garnered heaps of attention over the past week, was posted to his Instagram page and viewers have had one scathing question: is this real?
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Well, we can safely assume that it is not real as, despite not being a doctor, I can claim that the engineer would probably be dead if he had been shot with real bullets.
As such, questions of potential AI usage have been circulating but no, the video is indeed real but not what you may think.
In fact, the PC setup simply delivers an experience which emulates what it could feel like in such an environment. Check it out here!
The 4D gaming rig uses real-time game telemetry interception as well as pneumatic actuators, solenoids, and a water-misting system in order to “attack” the user when they are attacked in game.
When the system detects in-game action, it will turn them into sensory responses courtesy of a mechanical arm which will deliver a physical strike thanks to the built-in sensors.
Additionally, when it rains in-game, the water-misting system will kick in, spraying the user with water to emulate the feeling of the in-game environment.
What makes the video so compelling is that this kind of 4D technology is not available to the public, mostly due to safety concerns.
No, you are not being shot with real bullets as the video would first suggest, but having untested technology causing real-life reactions is not regulated, and that is not to mention the potential cost.
I guess if you wanted a similar experience, you could get a loved one to spray you with water and give you a clip around the ear in the meantime. (For legal reasons, this is a joke).
For now, it seems as though this talented engineer will have to go the experience alone.