Ergonomic details to increase immersion in VR

[chiliwili69]

After 3 weeks of IL-2 VR abstinency (holidays), today I have enjoyed like child some missions of the Moscow campaign (I didn´t want to do it them before VR). The VR wow is still there and it don´t vanish with the time. It is always like the first time...

 

But here I would like to talk about some ergonomic details that helps to increase the immersion. 

Some years ago, when I heard that IL-2 was going towards VR, I decided to invest in chair, HOTAS, pedals and put them in a way as close as possible to the real positions inside the plane.

 

Let´s talk about them:

 

1. Chair: It helps that the chair is fixed to the floor and the elevation is just 30-40 cm from floor (the seat has a slope from rear to front, so 30cm in the low-back, 40cm in the high-front). In real planes chairs doesn´t rotate, I know some people use swivel office chairs, and get an extra degree of freedom that WWII pilots didn´t have. I think swivel chairs breaks somehow immersion. Also, using a normal chair you have a more elevated position from the cockpit floor which is not real.

I bought my PlaySeat chair in (http://www.playseatstore.es/revolution.html) , very reasonable price and put some wood square bars at the bottom to elevate the chair a bit (5 cm). I also put some solid foam under the front side of the front chair to have the desired seat slope and relax my legs along the full seat surface. This Revolution model has also a half hole in the front side of the seat which allows to move the joystick in all range.

 

2. HOTAS: It is a must for VR. I chose Warthog and  I build myself a solid wooden block to fix with screws the throttle block, so it is at the left hand in almost the same position where it is in most of planes. For the joystick, I think it is a must to put it between the legs and put it at the same height that it is in the plane (I used a 10 cm extension). I also cut the squared metal base of the joystick and fixed it to the metallic frame of the PlaySeat chair.

 

3. Pedals: I think they are also a must for VR. I installed them in the same location than the plane. They give you a very good feeling when taxing, taking off, landing and aiming. I must confess that I still don´t use them to make coordinated turns (It is something I really never learnt well when piloting gliders).

 

I also have one more thing in my left side: The wall of my room. It add immersion since replicate quite well the limit of the cabin, so I physically and virtually can not beyond. Otherwise: CROONK!!

Ideally, building a replica of part of the cockpit around you will help as well, but it would be something difficult to negotiate at home.

 

Today, after finishing a couple of missions, plane landed and engine stopped, I have just got up within the cockpit to have the always nice view of the plane. I used the back of the chair to help reach the stand up position and I could feel I was really touching the virtual chair of the plane as the real one.

 

If you have an small flat, don´t worry, there are solutions for everything!:

https://www.vrsetup.org/news/diy-vr-cockpit-hidden-flight-simulator/

Edited August 24, 2017 by chiliwili69

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

That's cool !

 

Btw when I started flying glider, first thing we were taught when banking was to initiate with the rudder. Yeah, you heard me right - rudder first, aileron follow. Gives more stable flight. Works in-game as well with the otherwise bouncy Me109 and the 202!

[15[Span.]/JG51Costa]

Hi @Chiliwili69 .
The link you have provided does not work.

 

https://www.vrsetup.org/news/diy-vr-cockpit-hidden-flight-simulator/

 

Saludos.

15(Span.)/JG51Costa

Edited August 30, 2021 by 15[Span.]/JG51Costa

[dburne]

Thread Necro of the year award!

[15[Span.]/JG51Costa]

Yes, I know.
I noticed it after writing and could not delete it.
I have done it following this post:

 

 

 

Saludos.
15(Span.)/JG51 Costa.