More exciting than Chinajoy? An in-depth analysis of the Nibiru air combat chair

The annual Chinajoy exhibition officially ended in Shanghai this weekend. Although goddesses have been "breasted" by the 2-centimeter ban, popularity and attention are still not issues that Chinajoy needs to consider.

But if you are an adventurer, a geek who is brave enough to explore and try new things, neither the beautiful women and legs at Chinajoy nor the next-generation consoles that have been introduced to China for a year may be able to satisfy your curiosity. Then, you really should go across the street to take a look.

During Chinajoy 2015, Nibiru held a virtual reality experience event at the Zendai Himalayas Center of the Shanghai New International Expo Center, which is adjacent to the venue of Chinajoy. Although various head-mounted VR devices are common nowadays, Nibiru's large-scale somatosensory air combat chair still allowed the experiencers to feel how to play real virtual reality devices in a "scared" manner.

What equipment is capable of air combat?

Honestly, I was quite shocked when I saw the real thing for the first time.

The Nibiru air combat chair can be roughly divided into three parts: the base, the mechanical arm structure, and the seat. If you still remember the heavy cranes commonly seen on construction sites, the Nibiru air combat chair may look similar at first glance. However, you have to know that what is hanging here is a chair that needs to be sat on, and you will understand that this virtual reality is for real.

The "well"-shaped base is very reliable and provides effective support for the inertia generated by the equipment during operation. It also marks out the floor space required for the Nibiru air combat chair, which is approximately 10 square meters by visual inspection.

The base and the seat are connected by a complex L-shaped robotic arm, and the movable part is driven by a chain. According to relevant Nibiru technicians, there are three motors inside the robotic arm, which can realize the full-dimensional and full-angle movement of the seat on the top of the robotic arm. At present, the motor used in the Nibiru air combat seat is from Fuji of Japan. In the future, it is not ruled out that Nibiru will cooperate with motor manufacturers to use customized motors.

In addition, in addition to an external laptop computer at the rear of the entire device, the Nibiru air combat seat contains two built-in computer units. One is located at the connection between the base and the robotic arm, which is used to control the mechanical movement of the host computer. The other is located under the seat. Its function is to calculate and combine the movement state of the device with the image on the user's VR glasses.

The VR glasses of the Nibiru air combat chair are Nibiru's own model that needs to be used with a mobile phone. At the experience event, the mobile phone used with the VR glasses is Google NEXUS6, which has been flashed with a specific ROM. The 6-inch large screen is undoubtedly the main reason for choosing this phone. In addition, the handle used to operate the air combat game is one of the several peripheral devices that users need to touch and control.

The overall height of the Nibiru air combat seat is about 2 meters, and the seat is only a few dozen centimeters away from the ground. It is not a very dangerous game facility. Even some taller users will easily touch the ground with their feet during use, but the seat similar to that on a real roller coaster looks quite safe. Of course, the comfort of a completely plastic seat still needs to be improved.

Okay, how do we play?

Just like the introduction of VR products with pictures and texts would seem pale and powerless, when it comes to the gameplay of the Nibiru air combat chair, it still needs a video to show it more intuitively.

It can be seen that the entire movement trajectory of the Nibiru air combat seat will be coordinated in real time with the control of the handle in the user's hand, and the range of movement is still quite large. If the girl in the short skirt is willing to go up and experience it, the picture must be too beautiful that I dare not look at it.

During Chinajoy, Nibiru only provided a flight shooting game with a World War II background. The gameplay was not very strong, and finding enemy planes was quite a difficult task. Fortunately, the immersive experience of the air combat seat was completely sufficient. Relevant personnel of Nibiru also stated that more interesting large-scale games are on the way.

It's quite interesting, would you like to buy one?

If owning a high-end steering wheel set is a must for racing game enthusiasts to become professional, then for air combat game fans, owning a Nibiru air combat chair is the first choice for wealthy players.

However, the current price of a complete set of Nibiru air combat chairs is between 200,000 and 300,000 yuan. Isn’t this a bit too expensive?

At the experience event, the price of the air combat seat is 150 yuan/5 minutes, while the somatosensory seat next to it that can experience VR projects such as roller coasters is 30 yuan/person/time or 50 yuan/double person/time. In addition, there are certain requirements for the user's age, weight and physical condition. In short, large-scale VR equipment like the Nibiru air combat seat is more like a product prepared for amusement parks or large shopping malls.

From Oculus to HoloLens, people's pursuit of virtual reality experience continues to advance. Even with just a pair of VR glasses holding a mobile phone, it can create a storm in the stock market, which shows how popular this field is at this stage.

With the emergence of the Nibiru air combat chair, we have every reason to call it the ultimate way to play VR equipment. You can say that it is a complete extension of VR glasses, or you can say that it is a powerful combination of 4D, 5D large-scale entertainment facilities and VR products.

The 300,000 yuan Nibiru air combat chair is hundreds or thousands of times more expensive than what we generally consider to be high-end VR equipment, but there is no doubt that the real-time dynamic virtual reality experience is hundreds or thousands of times better than just wearing a mobile phone on your head.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.