Video: A DIY iPhone-Controlled Car With Virtual-Reality Driver’s-Seat Views
WiDrive
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Our collegiate scholars hold our future in their hands, so it’s always good to see them apply themselves to projects like WiDrive, a remote-controlled, camera-mounted car that can be driven in the first person using an iPhone and a pair of VR glasses.

Built by a Bournemouth University (that’s in the UK) student trying to “do something completely different in an attempt not to bore the f*ck out of my lecturers and inject some excitement into their lives,” the car can be controlled over any WiFi connection (hence the name) and transmits both audio and visual back to the driver’s goggles. Commands are issued via an on-board Arduino chip programmed to process commands from the iPhone.

As you’ll see below, the connection between the camera and the VR glasses was a bit spotty, causing the test driver a bit of trouble, but the accelerometer-based steering appears to be pretty responsive. For more details on the programming and perils of such a DIY undertaking, see WiDrive.co.uk.