The Amphibian SCUBA Diving simulator, a research project from the MIT Media Lab, lets users experience the underwater world through a high presence virtual reality system. Photo: James Day.
Amphibian
2016 Council for the Arts at MIT Grant Recipient
An immersive SCUBA diving experience through a terrestrial simulator
About the Project
Amphibian is a virtual reality system that provides an immersive SCUBA diving experience through a convenient terrestrial simulator. Users lie on their torso on a motion platform with their outstretched arms and legs placed in a suspended harness. Users receive visual and aural feedback through the Oculus Rift head-mounted display and a pair of headphones. Additionally, we simulate buoyancy, drag, and temperature changes through various sensors. Preliminary deployment shows that the system has potential to offer a high degree of presence in VR.
About the Artists
The Living Mobile Group (formerly Speech + Mobility) has roots in a long history of research into speech-based user interaction, multimodal messaging, and computer integrated telephony.
Dhruv Jain, MIT Media Lab
Misha Sra, MIT Media Lab
Jingru Guo, Industrial Design, Rhode Island School of Design
Rodrigo Marques
Raymond Wu ’17
Justin Chiu ’18
In the Media
BostInno: VR on Steroids: This 3D Simulator Makes Your Entire Body Feel Like You’re Scuba Diving
TechInsider: MIT’s virtual scuba simulator makes you feel like you are really underwater
Business Insider: MIT’s virtual scuba simulator makes you feel like you are really underwater
MIT Technology Review: Disability-Simulating VR Promotes Empathy