Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “I flew a Gaming PC Jet 🫡”.
Right now, I am flying in a plane with a gaming PC between my legs at hundreds of miles an hour pulling over five times my body weight., I’m wearing an AR headset for the military, that’s quite literally brighter than the sun.. It all starts, though, with my buddy Glen. Dude. Hey.. I am so amped right, now.
Yeah, we got ta, do it man. Glen and I go way back.. We did actually the Castrol Edge, thing. Yeah right here on the wall.
[ Austin ]. This was 2014 [. Glen ] Yeah 2014., One of the coolest things that still even to this day that I’ve ever been able to do on camera was virtual drift, which this guy had a huge, huge part in.. But this seems like it’s, maybe a slightly different level..
You know. We’Ve definitely plused up a little bit since back then., So we started Red 6 in 2018.. It was just Dan and I and a couple partners and a few developers, and for two and a half years we started working through like what are these concepts.
So this was what we call Eve: our Enhanced Virtual Environment.. This was Eve: 1.0. [ Austin, ] Yeah.
[ Glen ]. So this is what we did: our ground demos, with. [, Austin ]. That was when things really properly kicked off. [, Glen ]. This was 2018.
So this was right in the start.. Can we actually go and take a look and see the actual hands-on of what the headset looks like Yeah of course. Restricted laser.? Do not enter.
Well, for you guys, we’ll let you in.! Oh thank you. Okay.. So immediately see fun toys.. So what are we looking at here? So this is where we actually calibrate and verify all of our lenses., So this plate will actually shift around and it allows us to replicate human eyes at the distance they would normally be.. So I see a very clear looking photo of is that a Raptor That is a Raptor.? Let me turn this and get the ambient light out of the way for you.. So now that you dimmed the display, I can now see through it somewhat.. So when you have it brighter, I can’t see through it at all, but now I can see through. So now, as I brighten this up., Oh okay., (, laughs, ).
How bright is that right now, [ Glen ], So right now, you’re looking at 18,000 nits through your eye., That is ridiculous. For context. This is an iPhone 14 Pro.
And in full daylight this screen will hit 2,000 nits of brightness meaning it is very, very usable.. This headset, though, is 18,000 nits, Which means that, in a dogfight situation, if my nemesis is flying into the sun to try to blind me, my headset is even brighter than that.. I got to spend some time trying the ground-based flight simulator.. Can I shoot stuff [ Glen ] Yeah go for it., Okay, cool! All of this is powered by a little gaming PC that lives in the plane.. So this is mostly off the shelf PC components that you’re using Yep exactly.. We use a Mini-ITX a Core i9 and a 3080 there..
I’M curious as we jump into this. So you said you were using Unreal. We are., Since it’s written in C, we’re able to manipulate the original engine, we’re able to change things, and then we do all of our image, processing and image, rendering in Unreal. That then comes out to the eyes.
Here. Pretty sure it’s the only 300 mile, an hour video game on the planet right now.. These are the planes you’ve got.
These are the Berkuts. ( Austin, laughs, )? Okay, it’s a lot smaller than I thought.. I know right So having these planes must have been hugely helpful because you can tweak and tune and build.
However, you want test it same day in some cases or from the back seat. I mean really. This entire company wouldn’t be possible without these planes. [ Austin ]. These were originally designed in the’70s, Designed in the’70s and’80s off of an aircraft called the Long Easy. A lot of people when they see this, they think it’s a Long Easy..
This is actually mostly carbon. Fiber and then a very powerful IO-540 engine on the back that gives us about 350 horsepower there and about 1,600 pounds worth of aircraft in the front of it. Wow.
Actually, it’s a standard, WARTHOG Thrustmaster flight controller., That’s literally from a Thrustmaster, That’s straight off a Thrustmaster.. We modified it so it fits in the plane and works and sturdy enough.. This shoots, missiles., You shoot guns out the bottom and they have the little keyboard with them. Actually.. Do they really? So we have this little remote, you’re standard, Logitech wireless keyboard.. So whenever we do our demonstrations or when we do our flights, the pilots become a front seat software engineer.
And then, if they need to debug or reset they do it right from the front seat.. Where do you put the computer? This thing is tiny.. It looks like an F1 cockpit., Maybe a little bit bigger, but not by much., And then the computer itself comes back here and is actually tucked behind your feet. [ Austin ], Oh Dude, that is tiny in there Yeah. And then back here is your parachute. Wan Na keep you safe., Wait, say again, Yeah so you’ll be flying with a parachute.
There’s a parachute. There is a parachute., Oh okay.. You could have mentioned this at some point before we already got here to the airport.. We like to tell you right before you get in.. Is there an eject button? Not yet but we- ( laughs ), Not yet? What do you mean not yet Well, we could put one in for you, but …
(, laughs, ). Well, if it makes you feel any better, your front seat pilot is an F-18 pilot with 3,800 hours, who did four deployments, ran off the carrier and ran Top Gun for a few years.. Oh okay. Yeah, some of the best pilots on the planet, traveling around., All right.. I feel better. That makes me feel better. As I’m putting on my flight suit as the whole Red 6 team. Are there helping me get onto the plane. Lean forward., Yeah. Perfect.? There’S? Definitely a level of nervousness, but also I just don’t wan na mess up..
I want to make it through this flight without saying “ Nope I give up.” at any point. I’m doing this. (, plane engine roars, ) All righty., So the canopy is down..
Flight controls are free and clear.. Nobody on the approach.. I’Ve got the traffic on the departure and ready to go..
