Nissan Juke: Chase the Thrill

“Chase the Thrill,” a new virtual reality experience powered by Oculus Rift, gives users the opportunity to become a rollerblading android in a Blade Runner-esque simulated city.

Premiering at the Paris Motor Show the experience takes cues from the TV Commercial and shows off the new features of the Nissan Juke while exploring new possibilities in virtual reality.

Oculus VR - DK2

The DK2 has enhanced optical positional tracking. What is that? Basically you interact not only by looking around but if you move your head forward or back the system detects it. The difference is huge, equivalent to physically being in a room.

The DK2 also has a higher resolution panel, up from 1280×800 to 1920x1080 (1080p) and a pentile-matrix OLED panel for display duties. This means higher levels of resolvable detail and a reduced “screen door effect.”

We were halfway through production when the DK2 was released. We worked hard to switch the experience to the DK2 while keeping the project on schedule. For us—and for this project—it was too good an opportunity to miss.

A 3D City, built with Unity

To create the experience of being inside a computer game, we built a city in Unity. We really wanted to push the visual aspect of the experience and that always translates to a heavy polygon count. With the rendering happening in real time we had to bring in heavy processing power. We ended up building a dream machine.

Android

The Android was designed with inspiration taken directly from elements of the Nissan Juke. We wanted to fully immerse the user in Nissan’s brand, so the Android is made with elements from the car itself, with aspects of the brand and model being an integral part of his overall look and feel.

WizDish Treadmill

We wanted to add a layer of physical interaction for the user in the VR experience, eventually deciding on the addition of a treadmill that allowed the user to walk and run while wearing the Oculus headset.

The WizDish—an omnidirectional low-friction treadmill—was the perfect fit. We modified the WizDish to better fit the needs of the experience, including the addition of bespoke safety rails to keep the user on track.

Heart Rate Monitor

Users are attached to a heart rate monitor for two reasons. The first is a trigger that prompts the user to slow down, as voiced by the simbot in the experience, the second is that we wanted to use this data to add another layer to the experience. The user’s heart rate displays in their monitor in the results at the end of the experience.

Headphones

The headphones in this experience were specialized for noise cancellation. The only thing the user can hear is the specifically designed sounds of “Chase the Thrill.” This creates a deeper level of immersion and enhances the mind-bending technology of the Oculus headset.

Custom iOS App

We created an iOS application for the event staff to manage everything with ease. The app gives the event staff the ability to start, pause, stop, and restart the experience, see current experiences progress, and monitor hardware connectivity.

We also created a bespoke WebSocket server so the iPhone could communicate with the installation’s custom PC.

Custom PC

UNIT9 had the opportunity to build a custom PC to bring this sophisticated simulation to life. A ridiculously powerful computer, it’s a super PC, a gamer’s dream.

Tech specifics include:

• Gigabyte GeForce CUDA GTXTITAN 6GB DDR5, PCI-E 384B
• Intel Core i7-4960X, 3.6GHz Box 15M LGA2011
• Asus Rampage IV Black Edition/ AC4 s2011 X79 8DDR3
• Kingston DDR3 HyperX Beast 32GB/2133 (4°8GB)
• Asus Raidr Express SSD, SF-2281, 240GB
• Cooler Master Haf XB Evolution Case USB 3.0
• Microsoft OEM Windows Pro 7 SP1 x64 ENG 1PK DVD LC
• TP-Link WDN4800 WiFi card N450 DB (2.4 lub 5GHz)
• SilentiumPC CPU Cooling - Grandis XE1236 - 2x12
• RM Series 850W FULLY Modular 80+ GOLD

"Chase the Thrill" can be experienced by visitors to the Paris Motor Show until October 19th.