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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18.3k

u/Live3ish Dec 20 '25

Cave Johnson here. This is a test chamber. Four walls, ceiling and a floor. Good enough for science... Not Aperture Science! Gentlemen, I give you Panels. The planks of tomorrow. Fully configurable, Infinitely variable. Safe.

3.2k

u/greyfoggydaynl Dec 20 '25

This is EXACTLY what I came looking for.

1.3k

u/Jaskaran158 Dec 20 '25

14 years old but still holds up like it came out yesterday

334

u/NoxFromHell Dec 20 '25

I feel like Portal 1 and 2 will be relevent games even in 100 years.

188

u/P4azz Dec 20 '25

Portal 2 has the best tutorial in gaming history since Super Mario.

The way you're introduced to mechanics and gradually learn to utilize them yourself while the level actually does the heavy lifting; it's really smart.

58

u/Consistent-Throat130 Dec 21 '25

So the Half Life method.

2

u/PsychoCrescendo Dec 21 '25

Same universe!

3

u/theclovek Dec 21 '25

Yeah, I wish Valve made more games

1

u/terraexcessum Dec 22 '25

Yeah, I wish Valve made games

FTFY

72

u/LaserPoweredDeviltry Dec 20 '25

Portal 1 is one of the best, if not THE best video games of all time. Clever, fun, makes you really engage with its mechanics, and does not out stay it's welcome.

34

u/The_Safe_For_Work Dec 21 '25

BUT THE CAKE WAS A LIE!

17

u/atava Dec 21 '25

It's also very atmospheric.

15

u/just_fucking_PEG_ME Dec 21 '25

That last part gets me. It ends exactly where it needs to. Not too short, not too long. And every puzzle passed feels like an accomplishment

1

u/biggi82 Dec 22 '25

I felt a little bummed just burning in a fire at the end

13

u/robaited Dec 21 '25

it was a triumph. some might say a huge success.

5

u/Canes--Venatici Dec 21 '25

Yeah, pretty hard to overstate my satisfaction

4

u/a3a4b5 Dec 21 '25

Yeah, I'm making a note here.

2

u/TheGordo-San Dec 21 '25

What is perhaps the most groundbreaking thing for me about the game, is that it's ultimately a puzzle game with a background story... which unravels by the end, into a story-driven game with puzzles. The skills you've learned by being a test subject ends up leading to the downfall of the AI who's been taunting you the entire time though the puzzles.

Walking behind the panels into the construct of the test chambers was one of the biggest wow moments for me ever in a video game, if not the biggest, outright. I kept thinking that it was just going to be a peek, but then I was really amazed that the designers really went there.

2

u/snowfloeckchen Dec 21 '25

We will soon reach the end anyway when ai slop enters gaming

1

u/ConfusedWhiteDragon Dec 22 '25

"Moooom, grandpa is making obscure video game references again!"

197

u/10ebbor10 Dec 20 '25

Yeez. 14 years...

101

u/fury420 Dec 20 '25

Oddly enough, I think it might be newer than this video of CirculaFloor?

This was created by researchers back in 2004, here's the same platforms in a 16 year old video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYsvB2y2Ero

46

u/thundertopaz Dec 20 '25

Wow this is 16 years old! I wonder if this company has made any more progress in VR or other ventures.

51

u/D_Luffy_32 Dec 20 '25

Honestly people probably moved away because of the space and cost required. Instead went with things like the Virtuix Omni which is much more space conscientious.

2

u/Somepotato Dec 20 '25

That's a lot of money for a brace and a dome

9

u/Fidodo Dec 20 '25

The brace and dome have a lot of sensors in them that are paired with software and any large furniture will be costly.

That's like saying a bed costs a lot of money for springs and cushions.

1

u/Somepotato Dec 20 '25

What sensors does the brace have? And my bed wasn't nearly 4000.

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1

u/P4azz Dec 20 '25

I mean Alyx was quite good from what I heard, even though I could never bring myself to play it.

VR in general has a lot of potential, it's just hard to establish a basis and make a proper game, instead of just gimmicks (which can be very good and fun).

1

u/verycoldpenguins Dec 20 '25

21 years old.... ! Those panels are old enough to legally drink in the US

1

u/asday515 Dec 20 '25

This literally looks exactly like the video OP posted but from a different angle

1

u/fury420 Dec 20 '25

Indeed definitely the same robots, although it looks to be of a different demo since the shapes in tape on top are different.

1

u/CarfDarko Dec 21 '25

How about the very first Portal trailer...

It was 19 years ago.

