Virtual Sword Fighting

Faeton writes "SIGGRAPH is on, and Extremetech has the scoop on it. From Nvidia's N30 to ATI's monster 4x Radeon 9700 render board, the coolest thing was the virtual sword fighting simulator. With a VR headset and a gyroscopic force-feedback "sword", you could really be the badass knight you've always dreamed of. I want this at a local arcade soon!"

Midevil Knight?

[flewp]

I think most of the slashdot community would use this be Jedi Knights.

I watched Highlander a bit too much

[Anonymous Coward]

And became interested in swords, and fencing. In college, there was a fencing class, so a friend I took it. After a while, we considered buying our own swords. Eventually, we decided not to, because odds were that eventually, we'd want to play with them, and one of us would end up badly injured or dead. I think we made the right choice.

Please refrain from....

[Eric_Cartman_South_P]

1) Any mention of this technology with pr0n.

2) Any mention in reference to the "vibrating stick".

3) Any polls that mention prOn or "vibrating stick" with a CmdrTaco last-choice.

4) Creating any troll-ific "Please refain from" lists.

Great...

[TheWickedKingJeremy]

I have to contend with sword-fights at all the local bars... now I get to do the same on my computer.

*twirls finger in air*

Re:Midevil Knight?

[flewp]

On second thought, a vast number of /.'ers would probably use this to recreate a certain Monty Python and the Holy Grail scene... as the article says: "None shall pass".

Re:Midevil Knight?

[quarter]

i would be Lancelot, hitting my sword against the french prostitute.

run away! run away!

Insert gratuitous

[gilroy]

... "Hiro Protanonist" reference here.

What? What did you expect to follow "insert"? Get your mind out of the gutter. :)

Re:Midevil Knight?

[Loligo]

>a vast number of /.'ers would probably use this
>to recreate a certain Monty Python and the Holy
>Grail scene

First the spankings, then the oral sex?

The force feedback isn't THAT good...

-l

My one-and-only shot at live action role-playing..

[mccalli]

Whilst at University, a few friends decided to have a crack at a live-action role playing session. Not an organised one - just us lot pratting about on the playing fields really.

Armed with my foam sword, and utterly unable to use it, I cheerfully bumbled about with the rest of 'em, swishing the odd swish and generally having a good time.

Until I came up against Nick.

Now Nick is an interesting person. He has reactions like no-one else I've ever played against in anything. To give an idea, I had never been defeated in air-hockey by anyone I played (and I played a lot) until I played Nick. And Nick I never beat even once...

Back onto the role-playing session, and in my wanderings I ran into Nick, who was holding two rather better constructed foam swords. Turning to me, he did some ridiculously cool flick with both hands - crossing swords whilst swinging them, like you see in the old pirate films - and began his advance.

Role-playing to the hilt, I briefly considered. "What would my character do in this situation? Would he a) buckle his swash and fight like a man or b) flee like the cringing curr he really is?".

I ran like hell...

Cheers,
Ian

Re:I watched Highlander a bit too much

[joshuac]

---snip
I for one had an ancestor that killed three of his playmates with his first sword, on his 10th b-day no less.
---snip

ok, I'll bite...his _first_ sword? You mean he was given another one after this?

Serious waivers ahead

[dave_mcmillen]

The article text is:

One of the more amusing displays was this sword-fighting simulator that used a VR headset along with a "virtual sword" that had two gyro motors running it that allowed for tactile force feedback. Apparently, one overly exuberant combatant in a moment of pique jumped up to deliver the death-blow, and upon landing smashed the sword into one of the posts you see in this picture, leaving it in pieces, and the device's creators nearly in tears. But, they were able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, and the virtual combat raged on. This system also used multi-channel audio to help the player localize sounds and better immerse them in the scene, and also used video compositing to put an image of that particular player into the rendered 3D scene.

If this became a home entertainment unit, can you imagine the sort of waiver the company would want the average geek to sign before using it?

"The undersigned (hereafter, "they") agrees that Swashing Buckles Incorporated (hereafter, "we") were just sitting around innocently when the undersigned came in and DEMANDED to be given one of these virtual sword units, despite the fact that we warned them OVER and OVER that they hadn't done anything more strenuous than click a mouse in TEN YEARS, and therefore would ALMOST CERTAINLY strain EVERY MUSCLE IN THEIR BODY within minutes of engaging in a virtual battle. The undersigned further agrees that we warned them that they would QUITE LIKELY destroy a valued POSSESSION, PET, or LOVED ONE, while leaping about blindly inside the virtual reality helmet. The undersigned agrees NOT TO COME CRYING TO US when these things happen."