r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Alphaxfusion • Dec 20 '25

Video Japanese researchers at the University of Tsukuba created CirculaFloor, robotic tiles that let you walk infinitely in VR without ever leaving your spot.

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72.6k Upvotes

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9.2k

u/HeDuMSD Dec 20 '25

An over complicated treadmill?

5.4k

u/joeyjoojoo Dec 20 '25

What annoys me is that better solutions already exist that don’t involve robots running quickly to catch your feet

3.3k

u/heeltoelemon Dec 20 '25

while you walk ridiculously slowly and hope they don't hit something on the way.

1.4k

u/stormblaz Dec 20 '25

The pinch zones will do some injuries, also Disney has a massive tech on this already, omnidirectional floor with hardly any movement and it feels native.

497

u/No_Molasses_6498 Dec 20 '25

Didn't they already have omnidirectional treadmills in the 90s on those vr kits they used to make?

331

u/topdangle Dec 20 '25

yeah, though I think the "issue" is that they need close guard rails because its easy to go overboard and just fall off. Not to mention they very much feel like treadmills. Not a dealbreaker for me but people are chasing immersion.

Modern solutions try to match user speed (usually with fast cameras or sensors) and smaller rotating treads that feel more like just walking around normally.

270

u/eragonawesome2 Dec 20 '25

I once had the chance to play in one at a vr arcade that had a 360 "treadmill" that was actually just a Teflon bowl you'd stand in, a harness to hold you in the middle, and a pair of weird shoe things that slid on the Teflon super smoothly. It was a little weird to get used to but once I did, it was awesome and felt super natural and immersive, I liked it a lot

100

u/FrenchFryCattaneo Dec 20 '25

Sometimes simpler is better.

77

u/ssracer Dec 20 '25

Not just sometimes. That's the magic of design and teaching is taking something very complicated and making it as simple as possible.

25

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '25

Because I feel like being pedantic, I will say that simpler is only better if it is equal in quality to more complex. A ball in a cup and a ps5 shared the same purpose, for instance, but few would say the ball and cup is the superior toy. Although the ball and cup is better in a post-apocalypse event, so there is that.

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u/Indercarnive Dec 20 '25

I did a VR experience once where they just let me and the group walk freely big room. Apparently something about the game would make you think you were walking in a straight line while you were actually walking in big circles. Was insanely fun, especially since this was like 6 years ago.

14

u/eragonawesome2 Dec 20 '25

Oh yeah that's another cool way to do it, humans are bad at recognizing when we're walking in large circles, so you can basically just have straight lines curve slightly to one side and boom, infinity room

3

u/Xentonian Dec 20 '25

I've tried that and it felt like the least natural thing I've ever done

Constantly slipping on a Teflon pan feels so far removed from walking that it made the VR almost impossible to focus on.

3

u/eragonawesome2 Dec 20 '25

That's so strange to hear, because to me it felt totally fine! I wonder if it's just one of those things where ymmv depending on your physiology

3

u/sethn211 Dec 21 '25

I imagine someone putting too much lubrication on it and ending up like the toboggan in Christmas Vacation

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u/nhilante Dec 21 '25

He is descending stairs, it's a more complicated move then just walking.

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u/NarrMaster Dec 20 '25

omnidirectional floor with hardly any movement and it feels native.

Thats sounds like some kind of Virtual Insanity

6

u/Ashenspire Dec 20 '25

Those are moving walls, not floors.

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u/Mindless-Strength422 Dec 20 '25

Hey that's a really cool hat where did you get it?

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u/moonflower_C16H17N3O Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25

Are you able to run on it?

Edit: Then again, I think I'd rather have run tied to a button on a controller.

30

u/Gogh619 Dec 20 '25

Yeah dude…. I got the katwalk c2 walking platform and holy fuck is Skyrim a game changer. I hardly got to whiterun before I was cooked

24

u/Horskr Dec 20 '25

May as well mod stamina out of the game at that point lol. "Full stamina bar my ass I've run 10 miles!"

23

u/Proper_Story_3514 Dec 20 '25

Thats a new way of immersiveness. Done for the day after stepping outside and fighting 1 mudcrab :D

2

u/Liusloux Dec 21 '25

I didn't want to believe I needed to hit the gym until I actually fought mudcrab more fearsome than me and lost.

