Two entrepreneurs with a track record in flight simulation are planning to bring a motorcycle simulator to the amusement market early next year.
Simon Fox and Tom Clark of RoboBike are planning to introduce their 4D experience at the next EAG show in January, by which time, he said, his engineers may be on the fifth manifestation of the ride.
“Our electronics are being developed in Brighton, the assembly is in Peterborough, but the RoboBike headquarters for sales and marketing are in London,” said Fox when we spoke with him at the ARE trade show in Manchester.
The 4D qualities of the RoboBike are such that all of the effects, motion, wind, sound and vibration come with total manipulation by the rider, facing a wide, curved screen on which real road images are shown in a challenge that will include a variety of terrains and competitive elements from rogue interventions.
“We will actually show a prototype at the British Motor Show at Farnham in Surrey in August, but the unit will not be in a production situation until very early next year when we will exhibit it to the trade.”
Operated on a tap-and-go system, the RoboBike has a much more realistic lookalike shape to an actual racing motor cycle and Fox has plans to produce a cut-down junior version of the bike so that parents and children can compete with one another, using a variety of levels of ability.
“We will also be introducing updates to the software at regular intervals,” said Fox.