Let’S do it., Let’s do it. (, plane, engine roars, ), Not a terrible view. Huh.
Oh, it’s incredible! Man. [ Pilot ] Yeah! This is the office. Most of the day, brother. So not terrible.. It’S a trip flying through the sky being able to experience not only what all of Los Angeles looks like from the air, but also to experience what this little tiny plane.
That feels like you’ve, basically strapped it on versus the other way around is while I’m testing the AR headset that I’ve got on my head.. It’S not just the G’s. It’S not just this whole wild experience.. It’S also I’m going to be able to see these planes in the headset, almost as if they were in real life flying around me.
And if you look out here, you’re gon na start to see us coming behind the tanker here to the right.. Oh yeah, I see it. [ Pilot ], So if I’m gon na go practice in flight refueling, this is a great way to do it for students.. So what you’re seeing from the headset is real video. So what you’re seeing is really what I’m seeing. And that’s really the beauty of this AR headset.. It’S not virtual reality..
It’S not like I’m living in a completely virtual world., I’m seeing the real world just with augmented elements put on top of it. The detail. I think is what really jumps out to me is like- [ Pilot ] Right., Especially as you got closer to the tanker you could see everything on it. And the field of view of the headset is really impressive.. I mean I feel like it’s, not a limitation at all..
You can see everything you need to see. [ Pilot ]. So if you look over to our right side, there’s the F-22. [ Austin, ], Ooh, [ Pilot ], Yeah Right And so, like I said, I’m gon na use this formation approach., I’m gon na slime down here and you can see the J-20 Chinese fighter the T-38 There’S the Bosses number one F-18 from the Blue Angels..
Look at that color huh [, Austin, ] Yeah. It looks incredible: [ Pilot ] Look at the flames in the afterburner.. Oh my this is unbelievable.. Now what you’re seeing here is this big orange cube.? Now, it’s easy to forget that this is actually really designed for the military right. This is meant to help train pilots. And having this big cube, not only shows off the detail, the tracking, the fidelity, the brightness all that kind of stuff, but also it’s a good frame of reference to really understand the positioning of the plane and how that is All being fed into the game engine and then therefore into your headset. And I’ll pop up a little bit here to the right, so you can get a better feel for it.. Oh yeah [ Pilot ].
Look at how crazy static! It is right. There. [ Austin, ], Yeah, [ Pilot ], Just hovering in the sky, brother.
(, Austin, laughs, ), Crazy right. So I tell you what brother we’re gon na go right into SAMs., So tech is on.. Go over your left, shoulder by your knee.
They’re, coming down to get us., So they’re start to boost the phase. You’ll see’em coming up and the color is really spectacular.. [ Austin, ], Yeah, [ Pilot ]. So look at that., [, Austin ], Oh Boom boom, boom.
Yeah we’re totally dead.. We were dead like six times ago there.. So I tell you what, since you’re doing so, stellar I’m gon na go right into the two V one., I’m gon na dive a little bit here to the left. And, like I said, I’m going to follow the F-18 off to our right.
And just to show You if I wanted to which is kind of nice watch my nose here., I’m throwing out some bullets down: range. [, Austin ], Oh yeah, And I don’t want to hit’em right now. ,’Cause I want to be able to have them fight.. So what I’m gon na do is I want to show you that this is an augmented reality: artificial intelligence, fight..
These guys are using their own logic to fight against each other., I’m acting in a supporting role., So I’m basically helping my wingman out right. Now., Oh And I tell you what the next thing before we start doing, some bigger maneuver I’ll show you the carrier, here., That’s worth really seeing. And, like I said, you’ll see how the occlusion map just makes it absolutely crazy.. So I want you to look down as we’re coming in here. Look at the water and the way it glints. And then, as you get closer watch the way that the surface of the shadowing and the foam of the ship comes..
So this is a pretty decent carrier. Approach. I’ve done this a few times at day and night.. So I’m coming in into the USS Ford., The detail is absolutely spectacular..
This is just our first pass at it. And we showed the Navy guys that they were like “, Unbelievable !”, It’s crazy because I think with the previous ones. We saw the planes, but the planes were just floating in air., But with that you see the water. You see everything., It’s really almost like a VR experience.. Let’S go fight a one V one. There. He is. Got him.
Okay., So fight’s on. Coming around here, so you’re gon na feel some turn. Gs. There.
We go Gs, Gs, Gs. Gs, Gs, Gs, baby, [ Pilot ] And there you go. That’s about five on you, brother. Oh., [ Pilot ] And there’s a couple of bullets coming out: at’em.
[, Austin, ], Woo, [ Pilot ] And there he’s turning., Oh man. This is great dude, [ Pilot, ] Yeah, so he’s doing some good work. Here.. Oh man, [ Pilot ] And we’re gon na do one more turn around him and fire a missile off.
Boom [ Austin ]. Oh, got him [ Pilot ]. There he goes. Smoking down., Oh my God, Dude.
[ Pilot ], All right tech’s coming off brother.. That is wild. I don’t even know what to say man., I don’t even know what to say. ( plane. Engine roars, ) Well done my friend. Well done..
Thank you. Thank you. That was awesome. Enjoy yourself Dude, that was extraordinary., Oh my God that was so much fun. Woo. This makes it official..
Oh Yo. This is not an experience. I think I will ever forget. Not only pulling the G’s but also experiencing what the headset can.
Do. The fact that it’s all running on the PC between my legs inside this plane. Man, the Red 6 guys, are wild. It’s time to fuel up and go again right: ( laughs, ), One more time, One more time: ( laughs, ), It’ll, take about five minutes.
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