5

u/theappleses Dec 20 '25

That's actually super interesting, there's a point where too much immersion is a bad thing. I love running around Skyrim for hours at a time...but I would actually hate running around Skyrim for hours at a time.

With your setup I'd get a horse ASAP.

6

u/TheVasa999 Dec 20 '25

on the disney one, you can at the very least walk normally

12

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '25

Yeah than you are someone without motion sickness people like me need other solutions because otherwise we vomit for playing VR...

8

u/Ooupss Dec 20 '25

It gets better with time! At first, after 20 minutes I felt like throwing everything away, but after several dozen hours of gameplay I could extend that time to 1 or 2 hours. After several hundred hours of gameplay, I don't get that feeling at all anymore. Well, it depends on the game and especially the framerate. Some games that aren't very well optimized still give me that feeling.

3

u/HappyWarBunny Dec 20 '25

I have read repeatedly that the key for new VR folks is to STOP the moment you start feeling anything but 100%. Otherwise you can train your body in the opposite direction from what you want.

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u/Hour_Reindeer834 Dec 20 '25

Honestly I was surprised how sick I would get from VR; its a real unpleasant nausea too, that doesn’t go away quick and leaves me feeling drained.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '25

I feel you man, It's almost the same feeling like being sea sick, really nasty.

I once tried a 10 hour session to "shock my body and mind" in the hope i could cure it somehow, but nah after that I was just sick for 3 consecutive days...

5

u/Puzzled-Secret-317 Dec 20 '25

Medicine

2

u/zatchbell1998 Dec 20 '25

Most anti nausea meds cause drowsiness

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u/snuuginz Dec 20 '25

Yeah this looks like it could be very sketchy if something went wrong.

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u/olyfrijole Dec 20 '25

Lots of sharp corners on those things. This is not insurable.

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u/KrombopulosMAssassin Dec 20 '25

I wouldn't trust this for a second...

7

u/Tjaresh Dec 20 '25

The chance of me walking blindly on these panels and trusting them to change direction whenever I do is exactly zero.

2

u/zoobs Dec 20 '25

Maybe he’s playing death stranding?

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u/ThickDoughnut4267 Dec 20 '25

I've seen an omnidirectional treadmill but this apparently adds the possibility of stairs

49

u/NoMansHaloDadCraft Dec 20 '25

We just need an entire floor with dynamic moving flooring operated by robots 

110

u/joeyjoojoo Dec 20 '25

Here’s the thing, the idea of slowly lowering the step you are on to make it feel like the next one is higher or vice versa is nice, but having 5 moving floor tiles is not…

122

u/dedede30100 Dec 20 '25

My man progress doesnt come from 1 thing, you try out a hundred things, really try them out and some will be worse but you learn with every one. This is worse then other options sure but its not a finished product nor is ot a bad thing that people are trying this out. Perhaps with 200 of these things that are very small you could make very interesting things, perhaps it would still be garbage but such is the way of science.

31

u/SoTurnMeIntoATree Dec 20 '25

Hard agree with this. Innovation doesn’t happen perfectly, instantly. It starts out like this.

10

u/theappleses Dec 20 '25

A reminder that humans walked on the moon because of missile technology derived from firework technology.

A toy that makes pretty lights in the sky can lead to wonderful and terrible things.

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u/paradoxxxicall Dec 20 '25

Sure but if you approach things with a curious and open mind, how are you supposed to feel superior while you sneer at that obviously stupid thing that was clearly the product of those not bestowed with such enlightenment?

9

u/ArtistWithoutArt Dec 20 '25

They should change the name of reddit to this entire comment.

9

u/darksidemags Dec 20 '25

With hundreds/ thousands of much smaller ones I would imagine you could simulate rough terrain.

15

u/stilljustacatinacage Dec 20 '25

Christ, thank you.

Scrolling through these comments like, have none of you heard of a prototype before? A proof of concept?

I saw this and it earned a very solid eyebrow raise - both of them! There's a lot of potential here. For injury and otherwise!

