We began today on VRFocus with a Life In 360° focused on historical miltiary aircraft now we get our head out of the clouds and back down to earth for some ground-based machines of war.
We’ve reported several times on the efforts of World of Tanks developer Wargaming who have previously experimented with 360 degree video, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in tandem with various videogames in its World of… series. This has usually been courtesy of Wargaming’s ‘Special Projects Division’ which has taken on a number of partnerships with institutions such as museums, as Wargaming seek to not only be a gaming platform but use that to help educate on the realities behind their title.
One of the museum partners is the Tank Museum at Bovington, found in the in the South West England county of Dorset. As part of the recent Tankfest 2017 event the Special Projects Division revealed a brand new experience featuring World of Tanks’ ultra-rare model the German-made Sturmtiger or ‘Assault Tiger’, part of the series of assault vehicles built on the design platform of the devastating Tiger I tank. Wargaming’s team, in collaboration with Gravity Jack, this time utilised support for both Microsoft’s Hololens head-mounted display (HMD) and Google’s Tango platform. Having the Sturmtiger roll straight into the museum before showcasing its movement, firing and gives both an ‘exploded’ and cross section view of what makes up the tank.
You can see a video of what visitors to Tankfest could enjoy below. VRFocus will bring you more updates on the latest uses of MR and the the Hololens and Tango platforms as we get it.