Oculus Rift, Rex Bionics on show in Auckland

UPDATE: Scroll down for a Rex Bionics vid and some pics.

I'm shooting along to the second day of DIGITAL NATIONZ at Auckland's Vector Arena today.

It's only the second year this event has been running.

Last year, it featured a certain out-size German taking on all-comers in Call of Duty.

There's a Lan/gaming championship again this year (with Logitech putting up $30,000 in prizes) but three things that caught my eye on the programme were a chance to see

Oculus Rift, the virtual reality technology bought by Facebook for $US2 billion earlier this year. There are 20 pairs of Oculus Rift goggles at the show
Some kit from Rex Bionics, the world's first hands free robotic walking device, and developed on Auckland's North Shore (though recently scooped up by a UK outfit)
The Homegrown area — 10 pods showcasing NZ’s homegrown developer talent and other Kiwi technology talents.

There are also speakers today including Weta Workshop's David Tremont, Valve's Fletcher Dunn and the ubiquitous Michelle Dickinson, aka Nano Girl, who is going to show examples of gadgets she's pulled apart.

See the full line up and timetable here.

ckeall@nbr.co.nz

Follow @ChrisKeall

Rex Bionics' robotic exo-skeleton. A dozen have been sold over the past year, mainly to rehab clinics, for around $US150,000 each. Hopefully R&D and manufacturing will stay on Auckland's North Shore following the recent buy-out. The speed is about 10 steps per minute. Check out some more pics from the show on my Twitter feed.

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Oculus Rift, Rex Bionics on show in Auckland

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