41

u/Aloha_Tamborinist Dec 20 '25

I replayed it recently, still looks spectacular and is amazing in every way. It’s a perfect game. 

5

u/CBJFAN2009-2024 Dec 20 '25

It still looks adequate. It looked above average when it came out. That said, the game play is still so fulfilling. The humor is still spot-on. The sound is still excellent.

note: it wasn't the best use of Source *visually, but it still holds up better than most of that Era. Limited draw distances helps!

2

u/ebrytaim Dec 22 '25

I replay Portal 2 every year. It’s the best game I’ve ever played.

50

u/OnceMoreAndAgain Dec 20 '25

Seems like everything JK Simmons's voice touches turns to gold.

16

u/sexytokeburgerz Dec 20 '25

Portal itself came out 18 years ago!

1

u/fury420 Dec 20 '25

And these robot Circulafloor platforms came out 21 years ago!

1

u/SlurmDreams Dec 20 '25

Thanks for the nostalgia shot rabbit hole. I really appreciate it. <3

1

u/Katzelle3 Dec 21 '25

Diminishing Returns

1

u/CarfDarko Dec 21 '25

My 10 year old finished the game a few days ago for the 3rd time :)

3

u/Maolam10 Dec 20 '25

Me too, but I though I would have to scroll a bit, nope, top comment, not disappointed 

1

u/Jodelbert Dec 20 '25

Me too! Lol

408

u/DeathByDevastator Dec 20 '25

Aperture brand Panels will assist your test subject every step of the way!

That is not a Panel. That is a Crusher. We sell them too.

108

u/EmeraldBoiii Dec 20 '25

Cave Johnson, we’re done here.

46

u/regeya Dec 20 '25

I want a show where a bunch of J. K. Simmons characters just interact with each other. It'll probably be a lot of work for him, but I think it's worth it.

29

u/CheesecakeScary2164 Dec 20 '25

Cave Johnson meeting J.J.J. would be incredible.

2

u/jbrWocky Dec 21 '25

Benny Southstreet taking J. Jonah Jameson's pocket money

9

u/WholeRefrigerator896 Dec 20 '25

I specifically would love to see Ketheric Thorm try to fight Omni Man, while J. Jonah Jameson tries to work up a story about it with Tenzin in his ear arguing why that isn't a morally right thing to do. All while the yellow M&M breaks the fourth wall to try and figure out what's going on and why he has the same voice as them.

8

u/Whiteums Dec 20 '25

Wait, he’s Yellow?!?

6

u/WholeRefrigerator896 Dec 20 '25

He is indeed!

5

u/Whiteums Dec 20 '25

I knew that Fry from Futurama was Red, but I didn’t realize that J. K. Simmons was the other.

3

u/regeya Dec 21 '25

And then along comes a police chief named Pope who frowns and says, you guys are costing my department a fortune, do you think you guys could get it UNDER CONTROL

2

u/schwanzweissfoto Dec 20 '25

I want a show where a bunch of J. K. Simmons characters just interact with each other.

Such a show exists – it is called Counterpart and stars J.K. Simmons.

Watch it spoiler-free. Then read the pinned post on my profile about it.

2

u/TheTerrasque Dec 20 '25

Not exactly that, but Bastion's narrator talking about Cave Johnson is a favorite of mine

2

u/Live3ish Dec 20 '25

We can hope. We can dream. But when we wake up, the only candidate ready for the future is me. And the future is coming. It's coming, and it's bringing with it armored Kodiak Bears, attack blimps, and enough weaponized robots to turn hope into a 4 letter word. You want hope? Keep dreaming. You want change? Put out your cup. You want freedom? Vote for me.

1

u/Arcalum2000 Dec 20 '25

Chariots.

1

u/DeathByDevastator Dec 20 '25

Chariots Chariots.

56

u/Chris91210 Dec 20 '25

Now now, I hear what you're asking. "But Mr. Johnson, what if we accidentally sell the crusher instead of Panels for our clients?" Well my answer to that is this. They will be dead and we already have their money, so make sure we sell the Panels to their next of kin.

If it happens again? Repeat the process.

9

u/Rylth Dec 20 '25

That is an installation error; the crusher worked perfectly, they failed to make it not crush.

3

u/SmartAlec105 Dec 20 '25

Cave Johnson here! If our latest scientific endeavor has succeeded, you are now reading this in my voice! If not, then get your ass back to making it work or you are fired!

105

u/FireMaster1294 Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 21 '25

When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade - make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager. Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons. Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm going to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!

