Owlchemy Labs has dedicated itself to making VR as immersive as possible, and it’s recently revealed a unique new way to do that on PlayStation VR.
As you’ll probably know, PS VR’s tracking is a little more primitive than what’s seen on either the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, but Owlchemy doesn’t want to make compromises with the upcoming console version of its debut VR game, Job Simulator. As such, the developer has this month made a new blog post about its quick and easy solution for calibrating a user’s height within VR, when PS VR doesn’t necessarily offer the software to measure this for itself.
Getting height right is a vital part of the VR experience, especially when the user is standing up. If there’s any noticeable discrepancy then it can really hurt an experience; you might find yourself getting dizzy as you walk around or simply aware that you’re taller/smaller than you actually are. To solve this issue, Owlchemy has come up with a quick and simple technique that uses Sony’s PlayStation Move motion controllers.
All the developer asks a user to do to get their height right is hold two Move controllers, stretch their arms out as far as they’ll go to the left and right, and then pull the kit’s triggers. Done.
So why does this work? Because a human’s wing-span is pretty much identical to their height. That means the game can measure the distance between the two controllers when held like this, and quickly convert that data into an accurate height measurement. After that you’re good to go. Now why didn’t we think of that?
This sounds like something that could come in handy for a wide range of PS VR games, not just Job Simulator. Other developers and even Sony itself should take note.
The PS VR version of Job Simulator should be available at the launch of the headset itself on October 13th. It requires those Move controllers to actually play, though PS VR doesn’t allow for room scale tracking. As such, you’ll find the game’s environments rejigged a little to accommodate standing still. You’ll still be able to make Reddit-worthy giant hot dog GIFs, though.
We will say one thing; Owlchemy Labs is certainly earning the latter half of its name.
