I open my eyes and I’m in the air. High above the cityscape I glide on the currents and soar over the towering skyscrapers.
I flap my wings as I drift over buildings and speed past blurring windows.
No I’m not in a dream. I’m on Birdly – a one-of-its-kind virtual reality flight simulator that creates the experience of flying. Conceived and designed in Switzerland and brought to Bengaluru by Swissnex India, the project is unique because it fulfils one of mankind’s most cherished dream – to fly like a bird.
Project co-directors Thomas Tobler and Ron Lux explain: “While a pilot can fly a plane, he cannot become the plane itself. Birdly changes that. You become the bird, soaring and diving at will.”
What makes the project even more interesting is the physical feedback you get. Unlike other flight simulators or virtual reality machines, in Birdly, you mount the installation, put on a pair of virtual reality goggles (Occulus Rift) along with headphones and get the feeling of embodying a bird (in this case, a red kite) and then you fly over a 3D model of a landscape complete with wind and sound.
Ramalingeswara Rao, a physically-challenged entrepreneur working with a disability welfare trust, who tried Birdly after me, loved the experience. “It’s really exciting. I don’t feel any fear. It felt great to view everything from above. I am confident that if I try it again, I can master it easily. This has fulfilled my dream of flying and will always be a treasured memory.”
Created by Professor Max Rheiner from the IAD Interaction Design at Zurich University of the Arts, Birdly was developed in 2013 for the anniversary of the Birdlife Centre in Zurich on the theme of ‘fascination with flight’.
Thomas elaborates: “Max was asked by a wildlife preserve that takes care of birds if there was a chance to work together. Since he was always working with virtual reality projects, he went on to create something that will simulate how birds fly.”
Ron adds that the challenge was initially to study how birds fly. “The human body is very different from that of the bird and it’s difficult to mimic the same dimensions and adapt them for human flight. What finally worked was the realism in the way the machine makes you feel. We struck a balance to enhance the perception of flying.”
Thomas points out that the body gets the right feedback. “The simulation adjusts according to the direction you are going. It’s never perfect, but you can lie to the brain.” Ron adds: “The interface allows your body to physically feel the flight with the feedback it gets.”
Looking ahead, Ron says they plan to take it forward as a product as well as to develop content with different ideas and projects. “We would like to connect with people and see what commentary comes out.”
“Bringing Birdly to Bangalore was one of our main goals,” says Thomas.
Ron adds: “India’s really interesting, especially in Bangalore with a lot of technology and development going on. Big companies have their research bases there. It’s a good hub for technology like Birdly and a lot of people here appreciate it.”
The project will be at Swissnex India till March 13 on a registration basis while on March 14, feel free to come and fly like a bird as Birdly opens wings for the public to try their hand on the machine at the Rangoli Metro Art Centre Boulevard.
