Outrun Cabinet Fuses Real-life Driving With 8-Bit Graphics
By Jared Newman
When I was a kid, Outrun felt pretty realistic, but the game alone is nothing compared to what UC Irvine post-doctoral researcher Garnet Hertz is working on. Pictured above is the concept for an Outrun cabinet fitted onto an actual go-kart. Instead of playing the game itself, drivers see an 8-bit, Outrun-style depiction of the real world. So they’ll play the game to drive in real life, using actual controls from the arcade classic.
From Hertz’s description of the project:
The screen, which is in front of the driver, renders the real world as the 1986 video game OutRun. This is done through custom-built software and GPS sensors that calculate the location of the experimental vehicle and display a map rendered in the style of the video game. In other words, the driver only sees GPS map data in their “windshield,” appearing as if they are playing the 1986 videogame.
The project is part commentary on the discrepancy between technology and reality, part unabashed awesomeness, and only partly finished. Hertz plans to drive the contraption during an October show at the Otis College of Art and Design, according to the Orange County Local News Network. Hey, that’s only 10 minutes from my apartment. I wonder how many quarters it’ll take to convince Hertz to give me a test drive. [OCLNN via SlashGear]
