Our First Virtual Reality Experience, VR Funhouse, Shows What Pascal Can Do for VR

With the launch of our GeForce GTX 1080 [ADD PRESS RELEASE LINK], we’re announcing the first virtual reality experience we’ve created from the ground up — NVIDIA VR Funhouse — to highlight what our Pascal-based GPU can do for VR.

VR Funhouse is built to bring a new level of immersion to VR by enhancing what you see, hear and touch through a combination of great graphics, fully interactive audio and simulated physics. The HTC Vive-compatible, room-scale experience is coming soon to your GeForce GTX PC through Valve’s Steam digital distribution service.

Players can bounce between ten different mini-games, which let them tackle carnival-inspired challenges such as tossing basketballs, popping balloons, and shoot at targets fired from a cartoonish cannon. ADD DETAILS ABOUT OPEN-SOURCING FOR COMMUNITY, IF APPROPRIATE, HERE.

While our experience is packed with whimsical touches, it’s built to show off Pascal’s groundbreaking technologies. It’s the most technically advanced VR experience yet. Lift the lid and here are just a few of the technologies you’ll find behind all the fun:

• NVIDIA Flow — Grab a bow and arrow in our target-shooting mini-game. Set the arrow aflame and you’ll be able to shoot it at targets that burst into flames when they’re hit. Our NVIDIA Flow technology physically simulates experiences such as fire throughout VR Funhouse.
• NVIDIA HairWorks — The whimsical feel of our colorful “The Mole the Merrier!” and “Knock’Em Silly” challenges is enhanced by NVIDIA HairWorks technology. Jab at your targets. Give them a knock and you’ll see their colorful hair bounce. Or pat them on the head to flatten their jazzy haircuts.
• VRWorks Physics — Poke, punch, pound and explore. VR Funhouse is filled with objects that you can interact with in surprising ways using your hand controllers. Our PhysX technology for VR gives the objects in the game realistic physical behavior, enabling proper graphics, collision detection, and haptics force feedback.
• NVIDIA FleX — In our “He’s Flexible” mini-game, you’ll be able to pick up gooey, colorful blobs — that stretch and jiggle in surprising ways in your hand — toss them at targets and watch them ooze toward the ground. You’ll find this next-generation particle-based physical simulation used all over VR Funhouse.
• NVIDIA VRWorks Audio — Walk into “Flight of the Clown,” and you’ll need to use your ears to locate a stealthy drone. VRWorks Audio uses our Pascal GPUs to ray trace sound waves in real-time, realistically simulating how audio propagates and reflects across the room.  The reflections and echoes created by VRWorks Audio will test your skills in locating the drone.
• VR SLI — The more, the merrier. If you’ve got two GPUs, this technology will let one GPU render images to your left eye, and the other to your right, maximizing performance and minimizing latency.

But Wait, There’s More

These are just a few of the ways our VRWorks technology is enhancing VR Funhouse.

For a closer look at these technologies and others you’ll be able to experience — such as our new Single Pass Stereo and Lens Matched Shading — dive into our in-depth looks at VRWorks [INSERT LINK WHEN LIVE] and VR Funhouse [INSERT LINK WHEN LIVE] on GeForce.com.

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by Victoria Rege via The Official NVIDIA Blog