What happens when you combine video games with robotics? The coolest virtual reality simulators in the world. That’s what they’re doing at Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. Gajitz reported on the the institute’s work with robotics and the engineering implementation on virtual machines. This has resulted in F1 series simulators that make it feel like you are literally driving on the racetrack.

So what separates these in machines from the old? From reading the article, I say the unbelievable realness of the actual simulation. Many of us have been to the arcade and played the Daytona 500, Need for Speed and Fast and the Furious games, but those don’t even compare. You may get a few up and down motions on these arcade games, but this real life simulation will have you speeding at over 150 mph (or at least feel like you are).

As virtual reality continues to be one of the most fascinating technologies out, it will be interesting to see what the future has to offer. The progress may feel slow, but at least it’s progressing. For the time being, the arcade hype has slowly died out and been taken over by consoles (PS3 Xbox 360). However, the market is so big, that if video game manufactures are willing to put even more time and effort into it, they may resurrect the magic of the arcade.