My favorite Quest travel app got an impressive foliage rendering system
Brink Traveler's latest update takes you to Lake Tahoe and showcases a new foliage rendering system.
The update adds a new destination overlooking the north shore of Lake Tahoe in California's Sierra Nevada. The so-called Carnelian Overlook offers a panoramic view of one of the deepest lakes in America, surrounded by rugged mountain ridges and the rich hues of Carnelian Bay.
"We're frequently asked for forest locations, so to make it happen we developed a new foliage rendering system that makes it possible to bring hundreds-of-thousands of trees and plants into standalone VR performantly," Brink XR founder Akin Bilgic writes to MIXED. The scene is said to render 8,000 trees and 700,000 plants. A making-of video shows the tricks the studio used.
To give you a first impression, I took a look at the new destination with Meta Quest 3 and recorded a video.
The rendered scenery is impressive, but like most of Brink Traveler's VR environments, you can only move a few steps in each direction. It is not possible to explore the forest or see it from an entirely different perspective. Still, the new foliage rendering system is promising, and I'm excited to see how new destinations will benefit from it.
You can purchase Brink Traveler on the Horizon Store and on Steam.
What is Brink Traveler?
Brink Traveler uses photogrammetry to create hyperrealistic digital duplicates of real places.
The VR app currently offers about 50 3D environments with a movement radius of a few meters. Although it is not possible to go hiking or the like, the VR app is ideal for relaxation or meditation, which is why it is now being used in therapy.
Since its launch in 2021, numerous new destinations, multiplayer support and an AI travel guide have been added. The previous three updates brought environments in the Turkish Cappadocia region and the volcanic island of La Réunion and introduced dynamic skies and star constellations.
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