English
Gamereactor
news

Norwegian army use Oculus Rift to pilot tank

VR tech adapted for better driving view during test.

Subscribe to our newsletter here!

* Required field
HQ

The Norweigan army's just demoed how VR tech Oculus Rift can be adapted for real world application, by using the headset to pilot one of their tanks.

The tank's been mounted with four separate cameras on the outside, linked to a commercial PC inside the tank, which feeds the visual information to the attached Oculus Rift. The cameras offer a spherical look of the exterior, allowing the pilot to get a complete overview of their surroundings - better than they would through looking out the vehicle's hatches.

The prototype's been made in conjunction with 360 tech house Making View AS, who's Chief Software Engineer Daniel Landervik compares the experience to Battlefield, and discusses how there'd be potential to add HUD elements to the screen such as speed and tank angle.

Major Ola Petter Odden added that while it was useful when needing to fold down the tank's hatches, long-term use of the tech would strain the driver's eyes - therefore it'd still be preferable to ride with hatches raised over longer distances.

Norwegian army use Oculus Rift to pilot tank
Norwegian army use Oculus Rift to pilot tank
Norwegian army use Oculus Rift to pilot tankNorwegian army use Oculus Rift to pilot tank


Loading next content