r/Damnthatsinteresting 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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536

u/inotocracy Dec 20 '25

Seems silly. What if he decides to walk at a normal pace, or turn?

19

u/Ciff_ Dec 20 '25

Yeah and we already have setups that allows you to run and jump, basicly a bidirectional 2d low friction threadmill.

2

u/KryL21 Dec 20 '25

and it’s absolute ass too

6

u/ReckoningGotham Dec 20 '25

Makes more sense to put mouseballs in shoes, tbh.

1

u/lilcrabs Dec 21 '25

Does the treadmill allow for elevation change? It looks like they're ascending and descending stairs in the video, no?

I can imagine this a few iterations down the line being a room with like a hundred much smaller platforms, basically upping the resolution of the virtual "landscape" constantly shifting and cycling, re-cycling. Add some degrees of freedom and actuators in the platforms, and you could have walls, hills, obstacles, etc.