DRIVR Part 10: Talk the talk

It's Christmas morning, you've unwrapped your new VR headset and now you're in the living room lined up at the 40-yard line waiting to run a Super Bowl-winning route that will launch your imaginary career into the stratosphere. You time the snap perfectly, getting a jump on the poor linebacker that's guarding you (not that you needed it, because you are FAST). You're so fast, in fact, that after approximately three-tenths of a second you've faceplanted straight into what used to be pristine drywall. Good thing your family was filming, so your broken nose won't have been in vain.

Lest you presume, dear reader, that I am some sort of VR hater, please remember that I have tied my proverbial ship to this technology and buoy will I be sad if it fades into obscurity. However, considering that the metaverse is theoretically infinite, doesn't it seem sad to anchor one's virtual self to such corporeal confines? You were born to ROAM. It's tough to feel like a hero when your quests all take place in the basement. "Alright", you say, "that's why we've got Augmented Reality". Yeah, cool, so now you get to walk around outside with a headset on your face? (the fact that I've got a stronger objection to the walking part of that sentence, tells me that maybe I've strayed too far from our ancestors who used to chase down their dinner on foot; I think I would have been more of a gatherer...) Plus, the notion that it's more socially acceptable to wait an hour for brunch than utilize technology to quietly travel to ANOTHER WORLD just seems wacky to me. But even if VR gear were so cool that Marky Z could be considered Miles Davis, augmented reality is SO. HARD.

Fair point, cartoon. I have spent at most 0 hours trying to develop an augmented reality game. Even it were easy, the thing that prevents any large-scale standalone game from being fully immersive is the fact that your interactions with the "real" world are one-sided. Your previous fictional faceplant was a perfect example of this. The game said you could run forward, but the wall said no. Even if the game warned you about the wall, what it could do to stop you? A multi-billion dollar organization couldn't even stop teenagers from eating laundry detergent. What hope could your poor little video game have?

If you want to explore the world safely without having to walk like Frankenstein (shut up, I know it's his monster), then your game needs a way to restrict your movements. That is why until now, DRIVR has not been suitable for anyone with bones. Wait, does that mean? That's right, Planeteers, the drive-by-wire go-kart is real, and it's spectacular. Not only can you cruise in confidence, we've even got levels that drive for you so you can focus on more important tasks. The game talks to the vehicle, and the vehicle talks to the game. Neither acts without the other, and therefore both worlds can remain in sync. And yes, I agree that a video demonstration would be help prove that this exists, which is why you'll be seeing one next week. Until then, stay safe out there.

-Greg

The story continues with Part 11: Ghost in the machine