About
Surreal, extraordinary, thrilling, exciting, adrenaline pumping, immersive, mind blowing and totally out of this world!! The world of Virtual Reality has grab me deep into the rabbit hole like 'Alice' transported into wonderland. What happened to me for the last three months was a blast of amazing adventures into digital world where my six sense started to feel like i encounter a real thing... i see, touch, feel, hear and dive interacting in the 'otherly' world...
welcome to world of 'Virtual Reality'. Although VR technology have been around for decades however in 2020 it started to mature and improve overtime especially with the release of OCULUS QUEST 2 head mounted VR device where screen resolution per-eye have been improve significantly, head and hand tracking have been refined to make our physical body more interactive with digital environment, plus wireless untethered and with stand alone processing hardware makes the headset more versatile to run many application and move around in open space. I've been in and out with VR tech for many years since my last experiment was with Google VR box a cheap DIY ended up with my 'meh!' moments but now after my curiosity with OCULUS QUEST 2 i was like "have i been living in a cave lately?!"...the new mature VR technology finally drag me out from the door and into rainbow land!
The Covid-19 pandemic lockdown was my first reason why i got into OCULUS QUEST 2 because i need to do some physical workout and move around a bit to stay healthy through VR. Stoked and amazed with so much physical thing to do with VR i've decided to test out my long lost passion...simulator driving and racing. Got myself a top notch LOGITECH G923 with force feedback steering wheel and pedal, run ASSETTO CORSA simulator and the mounted QUEST 2 headset...holy smokes!!!!!! this thing real as ****! The next day half my cash saving was gone! lol! *(Fortunately i saved a lot for not spending much during pandemic lockdown). So i decided to add this rig project on my website for archive.
My VR driving experience (video)
I haven't post any video about my VR driving on Youtube channel yet but i did posted some videos a lot on my Twitter account which you can view below for preview:
- ASSETTO CORSA - Walking around checking tire on Lamborghini Huracan
- ASSETTO CORSA - SKYLINE R35 JDM racing in Japan highway
- ASSETTO CORSA - GT racing at Nurburgring track
- EURO TRUCK SIMULATOR 2 - Night time highway driving
- EURO TRUCK SIMULATOR 2 - Enjoying beautiful country side
The VR simulator cockpit project
With the advent of VR i decided to feature another on going project on my website like the rest of my hobby; building VR simulator cockpit for driving/racing and maybe soon extended for flight simulator. 
In fact this website origin was born from driving simulator and designing cars/trucks so its plausible to include this personal project in. As we speak right now i've completed building a complete driving rig as shown on this gallery link below and also expected to grow and expand its feature to increase VR immersion and heightened experience through mods and upgrades.
So here are list of expected DIY open source mods, extension and upgrades to my rigs in the future and hopefully i'll make some articles and tutorial about it on this website:
- ARDUINO rumble pedal
- ARDUINO wind simulator
- Tactile Transducer (Shaker)
- Hand brake mods
All these projects are necessities to complete my goal to create extremely immersive driving experience. To see progress of upcoming builds and mods you can check out my rig gallery down below link.
Gallery: Virtual reality simulator cockpit project
Car design project factor
Another important reason why i need VR technology and cockpit simulator is because i love to design car which is the reason why this website created in the first place. With this technology every car i design and put in the simulator i can finally 'feel' and 'embrace' a virtual solid feeling under my hands, feet and bums (seat) knowing how it feels to drive it in real time with my own body in it. Its an exciting age we live it! Here's another video link on my Twitter account how i manage to walk around my previous car design (Walking around my XYBORX 32.0) via VR.
Is it really worth it?
Yes definitely! In the past i'm not much a believer into building simulator rig but now after having proper quality VR headset, force feedback driving hardware and driving on my heavy yet aluminum framed cockpit with proper seat the driving experience is extremely immersive and real, totally worth living to experience it for any living beings!. I felt alive and in love with driving again!! Hopefully this projects and mods will add extra fun to keep me busy with this hobby and also give valuable pool resources to fans of simulator driving out there.
But one thing for sure once i drive in VR i will never get back to driving on flat screen again. What an exciting era we live it!
