Flap your wings and fly with Birdly, a full-body virtual reality flight simulator – Chicago Tribune

Zabdiel Avivesflew across New York, gliding over and around buildings on the landscape but the 12-year-old boy only had totravel about a dozen miles fromhis Maywood homefor the experience.

He was one of the first Chicagoansto test Birdly, a full-body virtual reality flight simulator set up last weekat the Field Museum one that could come permanently to the museum later this year.

The simulator lets users experience soaring through a city like a bird, flapping their wings and feeling the wind in their face. It felt realenough to make an impact on Avives.

"It felt like I was falling," hesaid as he hopped off the ride, his hand clutching his chest. "I was scared during some of it."

As usersnavigate the landscape shown in their headset, a screen next to the machinelets others see what the flyeris experiencing.

Flying into someof the buildings transports usersto anothervideo experience: Colliding with a structure marked King Kong, for example, triggers a shift to black and white images similar to those in the classic movie, along with those of the New York of that time with planes fighting the beast.

For now, Birdly users can fly over New York or San Francisco, but Chicago might be in the works, as well as experiences featuring dinosaurs and underwater scenes.

The device was designed by a Swiss company called Somniacs; it's being distributed in North America by Evanston-based D3D Cinema.

D3D's main business is building and upgrading theaters formuseums across the U.S., including at the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry. But D3D also producescontent, like the Field Museum's "Waking the T. rex: The Story of SUE." It would also produceBirdly's Chicago simulation and other new landscapes for flying-machine clientsin the U.S.

Don Kempf, a former history teacher, founded D3D in 2009 as a sister company to his Giant Screen Films, whichhas produced films including "Michael Jordan to the Max" and "Mysteries of China."

The Field Museum is currently showing the Giant Screen Films-distributed "Earthflight 3D," filmed from the viewpoint of birds in flight. When Kempf learned of Birdly, he thought the machine would be a good companion.

"We quickly realized it was a great synergistic fit between the two companies," he said. "Not only are we very active between the museum and zoo and aquarium spaces, but we also have a technical team at D3D Cinema proficient in system integration that can very easily work to install, train and serve as support maintenance and the like."

The Birdly simulator costs $189,000, including installation and training; short-term rentals and long-term leases are also available. Museums or other potential clients could charge users $8 to $10 per ride. Billboards and banners within the game can be used for advertisements for museumsto gain additional revenue, D3Dsaid.

D3D showed the machine at South by Southwestlast month, and has permanent installations at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh and the Tech Museum of Innovation in Silicon Valley.

The Field Museum is working to get on that list by the end of the year, said Megan Williams, the museum's director of business enterprises.

She said the museum has been working for six months to bring in aBirdly unit for an exhibition.The demo Thursday was a hit with visitors, she said.

"They were thrilled, from children to full-grown adults," she said. "It's absolutely magical watching people and listening to their reactions."

Cheryl V. Jackson is a freelance writer. Twitter@cherylvjackson

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Flap your wings and fly with Birdly, a full-body virtual reality flight simulator - Chicago Tribune