Posted in: Movies | Tagged: comic con, entertainment, how to train your dragon 2, new york, NYCC

Today I Rode A Dragon

Published Fri, 10 Oct 2014 11:55:34 -0500

Derek Trum wrote from New York Comic Con,

How To Train Your Dragon 2 is giving con goers the opportunity to ride a dragon. This experience comes courtesy of the Oculus. For those who don't know the Oculus is the virtual reality headset that most of us have been waiting 30 years for. Last year Intel had a virtual reality demo on hand that featured a Nascar racing simulation. The experience did not live up to the hype. This year it's safe to say the hype is real.

The demo has you wear the Oculus headset and a pair of headphones to fully immerse you in this virtual reality. I was surprised at how comfortable the headset was. As the demo starts it takes a moment for your eyes to adjust. I was shown a quick demo on how to control my dragon. For this demo you also have a joystick that creates the feeling of you holding the reigns of your dragon. Once my eyes were adjusted the demo officially started. Within seconds I was whisked away from the Javitis and found myself flying through the skies on a dragon. One of the most impressive parts of this demo is how quickly you're immersed in this world. As you move your head around you can view the entire world around round you. I turned my head back and actually saw the back and tail of my dragon. The controls were not the best but the visuals made up for it. I was able to ascend and dive which felt very real. When i dove down I actually found myself leaning forward. Turning left or right was not easy, but it also gave me the biggest thrill. At one point I found myself heading straight in to a stone pillar. Seconds before I was about to hit the pillar I found myself genuinely scared of what the outcome was. Luckily the outcome was me flying right through it. It was great to see the progress that the Oculus has made in a year. I imagine the both will be packed all weekend but it's totally worth checking out.