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Our first stop on day three of CES 2015 found us in the central hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, and one of the first things we came across was this amazing virtual reality racing setup from British company Vesaro. Do you have $50,000 lying around that you don’t know what to do with? For a cool $49,610 (US) you too can be the proud owner of an absolutely unbelievable gaming/racing experience as was on display and shown here.
The version on display was the Vesaro 195, and includes the world’s first 65” triple curved display setup, resulting in a massive 195” of screen curving around your position in the driver’s seat. The driver’s seat is located in a full-size cockpit, and the resulting 1:1 scale and perspective enables more accurate on track driving. The 195” display width allows for an accurately scaled track width, and the full car and dashboard appears on the display without having to cut off the sides. “Screen-within-a-screen” full scale rear view mirrors are part of the display.
Included with the system on display is Vesaro’s optional DBOX motion technology, which is offered in choices of 1.5, 3, or 6 inches of motion travel of the “car” cockpit to provide an entirely new level of extreme realism. A “static” (no motion travel) version is also available. Combining this with a Cobra Vesaro Signature Evolution Pro GT racing seat totally immerses you in your racing experience.
The Vesaro 195 features versatile force feedback controls within the Vesaro I industrial strength racing chassis. This is combined with a military-grade ultra-realistic racing wheel and full size heavy duty pedals. Both the pedals and steering wheel are fully adjustable to attain perfect positioning for most any driver. The cockpit also features a combined Sequential and H Pattern shifter, which can be toggled between the two modes at the flick of a switch. Paddle shifters complete the cockpit package.
Vesaro includes a 5.1 THX audio system synced to the tactile feedback system, providing full feel of the engine, road surface and impacts through your body for an extreme level of realism. The THX audio system is connected to a custom built Vesaro PC. The system on display was Vesaro’s Level 4 Extreme PC, with a pair of the latest AMD Radeon 295 Dual GPU water-cooled graphics cards driving the triple display setup. The rest of the Level 4 Extreme PC is populated with powerful industry-leading components.
When tested by the Swedish Motorsport team, their professional drivers dubbed this as “the best simulation experience we have tested to date.” Hmm, sure wish I had the time to stand in line and wait for a turn in the cockpit of this absolute beast of a racing setup! You can check out Vesaro’s website site showing the Vesaro 195 (and their other variations) here.
We will continue our explorations of CES 2015 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Stay tuned for further updates!