Tropic Rollercoaster

When it comes to adrenaline rush experiences in VR, the roller coaster is king. However, we tried dozens of rides and most times felt nauseous. And this got us thinking—shouldn’t roller coasters be fun? The human brain is very sensitive when it’s faced with VR, so developers have to be extra careful when developing VR content. If a user has one nauseating experience, this is likely to put them off VR for good. And you definitely don’t want a nauseating experience at your event.

As a part of the VR community, it’s our job to develop captivating content that puts a smile on our users’ faces. So, after creating 11 different versions of a roller coaster, we ended up with an adrenaline-filled roller coaster ride that even those with the weakest stomach can enjoy with a big smile. By following the latest findings in VR development, we were able to incorporate all sorts of hidden methods that mean the user gets to experience a powerful adrenaline rush—but without the nauseating side effects. Because of this, our pirate island roller coaster is one of our biggest hits for events.

However, we noticed one other thing. We saw that people wanted to hold onto their friends’ hands while on the ride. And we had an idea. Why don’t we create a shared experience? So, we added another person to the ride by paring two Oculus Rift headsets. When you sit next to your friend in the real world and get into the ride, you are also sitting in the virtual ride next to your friend.

We translate the movement of your head to the 3D model of a character inside the ride, so you can look at each other in VR. And the results were amazing. People were screaming, laughing, holding hands, looking at each other in the virtual world, and having fun. Because they were with their friends, they didn’t feel they had to hide their emotions, so they were screaming and laughing freely. Their enjoyment was so palpable that even casual passersby noticed and wanted to try the experience.