The magic of immersive virtual reality experiences is that they make you feel as if you're in a completely different place even if you can't find the motivation to get off the couch. Samsung's Gear VR headset is great for experiencing virtual reality and a British man is using it to do something truly unique. Aaron Puzey is cycling across the United Kingdom in virtual reality. He just might be the first person to cycle a great distance in VR.
Since the Gear VR allows him to feel as if he's outside even when he's at home, he's doing this on a stationary exercise cycle inside his house. He has a Samsung Gear VR strapped to his head as he peddles on in his virtual bike trip. To create this experience he coupled a stock Gear VR headset with a cheap Bluetooth cadence monitor and created an app that pulls Google Streetview data.
“When you use Streetview you’ll notice that when you hover your cursor over the scene it brings up a rectangle that angles correctly to the building you're hovering over. When I saw this I realised the scene must also store some 3d information. Some quick research revealed a method of extracting this information and building up a 3d scene. It was then a simple matter of moving the camera through space as I pedal,” Puzey explains.
His virtual bike journey across the UK takes him from Land's End to John O’Groats, two major tourist destinations on the southeast and northern tips of the country. Puzey is regularly uploading videos of this trip on YouTube and also keeping a travel diary which currently locates him in Stockport on his way to Manchester, meaning that he's almost half-way and he has been at it since May this year. Check out his blog if you're interested in following Puzey on his virtual bike trip across the United Kingdom.
