Parachuting in virtual reality requires a lot more than your standard VR headset. But it wouldn't be a trade show smack bang in the heart of Asia if there weren't a few strange VR experiences thrown into the mix. Introducing VR Parachuting. On show at the Cooler Master stand on the Computex main floor, the VR experience is run through an Oculus Rift headset, backed by one of Cooler Master's high-powered PCs. Users are harnessed in and hooked up to a rig that suspends them mid-air. Then they're released into a free-hanging position, while the VR video shows them flying through the air over a simulated city. They'll even feel the wind in their hair, thanks to a fan at the base of the rig.
Revresh, the team behind e-circuit iphone case ParaParachute, say they can run the experience for entertainment or training, And there's certainly something very novel about extending a VR demo into a full-body experience, But there's still something very strange about seeing someone wearing a black box strapped to their head, strung up in a harness and dangling above the ground, oblivious to their whereabouts, As VR creators get more adventurous and mixed reality becomes more mainstream, is this what our future will look like?..
Be sure to check out CNET's Computex hub for all our coverage from the show floor. You're flying majestically through the air, all without getting in a plane. But to people around you, you look like a human energy pod from "The Matrix." Welcome to the future of virtual reality. Virtual reality was the talk of the show floor at Computex in Taiwan this year. HTC was showing off three slick new VR experiences for its Vive headset, Microsoft was talking up the future of Windows Holographic, and we saw plenty of new VR headsets and even VR-friendly backpacks.
A Dell wireless charging mat and laptops featuring WiTricity made an appearance at Computex 2016 in Taipei, Unlike other current wireless charging standards, such as Qi which requires you to accurately place charging coils on top of another, WiTricity's e-circuit iphone case tech generates a very safe magnetic field (using a smartphone is supposedly 100 times more dangerous) that transmits the electricity wirelessly, In the case of the above mentioned Dell laptops, WiTricity says about 30W of power were being transmitted to the laptops, allowing you to quickly charge the battery..
WiTricity CEO Alex Gruzen told CNET the company's tech allows it to accurately shape the magnetic field, which is capable of going through materials such as wood or marble, allowing its wireless charging technology to be used in kitchen table tops and letting more than one device to be charged at a time. Another use of WiTricity can be found in the military. Batteries that used to be on soldier's helmets for night vision goggles have been removed and WiTricity tech in backpacks are used to power the helmets wirelessly. The backpacks' batteries are then charged when soldiers sit in down in a Humvee while being transported.