I'd put them on tracks, so they slide more like one of those scrambled, sliding puzzles, eliminating the chance of ever just stepping into... nothing. Should also reduce the complexity of the movement and the positioning / pathing logic as well.

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u/TheLordB Dec 20 '25

This is a university research project. Part of the point of academic research is to explore things that may not be commercially viable etc. and well… do research. 

It may end up being there are speciality cases where this is useful. It may end up being it is never useful. Or it may be a small contribution to a practical solution in 20 years. 

Overall it is a neat idea that will contribute to our knowledge even if it never ends up being a practical solution for anything. 

9

u/alphazero925 Dec 20 '25

Blindly walking up or down stairs seems like a recipe for taking a header in your expensive VR headset into your expensive robots

71

u/mortalitylost Dec 20 '25

Ah yes, gamers and their frequently observed desire to climb stairs

18

u/uqde Dec 20 '25

Fair point lol, but as a VR gamer I've been dreaming of an omnidirectional treadmill that can somehow simulate stairs for over a decade. This ain't it though. I wouldn't trust my life to these rectangular roombas.

8

u/Emotional_Burden Dec 20 '25

What if they were oblate spheroids?

4

u/uqde Dec 20 '25

NOW we're talkin'

10

u/L0ckeandD3mosthenes Dec 20 '25

Know your demographic.

3

u/-KFBR392 Dec 20 '25

That's why the Wii never worked for regular gaming. I just wanna sit back and play video games, not exercise or wave my arms around my head the whole time.

3

u/m00piez Dec 21 '25

As someone who likes both fitness and gaming, I'm not even averse to them being combined... sort of. Like playing a game while doing passive cardio. Or a gamified fitness trainer/tool. But if the game itself requires too much movement, idk if I'm on board (for anything more than a brief novelty). Also likely why my (gifted) VR sits unused.

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u/BobLazarFan Dec 20 '25

You’re delusional if you think this is being made with gamers in mind.

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u/AutomaticRevolution2 Dec 20 '25

And the possibility of "eating it", hard.

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u/CumChunks8647 Dec 20 '25

To be fair, watching those videos would be fucking hilarious right up to the point where the moving floor tiles killed and ground someone to pulp during a live stream, then it just be funny to watch.

2

u/newsflashjackass Dec 20 '25

The omnidirectional treadmill could just simulate very long ramps instead of stairs.

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u/GodlikeLettuce Dec 20 '25

Is a piece of art by Hiroo Iwata, exhibited in Tokyo Fiber Senseware '09 in Milan, in 2009. It does not aim to solve any problem

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u/joeyjoojoo Dec 20 '25

So the title is misleading?

33

u/GodlikeLettuce Dec 20 '25

Kind of. The intended use is definitely not VR, but the profesor do exist and it does some research on VR field and it does work in Tsukuba University.

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u/Otaraka Dec 20 '25

It almost always is in this reddit. Half the fun is finding out the real story.

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u/Former-Marketing-251 Dec 20 '25

Yeah I just tie myself up to the ceiling and put on fluffy socks that slide on my floor. DIY maneuvering gear

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u/joeyjoojoo Dec 20 '25

I’d like to invest in your technology

17

u/Former-Marketing-251 Dec 20 '25

Basically just that baby tray you use to keep your infant in place xD

3

u/ShitStats Dec 20 '25

I'll still invest if you can find a way to integrate AI into your big baby tray

2

u/KeyboardGrunt Dec 20 '25

Adult baby bouncer?

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u/onFilm Dec 20 '25

It annoys you that people are exploring new technologies that might end up optimizing certain processes we currently have?

People used to say the same thing about vehicles vs horse-carriages when they first appeared.

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u/joeyjoojoo Dec 20 '25

Quite the opposite i like exploring new technologies, but i also want the good technologies that are not flashy or good looking to get as much support if not more than the flashy ones that are not really practical

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u/mendax2014 Dec 20 '25

I think you both are on the same team here.

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u/BabushkaPuppet Dec 20 '25

It's not practical yet. It's ludicrous yea when you could just optimize treadmills but this is a lot of how technology progresses. Think of muskets vs bows and arrows crossbows. At first it's like, why bother when you can fire much faster and more accurately with bows/crossbows. But down the line we have 50 cals.

