VR Sense is an arcade machine that lets you feel snow in your face and bugs at your feet

I remember there was an arcade by my childhood home that had a virtual roller-coaster ride. The machine would move up and down and side to side in an attempt to re-create the feeling of being on a real roller coaster, but you were really just inside a loud arcade. It was the best ride, hands-down. Koei Tecmo Wave’s new VR Sense sounds like the exact same ride except with the ability to re-create wind and “stimulate the senses.” Koei Tecmo Wave says the new arcade machine brings movement, aroma, touch, wind, heat, cold, rain, and mist to VR. What’s unclear is whether players have to actually wear a headset while in the machine, and if so, what headset they’d use.

Three games will be included at launch later this year: GI Jockey Sense, Horror Sense, and Dynasty Warrior. Each game stimulates different parts of a player’s body, so the jockey game will move players around as if they’re on a horse while also re-creating the feeling of “wind, rain, and snow.” Who doesn’t want to race a horse in snowy conditions? Horror Sense will drop virtual bugs from the ceiling while players feel them scurrying around their feet. How calming. And finally, Dynasty Warrior will reproduce the feeling of “hot flames on the battlefield.” Umm.

We’ve seen attempts at bringing smell to VR, like this atrocity. We’ve also seen attempts at making VR games more immersive, like this strangely sexual machine that also has to do with horses. What’s up with horses and VR arcade games? But maybe all they were missing was some snow re-creation. The VR Sense is debuting this weekend at the Japan Amusement Expo this weekend.

The article was published on : theverge