Parachute Jump

with

Virtual Reality

Within the project “TU Jump Into The Future”, a Virtual Jump Simulator (VJS) was developed that allows users to perform a virtual parachute jump over the city of Vienna as well as to fly through space and time. The simulator combines a real physical jump with an immersive 3D simulation, starting from the view out of the virtual plane, the free fall towards the virtual city of Vienna and the landing in the virtual Vienna University of Technology. Tactile cues such as wind and spray as well as sound effects enhance the level of immersion. For the jump, the user is equipped with a head mounted display for 3D scene viewing, a stereo headset and a tailor-made jump suit that is attached by a mechanical rope system to a 3x3x3m bearing structure.

TECHNOLOGIES

Jump Cube is a combination of these technologies:

VR Headset

The HTC Vive is a state of the art virtual reality headset. Until 2015 we used a Oculus Rift DK2.

Steel frame

Size: 3m x 3m x 3m
Weight: ~1000kg
Designer: Bela Eckermann
Manufacturer: Waagner Biro

Unity3D

To develop the software for the Jump Simulator we relied on the Unity3D game engine.

Motion Tracking

Currently, we employ the HTC Vive lighthouses for tracking as well as our own flight controller. Until 2015 we used a Microsoft Kinekt V2.

Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi is a single-board computer developed for teaching computer science at schools. Apart from that it is a great little thingy for creating hardware-software projects in no time.

Arduino

Arduinos are a set of small, open-source microcontroller board. It is perfect for taking first steps in microcontroller programming.

THE JUMP PHASES

The JC comprises 4 phases: setup, physical jump, free fall and landing

SETUP

Use arrows or drag to step through the setup process

Step 1
BEARING STRUCTURE
The 3x3x3m steel frame was designed by Bela Eckermann and manufactured by Waagner Biro. It has a weight of about 1000kg and serves as a bearing stucture for the mechanical system consisting of ropes, counterweights and rollers.

Step 2
ROPES
For our installation we used very strong and elastic towing ropes, also used in theater- and stage construction.
Since safety is a key issue here, we also double secured the jumper with additional fallback ropes in case a component malfunctions.

Step 3
ABSORBER SYSTEM
The mechanical absorber system is one of the core elements of your construction. It ensures the jumper not kiss the ground as it is absorbing the kinetic energy produced by the jump while still providing the essence of falling. It’s also self-scaling regarding to bodyweight.

Step 4
JUMPSUIT
The tailor-made jump suit gets attached to the mechanical rope and absorber system. To guarantee stability the jumper is guarded at the cest, hip and thighs. Withal the cest part is stiff so that the jumper can hold a straight horizontal postition, at the same time the suit is well padded to ensure a pleasant ride.

Step 5
MANIPULATE SENSES
As part of your research we pursue the goal of making the jump as realistic as possible while avoiding nausea and qualmish conditions. Therefore we try to manipulate the jumpers senses by using instruments like fans to produce blowing wind, a water sprayer to simulate flying through clouds, a citrus sprayer for blow bubbles, etc.

Step 6
3D Content
By using a virtual reality headset we can teleport the jumper to any possible environment. As part of the 200 years TU Vienna anniversary we visualised a parachute jump while telling the heady TU history. Two additional contents are in development, one is about underwater diving, the other project has the title “Mission to Mars”

learn more about
  • our team
  • horst
  • bela
  • juri
  • tobias
  • luca
  • jonas e.
  • dzenan
  • jonas r.

10 May 2016

NEW WEBSITE
Yeah! Our new website is finally launched. Check it out.

22 April 2016

LANGE NACHT DER FORSCHUNG
We presented our installation “Mission TU Mars” for the first time. Lange Nacht der Forschung 2016

03 - 06 March 2016

EUROPEAN SYMPOSIUM RADIOLOGY
Season 2016 started with an absolute highlight: The ECR is one of the biggest congresses in Europe. With more than 20000 people from all around the world we had the biggest audience yet. European Symposium Radiology 2016

29 February 2015

RESTPLATZBÖRSE
While constantly searching for new technologies guys from restplatzboerse.at dared to skydive in virtual reality at the TU and recorded their experience. Video

16 January 2016

ORF NEWTON
Bibiane Zeller-Presenhuber from the ORF science show Newton gave us a visit and made a report with the title “Der Sprung ins Nichts oder Fallschirmspringen für Ängstliche“. Video

25 November 2015

VREI
The virtual reality lounge “vrei” tested our system and made a Video.

05 - 11 November 2015

WIENER WUNDERKAMMER
Last “game” of the season 2015 is a home game. It was nice to end the first year where it all started. Result: ~1000 Jumpers in less then 20 days. Not too bad at all. Wiener Wunderkammer 2015

26 October 2015

ÖSTERREICHISCHER NATIONALFEIERTAG
Second time open air. No rain but quite cold and windy. Never lucky with the weather … Tag der offenen Tür am Nationalfeiertag 2015

09 October 2015

MORE SPACE
We got our own workshop! Of course we immediately did what we do best: Improving our JumpCube! Visit us and try it yourself.

03 - 04 October 2015

LANGE NACHT DER MUSEEN
… at the Technical Museum Vienna. For the first time we realized: the cube isn’t so big after all – compared to a melting pot its quite handy actually. Lange Nacht der Museen 2015

25 September 2015

EUROPEAN RESEARCHERS’ NIGHT
First time open air – and rain it was… Anyway, lots of cool stuff. If you weren’t there: Check it out next year, totally worth it. European Researchers Night 2015

12 - 13 September 2015

WIENER FORSCHUNGSFEST
Great ocasion to show our beloved Jumpy to the younger generation. So immersed, they even tried to grab the images flying by. 🔗 Wiener Forschungsfest 2015, 📷 Video

RAMIN MOHAMMADKHANI
For real-life high quality feedback, we cooperate with the professional parachute jumper Ramin Mohammadkhani (licence #: 4984) from Skydive Tirol.
Jump Cube tested in more than 250 jump sessions

28 - 29 May 2015

PIONEERS FESTIVAL 2015
It was a big honor for us to be invited at Pioneers Festival 2015 at the Hofburg Vienna. We hope that we left a big impression on all visitors.

03 May 2015

BACK AT OBJEKT 219
We are back home at Arsenal Objekt 219. We will be staying there until June 2015.

13 April 2015

GALAABEND TECHNIK 2015
Our first release: see Galaabend Technik 2015. We rocked it!

20 March 2015

THE NEW HEADQUARTER
By the end of March we got the “Cube” from Waagner Biro. 3m x 3m x 3m of steel, totalling something around 1000kg (including roughly 30kg of screws). This also meant moving everything else to the new HQ, Arsenal Objekt 219.

October 2014

KICK-OFF
The project started in October 2014 in the office of Ao.Univ.Prof. Mag. Dr. Horst Eidenberger at the Interactive Media Systems Group of Vienna University of Technology.