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news
Man riding Land's End to John O'Groats... in virtual reality (+ video)
Using a Gear VR, a cadence monitor and his exercise bike, Aaron Puzey is cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats in virtual reality. He began his journey in May and this week passed through Manchester.
Puzey, who is originally from Australia but now lives in Scotland, has created his own VR app which pulls Google Street View data to generate the 3D world.
He told CNET that the initial impetus for constructing his VR touring system was "boredom."
"I've been riding the exercise bike for years, just half an hour each day, but it's just a bit monotonous. I'd been daydreaming for a while about the possibility of using VR to make it a bit more fun and now of course the technology has arrived to make it happen."
You can follow Puzey’s progress on his website, where he’s regularly uploading videos. That may not sound particularly enticing, but the footage is endearingly unhinged and faintly mesmerising.
In the footage, Puzey reads about the towns he passes through on Wikipedia, giving populations and local facts and he intersperses this with reactions to what he sees around him. “Wow, it really is bin day. Look at them all,” he says.
Occasionally he comments on how the technology is working, but he seems to retain a sense of the absurdity of his efforts throughout. “It’s very stormy looking,” he observes at one point. “Better pedal faster.”
On that occasion, turning left resolved the bad weather. Were that it were so easy to dodge bad weather in real life.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
Latest Comments
- ktache 2 hours 37 min ago
The small frame, the aggressive posture, lots of standover height.
- mctrials23 3 hours 32 min ago
As i've said before, the police should be sued for a lot of money when someone they have knowingly ignored has gone on to commit a serious crime....
- David9694 3 hours 40 min ago
'Bad parking' blocks firefighters multiple times on same emergency call-out...
- David9694 3 hours 44 min ago
Cambridgeshire boy, 13, crashes Audi into garden wall after taking it from home...
- Adam Sutton 4 hours 30 min ago
Good stuff. Now do it on cycleway C9 through Hammersmith to Chiswick.
- mark1a 4 hours 39 min ago
It's technically allowed but it's not known as "London's Orbital Car Park" for nothing.
- Dogless 5 hours 47 min ago
You're defending bombing hospitals and refugee camps and starving children.
- mattw 8 hours 27 min ago
Used car salesman is a complete attention-seeking plank....
- tubasti 8 hours 44 min ago
I don't know if they're any better, but they's certainly become more boring.
- FionaJJ 9 hours 10 min ago
At risk of being cynical, and stereotyping the police, it's so they don't have to leave the comfort of their panda cars and pursue on foot when...
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9 comments
VR is the future of....well, lots of things. I bought a new hyper phone recently and thought I'd give the VR thing a go and it's actually amazingly immersive. I took it into work and had a gang of people initially laughing at headset but then wanting another go. I just thought of Zwift and sweating a lot more!
If Zwift can move beyond the last gen graphics it currently has and incorporate VR it would be the ultimate boredom killer for indoor training.
Why oh why oh why oh why??????
Typical. Hogging bandwidth, wearing silly goggles, riding without virus checkers installed. #BloodyVirtualCyclists
And don't even mention his road position, it looks like he's going to take the lane for all 900 odd miles.
One alternative to this nonsense is, of course, to ride your bike.
He is.
An exercise bicycle with one wheel is not a bicycle.
You just said a bicycle isn't a bicycle.
Can't wait until we get lightweight VR headsets to use for our indoor sessions.
Will be way more fun blasting around a crit circuit or slogging it up Mont. Ventoux that just watching a Sufferfest (which is currently the most fun you can have while training seriously indoors). Zwift have much more technical resources at their disposal so maybe they'll partner up with some firm and provide VR experience.
Maybe someone completely new.
We really want mass participation, immense map selection and proper structured training (and aids like virtual partners for when no-one else is kicking around in game). In game races etc.
It's all going to happen, just hope it comes sooner rather than later.
Maybe someone can Kickstart a sports VR headset then sell it off to a bigger player to get the ball rolling.
Anyway, cool stuff from Puzey! Will check your site out now.