Vertigo 3D - Fear of Heights Simulator

Vertigo 3D is a fear of heights simulator. The user wears a head mounted display that provides full stereo 3D using a pair of LCDs. The user's head is tracked using an IR tracking system. The simulator places the user on a high rope bridge above a forest. As the user walks forward and backward and turns their head, the view in the HMD also moves forward and backwards and around. The user stands on an elevated wooden board that provides passive haptics. The board bends slightly, increasing the feeling that the user is really on a suspended bridge. If the user steps off the board, they will fall off the bridge.

The user can also move around a pair of binoculars. Moving the pair of binoculars up to their head will zoom the view as if they are looking through the binoculars.

Watch a video of it in action:

Why VR?

Walking on a high rope bridge is a dangerous activity. It is also important for people with a fear of heights to learn to overcome it. Since much of the fear of heights comes from the feeling of vertigo, this is something VR can simulate. Exposure to scenarios like this can make the user more comfortable and help them overcome their fear of heights. Like other therapy applications, the benefit of doing this in VR is the user can quit whenever they become too uncomfortable.

Technology

The video is displayed on a V8 HMD. This HMD has two 640x480 LCDs. Stereo is achieved using the OGRE rendering engine with the StereoManager plugin. IPD can be measured and adjusted in a configuration file.

Tracking is accomplished using two Optitrak IR trackers and VTrak, a rigid body tracking system developed at the University of Florida by Kyle Johnsen. A set of IR reflective markers is attached to the top of the HMD. The binoculars are similarly tracked using IR markers.

Future Work

Given more time, we would like to add better presence. In particular, the user should be able to see their body. Sound would also greatly increase presence.

More scenarious could also be added. For example, the user could be walking on a high rooftop. There are also situations that users are more likely to encounter in every day life uch as riding in glass elevators or going up tall escalators.

Download

Download source
This requires Ogre and the plugins listed below.

Acknowledgements