Kart with vr gear drive on real track in virtual environment

Intel, together with VR software developer Master of Shapes and motion capture company BlackTrax, has equipped an electric kart with VR equipment. This allows the driver to race on a real kart track, while looking at a virtual reality.

YouTube channel VRScout shows in a video that the position and speed of the kart are tracked with cameras and infrared LEDs. The hardware and peripherals consist of an Oculus Rift and a NUC from Intel. In addition, the equipment includes an Arduino board. This registers what the kart does, such as braking and accelerating. The driver then immediately receives visual feedback in the VR game.

Master of Shapes based the vr game on the Unreal Engine. The driver can pick up power-ups and speed boosts in the game. When a boost is picked up, the kart actually goes faster. To get the racing in vr as accurate as possible, it is necessary to scan the track beforehand.

In total, it took six weeks to assemble the equipment and develop the software. The kart is still being tested on a track in Gardena, California. The parties plan to produce even more VR karts and test them side by side. The VR track and the karts will be open to the public in the course of 2019.