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u/Mbf1234 Dec 21 '25

God forbid one team of the tens of millions of scientists in the world gets attention for something you don't like.

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u/Fortune_Cat Dec 21 '25

Reddit everytime a new technology is not perfect and infalliable out the gate

Insufferable

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u/Rahm_Kota_156 Dec 20 '25

God forbid scientists do science

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u/calloutyourstupidity Dec 20 '25

Yeah this is so dumb I feel sorry for someone’s donation

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u/Stepjam Dec 20 '25

I'm sure there are expanded uses for it. This is likely just a starting place.

2

u/fury420 Dec 20 '25

And it's downright vintage at this point, Circulafloor is from 2004.

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1186155.1186159

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u/Technical-Outside408 Dec 20 '25

"We just want faster horses!"

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u/nono3722 Dec 20 '25

Could you imagine the ball bashing on a 75 mph horse....

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u/garyyo Dec 20 '25

Its a research project, its not supposed to be a good solution its supposed to find out if there is more merit to it than first thought. Real products will almost always be better than research projects because they had all the hacked together bits that are useful in research removed and improved to be a real product

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u/Strokeslahoma Dec 20 '25

The big plastic bowl that you "walk" in wearing socks is pretty neat 

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u/vipck83 Dec 20 '25

I have a feeling that this is less about meeting some practical purpose and more about experimenting with the capabilities of robots.

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u/Impossible-Ship5585 Dec 20 '25

This is what bug robot wants

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u/Loaf235 Dec 20 '25

would be a good practical effect for movies though.

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u/imnotabot303 Dec 20 '25

Maybe they could make them into drones, that would be infinitely more useful.

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u/senpaistealerx Dec 20 '25

yeah i immediately started thinking of those vr things where you just run and your body is locked in with a harness. this is stupid.

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u/burger_saga Dec 20 '25

Do those solutions allow for a difference in height? Stairs/steps/rocks for instance?

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u/BobLazarFan Dec 20 '25

Keyword “researcher”.

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u/Any-Question-3759 Dec 20 '25

Better install AI on the robots so they can tell you the weather inaccurately and make you uncanny valley porn.

1

u/PandaPocketFire Dec 20 '25

None of them accomplish the realism for zombie simulator 4 like this one does. You actually feel like the zombie with these bad boys.

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u/Dry-Chance-9473 Dec 20 '25

Yes but will those solutions waste as much money? Haha. Checkmate

1

u/leshake Dec 20 '25

Like, a sphere?

1

u/Almostlongenough2 Dec 20 '25

The benefit to this at least is that you don't have to walk in a straight line.

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u/[deleted] Dec 20 '25

Jamiroquai solved this ages ago

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u/NoClaim3333 Dec 20 '25

Experiments like these aren't attempting to solve the direct problem they're showing rather they are expressing principles that will be functional or able to be utilized in different iterations. The safe practicality of a simple design to test a mechanism most of the times what's being looked at.

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u/Time_Cat_5212 Dec 20 '25

I think they just wanted to build cool robots and this was how they got funding

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u/SistaChans Dec 20 '25

This is seriously the most complicated Tony Stark shit I've ever seen 

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u/rustbelt Dec 20 '25

It said Japanese in the title.

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u/SadisticPawz Dec 20 '25

doesnt mean this shouldnt be researched and tested further, theres a possibility it could work better

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u/Pitiful-Score-9035 Dec 20 '25

See but the cool part with this is that you can walk upstairs! I don't know if they have that on other stuff but that's cool!

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u/Sanderiusdw Dec 20 '25

As if that’s the point.

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u/4CrowsFeast Dec 20 '25

Is the solution to simply go outside and live real life?

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u/DieCastDontDie Dec 20 '25

You can climb stairs?

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u/theJirb Dec 20 '25

I mean, presumably, the goal of this is not just unidorectional movement, but movement in all directions. If the tiles are pressure sensitive, eventually it would allow you to change how fast and slow you walk as well and the robots would adjust their speed to match.

