What do you get when you combine virtual-reality gear, a full-body suit and a treadmill that can move in any direction?
Apparently, a VR system that looks a lot like what was portrayed on the big screen in Steven Spielberg’s 2018 film adaptation of Ernest Cline’s science fiction novel “Ready Player One.”
That’s exactly what Winter Park-based virtual- and augmented-reality firm M3DVR has assembled over the past year, which founder and CEO Matthew Hogan said is unlike anything else available in the region. “There’s no YouTube video or textbook on doing all we’ve decided to integrate.”
M3DVR recently began to show off the immersive system that not only enables users to see virtual worlds and pick up items within them. They also can use Infinideck, an omni-directional treadmill made by a Rocklin, California-based firm of the same name to walk or run in VR.
Plus, they can don a vest or full-body Tesla Suit, developed by a British company of the same name, which creates forced feedback that gives the user a sensation if there are nearby explosions or they get “shot” in VR. M3DVR developer Tony Quintero said the suit causes a sensation similar to a “bunch of needles poking at once” when it senses an explosion in VR.
Plus, M3DVR can add the capability to have parts of the suit, such as an arm, “lock up” and become unusable if the user is shot there in VR, Hogan said. In the future, the company also may integrate scents into the system to add another layer of realism.
M3DVR didn’t invent the hardware it uses, though the firm is an authorized dealer of Infindeck and an authorized developer for Tesla Suit. Instead, M3DVR is a software company that creates virtual worlds and integrates different types of VR hardware to create a rare level of immersion.
So far, the company has used Unreal Engine to build virtual environments for this new system that include Stonehenge, a military outpost and a recreation of the University of Central Florida Arboretum made possible by collaboration with UCF, Hogan said.
The 2-year-old company self-funded the creation of the system. However, Hogan said the business opportunities are vast, with potential applications for the military, entertainment companies, gaming sector and virtual film production. Of course, these are all industries with large presences in metro Orlando.
M3DVR still is perfecting the system, and the company will appear at I/ITSEC, the premier U.S. simulation trade show held in Orlando every year, to find potential customers interested in its work.
This VR system is a change in direction for Hogan, who previously launched Winter Garden-based 3D studio Megatonn3D in 2015. About five years ago, the company began getting involved in VR work, which led to Hogan starting up M3DVR in 2021.
The global virtual- and augmented-reality sector is projected to be worth $856 billion by 2031, up from $27.6 billion in 2021, according to Allied Market Research. Central Florida is poised to be a major player in the fast-growing space, metaverse expert Cathy Hackl previously told Orlando Inno.
That’s because the region’s economy features a focus “developing talent, game development, studios specializing in gaming and 3D and large-scale work in modeling and simulation,” she said.
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