For those who like the idea of caving – also known as spelunking – but don’t like the idea of getting dirty, or worse trapped underground for all eternity, CaveSim might just be for you. Instead of crawling through natural caves or underground caverns, CaveSim puts you in a virtual in your cave environment. It even add a video game like scoring system as you wear electronic sensors that track your personal efforts will you compete against others.
Designer Dave Jackson, a caving hobbyist, used his MIT engineering degree to create CaveSim. He came up with the idea after participating in a cave rescue seminar, where organizers created a virtual cave of their furniture and tape. Jackson felt this lack and immersing environment, and after two years in development created his own virtual cave. This simulated environment offers built-in electronic sensors to track the user’s performance. CaveSim thus encourages you to crawl through this virtual cave as you would an actual natural chasm.
While only the original CaveSim currently exists, but Jackson is looking at ways of bringing it to events around the country. While Mohammed may have had to go to the mountain, Jackson’s cave might just come to you.
CaveSim Official Website
[Via Gizmag: CaveSim electronic virtual cave lets you try before you spelunk]