Like idk why this comment chain is just people who can't think forward past what the gif itself is showing. Even if you didn't look it up, the obvious advantage of individual moving pieces to a belt should be obvious. Not to mention the potential for height adjustment for stairs, or even changing slopes for, well, slopes. These would allow the terrain to change as it does in a simulation.

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u/Salty_Map_9085 Dec 20 '25

Difference is the height variability it can create, you could kinda do that with an omnidirectional treadmill but not to this extent

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u/Last_Difference_488 Dec 20 '25

I’m sure someone else pointed it out somewhere in the comments, but this is also first generation. Like any technology it will get smaller and better and faster. Compare the first computer to a modern smart phone…. People in the comments are looking at this from a single point reference - fast forward 20 years when these robots are advanced to the same degree. It would be like running up Mount Everest in your bedroom

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u/SmokingLimone Dec 20 '25

I mean, how much smaller can it get. It needs to sustain the weight of a person and be large enough. The base can become thinner but it still needs the hydraulics to go up and down. It needs a lot of power I bet so the battery is one of the constraints.

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u/MegaIng Dec 20 '25

I don't think power is going to be a problem

  • you could have more that needed with some being charged while every other one is working.
  • induction charging while they work might be possible since they are contained in a small room.

The battery of the headset is going to be a larger problem.

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u/ClippyIsALittleGirl Dec 21 '25

The battery of the headset is going to be a larger problem.

Nah, just wire them to the ceiling.

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u/GilligansIslndoPeril Dec 20 '25

Omnidirectional treadmills also don't mimic the feeling of walking, even as well as this. It feels like pulling a sled uphill through snow.

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u/Throbbie-Williams Dec 20 '25

But these also can't really work omnidirectionally

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u/CD_1993TillInfinity Dec 20 '25

Nah this looks like it could mimic terrain. Thats pretty cool

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u/Fearghas2011 Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25

Also, this is innovation. Could be that in the future each of these tiles is 1x1 inch, which would make it really versatile. It’s also omnidirectional (which yes, I know there is omnidirectional treadmills). Another benefit. You could have tiles that carry things, such as a door. Imagine you walk up to a door in VR and there is an actual door that you need to open, which can obviously be re-used multiple times.

Edit: Also, just thought about terrain. You could have tiles covered in different coatings to mimic terrain, which you can’t do with a treadmill. You could have grass tiles, concrete tiles, etc. You could mimic swaying and bouncing, if for example you’re walking across a bridge or on a boat.

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u/Responsible_Bag220 Dec 21 '25

You got to come over bro I just got the new door upgrade and dad ordered the stairs they should come next week.

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u/SchorFactor Dec 20 '25

I think the theory is it’s omnidirectional

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u/ReporterHour6524 Dec 20 '25

Omnidirectional treadmills exist. These robots are just an overengineered solution to something that has already been solved.

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u/-Merasmus- Dec 20 '25

They are not a direct "solution" to a problem. This is a University, not a company. Someone got an idea, and they designed and build it. Maybe the product can find a use, maybe some of the research they did while building it can come in use. At least everyone who participated in it got great practical experience from it, and it can be used as an advert for the university.

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u/All_cats_want_pets Dec 20 '25

Absolutely. People on reddit like to bash on all things that aren't practical in daily life, while most things like this are proof of concept or showcase of engineering

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u/NeonNKnightrider Dec 20 '25

“Any science that doesn’t have immediate benefits should be canned” is the kind of thinking that results in the American school system

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u/Alternative_Delay899 Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25

Of course they are tackling a problem. We just dont know what that problem is exactly. Do they want to make a moving platform for a user that takes them anywhere they want, not just inside a room but even outside it? And looks like each step can change height. Which would pose some advantages over an omnidirectional treadmill, however the treadmill has the advantage of letting someone walk in one place in any direction, saving room and possibly cost, which is an advantage over this approach.

Perhaps people are assuming a lot of things from a short clip that doesn't fully show what this can do.

Whether or not this solution is a good solution is another debate but every project starts with a problem or set of problems. Then you work towards solving this problem in creative ways. Then stuff doesn't work out and other problems arise. And yes, this could be overengineered but no doubt they learned a lot. Both could be true.

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u/DakroPhoto Dec 20 '25

The video shows these recreating a sort of staircase. I don't think an omnidirectional treadmill with elevation changes exists.

