Immersive Virtual Reality Takes Steps Forward
By Evan Ackerman
Running around in virtual reality has always been a problem, since it’s pretty hard to physically move anywhere while you’re standing in a room and hooked up to a computer. VirtueSphere took a stab at the problem with a giant ball on rollers, but the Omni-Directional Treadmill (ODT) is a much more elegant (and, let’s face it, way cooler) solution. As you can see from the video above, the ODT allows you to move continuously in any direction (even sideways or backwards), and the current version will handle jogging speeds. It uses a bunch of little treadmills moving in one direction, all mounted on one large treadmill that moves orthogonally. It may not surprise you to hear that the US Army has dibs on all of the current versions, but the designers envision all sorts of applications, of which gaming is at the top (yes, top) of their list.
[ Virtual Space Devices ] VIA [ Funl ]
Related Tags: Gaming, Technology
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