A VR Cycling Experience for $40

[icebraining]

As someone who did a similar build in high school (though with a screen - no fancy VR smartphones back then): a cheap laser mouse actually works quite well as a speed measuring device, and requires no electronics hacking. I just calculated the speed of the cursor and translated that into game speed - and reversing comes for free :)

We also had a turning detector using a rod to connect the front-wheel to a 8€ USB joystick. It actually end up costing us ~20€, not counting the PC, bike and stand.

[exelius]

Also, a standard inductive sensor (i.e. a magnet attached to a spoke and an inductor) attached to the raspberry pi would be a much better option.

[smokeAndMirrors]

That sounds awesome! Any visual evidence of the project?

[madaxe_again]

This is neat, but, well, have you ever tried working out with something strapped to your face? Worn big goggles while doing something that works up a sweat? First you fog up, then you notice the saturated sponge flolloping (as only a mattress truly can) against your face as you cycle.

I had a "VR" cycling setup about 15 years ago for training in the winters in Durham (cobbled roads, snow, not so great on tubeless rims) - comprised my road bike, a standard rear wheel roller with a resistance adjustment cable attached to my handle bars, and most importantly an SVGA projector hooked up to the ceiling to project on the blank wall four feet ahead of me, keystoned to hell and back to not end up too distorted.

On the projector I'd chuck up a POV cycling vid, either one that I'd shot with a camcorder strapped to my head the previous summer (oh what I would have done for a gopro), or a professional one. Manually adjust the resistance according to what you see on the screen (easy enough, just get to the point that you're matching pace with the head-bob on the video), job done.

Surprisingly immersive setup for a pile of late 90's electronics.

[smokeAndMirrors]

There's no reason this has to be strapped to your face. You could build for a tablet and mount it as your dash. I'm sure this has been done to death already

[lpeancovschi]

There also should be a fan connected in front of the cyclist. The power can increase/decrease depending on how fast you cycle.

[83457]

here you go http://www.petalfan.com/

[smokeAndMirrors]

Or you could place a fan in front of the bike and let it blow however fast you want to simulate the constant of wind. :)

[sdrothrock]

It would be really neat if this could be used with Google Streetview. Another cool addition would be an accelerometer on the handlebars to enable steering (though I guess that would be problematic with a stationary bike).

[JDDunn9]

I kinda feel like the VR bike simulation would be the most boring experience. Put something like Mario Kart up there.

[fiftyacorn]

I tried this a few years ago as an experiment and built a site around it - www.routeviewer.com - the cycling is disabled

A video is available at -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujA9AqCs0Ok

I initially connect up an arduino, but then moved to ant+ protocol over a dongle. . The biggest problem is the refresh rates arent good enough on Streetview for proper cycling - plus the usage on google maps was high - so i ditched it

[smokeAndMirrors]

Adding steering is a logical next step. Meter the steering wheel's rotation, map it to the camera.

I've heard several recommendations to integrate this with Streetview, but IMO the resolution necessary for moving in small increments isn't there. It's much better served with a 3D environment.

[jc4p]

Agreed - It seems trivial to build a Street View API integration into Unity or Unreal Engine 4.

[obsurveyor]

You can get turntable riser rings that will enable this quite easily. You could even potentially modify the riser ring instead of adding more wires to the bike for more linear input(one axis instead of three).

[jasoncartwright]

There are already some training bikes that license Google Maps data - https://www.ifit.com/products/tdf

[cbuq]

I enjoyed this video, but couldn't help but think about the irony when he started talking about this being "$40" project compared to Oculus + PC ($600 + $2000) while his entire project still required a $600 iPhone and a $2000 Mac book

[radiorental]

At what point in time is the cost of tooling written off in your view?

I'll grand you the $2600 price tag if you also tack on the 400K for the house to keep the setup dry and you assert that the creator only ever uses the laptop for this specific purpose.

You can't factor in costs like that and then critique the DIY project because of it. I'm sorry, that's just not fair.

[LeifCarrotson]

It also requires a bike and indoor trainer, but those are things that anyone interested in this project is likely to already have.

[mmosta]

I see what you're getting at, however the scene is rather simple and is actually rendered on the the phone.

[martinaparicio]

This reminds me to Black Mirror's S01E02 ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2089049/ )

[Symbiote]

VR cycling reminds me of the animated film "Les Triplettes de Belleville": https://vimeo.com/12292589

[petepete]

I saw that film a long time ago and had no idea what it was called. Thanks for the link!

Also, it would be a great idea for fun exercise if this technology could be used to make multiplayer cycling games (think Mario Kart, but on bikes.. or maybe Road Rash) that allow people of varying fitness levels to compete, race, and get fit while playing.

[kriro]

Really awesome. I'm all for more tinkering with VR. I hope Unity Engine's Linux client will get out of beta soon. A setup of Android based phone, viewer and Linux based 3d Engine environment would be pretty cool. I think there would be tremendous value in actually teaching "low cost tinkering" classes. We have a lot of expensive gizzmos at our university (Oculus DK2, ReactTables etc.) but at the end of the day I feel a cheap solution that you can take home and play around with would be superior form a pedagogic point of view.

[eropple]

Why Linux? The Windows machine or the Mac that people already have is likely of significantly lower cost than any Linux machine that has the hardware to push what you describe, and is something people can take home and play around with.

[radiorental]

Shut up and take my money

Seriously, I love to cycle but have a really hard time pounding away on the trainer. This would make the winter experience much more bearable

[didgeoridoo]

Check out Zwift. Not "VR", but the gamified/MMO elements make it really motivating. Not much can get me up at 6am anymore, but when I'm supposed to meet my friend for a virtual ride, I can usually haul my ass out of bed and hop on the bike.

[zimpenfish]

Have you tried something like the Sufferfest videos? They certainly alleviated boredom when I was doing trainer work.

http://thesufferfest.com/

[GFischer]

AR glasses like HoloLens or whatever Google's building look like a good use case for that (you need your hands free fro many excercises).

I wonder if Google Glasses are usable while on a trainer or a treadmill.

[justonepost]

Much more trivial way to do this. Take your google cardboard to your gym. No $$ or computer or arduino required. Not even a bicycle. Just use the accelerometer to measure how fast your bobbing up and down as you cycle. Increase the sensitivity as required. (Unless you're one of those master cyclists who can keep your head totally steady while cycling.)

[smokeAndMirrors]

I can assure you the number of false positives you get will make the experience the opposite of immersive. (I've tried)

[dharma1]

Here's a similar hoverboard demo, using Wii balance board, Kinect, Rift and Leap Motion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO6Yh_XLQNY

[tcfunk]

This is awesome! I have always envisioned stuff like this for exercise equipment, and I'm excited to see that it's becoming a reality :)

[Tepix]

This is really nice. At a street corner the rider could just look at where she wants to go next.. no need for steering.

[SatoshiRoberts]

I can see this as a new feature for gyms

[justin_hancock]

Zwift and Bkool already have offerings in this area. Zwift is outstanding.

[jimrandomh]

This is a neat hack, but if you're going to invest this much effort it makes more sense to use a real virtual reality headset such as an Oculus Rift, Galaxy Gear or an HTC Vive rather than Cardboard. Low latency, better optics and position tracking are very important.

[joeriel]

The title of the blog post is "A VR CYCLING EXPERIENCE FOR $40" and if you read the article, it really didn't take that much of an effort.

[amelius]

Of course, it will seem as if you are riding a tricycle.

[JDDunn9]

Yeah, riding a tricycle in the sky (no resistance)