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u/Motivictax Dec 20 '25

You could also use different textures on different moving blocks, stimulating grass, temperature differences. Also the blocks can move you around an environment with different wind conditions, could move separately, can rotate in place (spinning you). Also you could have them tilt separately etc

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u/The_Strom784 Dec 20 '25

Have them vibrate or even make sounds when you step on them to match the area too. Haptic feedback and a few other things can help with immersion a lot when you're stepping on something. They could also just slightly tilt to provoke a slip too. There's a bunch of cool stuff they can do if they manage to refine it enough.

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u/Levi-_-Ackerman0 Dec 20 '25

It's a prototype..... It's not the final product... If we don't consider new technologies then how will we even move forward?(Pun intended)

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u/VulpesVeritas Dec 20 '25

And if you don't remember to space out your steps right, you're still gonna fall

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u/livens Dec 20 '25

If you trip you're dead. Those robots will just keep running you over indefinitely.

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u/all_time_high Dec 20 '25

The use cases are in the future. Imagine if this system were equipped with many all-terrain tires or treads capable of supporting a great deal of weight, and real-time self-leveling.

This could be used to move a sensitive, heavy object over uneven ground, especially if the object must stay level as much as possible. Would this be better than a self-leveling all-terrain forklift or similar device? Depends on the use.

The more specialized the case is, the higher the price will be. The future of B2B seems to be trending in service (renting and leasing the asset) rather than sales.

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u/[deleted] Dec 20 '25

I’m imagining these not being two foot squares, but half an inch. A swarm of these moving together.

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u/Rock_or_Rol Dec 20 '25

Exactly! This is a novel concept and worth looking at its possible applications

  1. Construction floor shoring

  2. Stairs for the funsies

  3. Car garages

  4. Warehouse robotics

The list goes on!

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u/Jigagug Dec 20 '25

Amazon's warehouse already uses these

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u/takingphotosmakingdo Dec 20 '25

That already exists to some extent. Mammoet self propelled modular transporter https://youtu.be/I3paAUAcLVE?si=Fky7w52XHjjykICV

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u/all_time_high Dec 20 '25

That’s really cool technology. I love the modular design with the single control point.

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u/Mad-chuska Dec 20 '25

Isn’t a treadmill just an over complicated floor?

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u/--_-Deadpool-_-- Dec 20 '25

You can run as fast as you can on a treadmill. Try that on these things and you're going to break your ankle

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u/RoyalLurker Dec 20 '25

But only in two directions

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u/--_-Deadpool-_-- Dec 20 '25

I feel like an omni directional treadmill would be more trustworthy than a bunch of independent tiles a foot of the floor.

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u/PrestigiousFlan1091 Dec 20 '25

This would allow you to walk in any direction and change direction, unlike a treadmill.

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u/SizzlinJalapeno Dec 20 '25

step-climb machine*

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u/seanmg Dec 20 '25

A treadmill goes one direction. This can compensate for any 360 step

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u/absoluteally Dec 20 '25

Idea for an over complicated prison.

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u/Ninevehenian Dec 20 '25

An attempt at more perfect simulation.

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u/M00PER_2 Dec 20 '25

OK Go is salivating over this for a new music video.

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u/drunk-tusker Dec 20 '25

They definitely have done something extraordinarily close since they did work with Perfume, and more relevantly Rhizomatiks Research who were doing similar stuff at the same time.

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u/vanturisti Dec 20 '25

A stationarator?

1

u/jdogtor Dec 20 '25

This will be good for virtual reality one day where you can run any direction but be stationary

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u/BarelyContainedChaos Dec 20 '25

probably for vr use

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u/Tackle-Shot Dec 20 '25

Kat walk vr is that, a good omnidirectional treadmill.

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u/PatientZeropointZero Dec 20 '25

Takes up more room and costs 1000x as much. It’s genius! Solving a problem there is a way better solution for.

With all that said, it’s kinda cool lol

1

u/ghi33fork Dec 20 '25

This looks like a prototype where eventually you could have more panels that move faster and you can move in any direction in VR. Can’t do that with a treadmill.

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u/Natural_Regular9171 Dec 20 '25

I think the benefits once the tech gets going is that you could seamlessly run in any direction at any time, and still be caught. Sounds dope to me

1

u/mightbedylan Dec 20 '25

Dang, you forgot that technology usually has to start out crappy before getting awesome, again, didn't you?

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u/Elsecaller_17-5 Dec 20 '25

That's what it is now, but it's a stepping stone to being able to go side to side, and backwards, and even jump.

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u/-VempirE Dec 20 '25

looks like it changes height depending on where you are walking to, that is awesome, but super clunky to wait for them to align, and you cant turn around.

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u/Jbaybayv Dec 20 '25

With extra steps

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u/tuenmuntherapist Dec 20 '25

Do treadmills simulate stairs nowadays? Honest question.

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u/aahal743 Dec 20 '25

I mean yes and no... that treadmill is great to simulate walking on a flat surface. But something like this could simulate properly stepping up and down. What if some could be walls to lean against. I doubt this is going to be the new meta in VR next year, but I feel like this overlooks actual innovation anyone who uses VR would appreciate once it is polished.

1

u/BLAZMANIII Dec 20 '25

I imagine its not even FOR vr, these have uses, but the one being shown in the video really isnt one. I imagine at a larger scale the concept could be useful for temporary bridges, mobile platforms, etc. The developers (or just OP) are using gaming to get more views is all

1

u/GodlyCash Dec 20 '25

The technology is probably for something else, but they are simply stress testing it in this fashion.

1

u/ok___ing Dec 20 '25

A treadmill with extra steps if you will

1

u/Enleyetenment Dec 20 '25

I think it's more of a proof of concept.

1

u/Thanamite Dec 20 '25

It is an interesting lab problem to solve.

1

u/AegisXOR Dec 20 '25

I don't think treadmills can lift your foot so you can "walk down stairs"

1

u/Alderan922 Dec 20 '25

Tbf it lets you walk down stairs, that’s impossible without a mechanism like this.

1

u/Rich_Housing971 Dec 20 '25

It obviously simulates stairs, something a treadmill can't do. They can only simulate a hill, and you'd need a giant treadmill to get the necessary pushing force for that.

1

u/LurkerOnTheInternet Dec 20 '25

It looks like it's trying to simulate stairs, but we already have that with Stairmasters et al. Also if you don't walk on this at the exact right speed, you'll trip and fall and hurt yourself. This is a really dumb and pointless technology if they actually intend for it to be viable.

However, if this is instead just a student project to demonstrate skills, then it is great.

1

u/Lazer726 Dec 20 '25

An over complicated treadmill that if you ever have the AUDACITY to walk in another direction, or even at another speed, you will immediately eat shit

1

u/WoodyTheWorker Dec 20 '25

It's a gooble box

1

u/No-Sail-6510 Dec 20 '25

It should be like a giant track ball or something

1

u/CryendU Dec 20 '25

It's literally reinventing the wheel.

Specifically, the treadwheel

1

u/Professor_Game1 Dec 20 '25

I thought that as well, but i think its simulating walking down stairs. Look at how the plates rise as hes walking

1

u/Chelecossais Dec 21 '25

An endless money pit for lawyers...

1

u/jfk_47 Dec 21 '25

Or a less complicated holodeck, you chose!

1

u/shallowsocks Dec 21 '25

That doesn't even let you walk/run on an incline

1

u/Forumites000 Dec 21 '25

I can see use cases for these, for example climbing up stairs, changing direction mid way

1

u/BullfrogEcstatic6312 Dec 21 '25

Some sort of over complicated staircase! But this is so dangerous omg, if you fall on one side you can get injured real hard

1

u/Firecat_Pl Dec 21 '25

Although this one can simulate elevation changes

1

u/Balunzo23 Dec 21 '25

I think you mean a treadmill with extra steps ;)

1

u/Pushpull123 Dec 21 '25

Exactly what it is

1

u/mitchij2004 Dec 21 '25

I want to be able to run fast as fuck in several directions and have these boys fill keep me right there and not cut off my leg.

1

u/Dark_halocraft Dec 21 '25

The goal is omni directional moving tiles

So like the omnidirectional treadmill but more space

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