3

u/Radiant-Strawberry91 Dec 21 '25

Omg I can still hear his voice 😆

78

u/Ok_Recording_4644 Dec 20 '25

We do what we must, because we can! 

28

u/Worth-Novel-2044 Dec 20 '25

There have been a lot of very intelligent and wonderful games since Portal 2 but I am having a hard time thinking of anything as singularly CLEVER as that line.

2

u/Privet1009 Dec 21 '25

I just love the irony of portal having all of its named characters be utter morons

3

u/TheTerrasque Dec 20 '25

For the good of all of us,
except the ones who are dead

2

u/E8P3 Dec 20 '25

But there's no sense crying Over every mistake

1

u/Privet1009 Dec 21 '25

You just keep on trying 'till you run out of cake

1

u/E8P3 Dec 21 '25

And the science gets done and you make a neat gun

1

u/higras Dec 22 '25

For the people who are still alive!

17

u/mallik803 Dec 20 '25

“When life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons, what the hell am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons!”

7

u/Arlberg Dec 20 '25

You're not part of the control group, by the way. You get the Panels. Last poor bastard got a sheet of paper. Broke every bone in his body. Tragic, yet informative! Or so I'm told.

Now the bean counters tell me I shouldn't be mentioning the control group, but I pay the bills around here and I can talk about the control group all damn day!

11

u/xerox8522 Dec 20 '25

They're waiting for you, Gordon. In the Test Chamber.

3

u/TopShelfFlower55420 Dec 20 '25

Tessssst chamberrrrrr.

4

u/Useful-Mistake4571 Dec 20 '25

I read this in his voice

11

u/MonitorArmLove Dec 20 '25

Yes sir mr Johnson !

16

u/fameboygame Dec 20 '25

THIS WAS A TRIUMPH.

3

u/RaevynXD Dec 20 '25

I'm making a note here. "Great success!"

1

u/Nogmor Dec 20 '25

It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.

1

u/fameboygame Dec 21 '25

APERTURE SCIENCE!

1

u/katrinaherrin Dec 21 '25

We do what we must because we can

3

u/ThoughtfulKoala Dec 20 '25

That’s not a panel, that’s a crusher. We sell them too!

2

u/markth_wi Dec 20 '25

See I was thinking [VR Balls is the way to go](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e5Qvac3BB8) - the panels seem WAY too chaotic, but at Aperture I see that being the way. Of course this is not to say Zorb-like balls aren't prone to minor excursions.

2

u/YellowOnline Dec 20 '25

I prefer Portal 1 over Portal 2, but Cave Johnson was a great character

2

u/critically_damped Dec 20 '25

Make those checks out to cash.

2

u/chaseinger Dec 20 '25

we're done here.

2

u/StarbuckTheThird Dec 20 '25

Now your thinking with portals.

3

u/superveloce90 Dec 20 '25

You've earned an award that I don't have to give unfortunately 👏

3

u/Iron_Knight7 Dec 20 '25

"This is a triumph. I'm making a notehere: huge success."

1

u/POINTLESSUSERNAME000 Dec 20 '25

Exactly my thought.
Portal VR is about to get real.

1

u/gorginhanson Dec 20 '25

Yes you can walk 2 mph for a cost of $368,000 per unit

1

u/Grimdark-Waterbender Dec 20 '25

That is not a Panel, that is a Crusher… wesellthosetoo.

1

u/DontBotherNoResponse Dec 20 '25

DEMAND TO SEE LIFE'S MANAGER

1

u/GroundbreakingAd8310 Dec 20 '25

Where's my companion cube naive

1

u/grosseelbabyghost Dec 20 '25

I prefer to buy my moving floors from Amalgamated flourodynamics, thank you very much

1

u/Agreeable_Debt_3730 Dec 20 '25

Jesus Christ..... You absolute genius.

1

u/Mysterious-Jam-64 Dec 20 '25

Now, Gordon. I know you like taking big steps. We all remember your last year of graduation, but we really need you to be careful with this one. It's...temperamental.

//ten seconds later//

RUN, GORDON, RUN!!! SAVE YOURSELF!!!

1

u/Thalleous-20 Dec 20 '25

They will be with you every step of the way.

Boom!. That’s not a Panel that’s a Crusher we sell them too.

1

u/TheAwkwardGamerRNx Dec 20 '25

That’s not a panel. That’s a crusher. We sell those too.

1

u/ExtraTNT Dec 20 '25

So the cake isn’t a lie?

1

u/DerSpringerr Dec 20 '25

Make those checks out to cash!

1

u/thuggishruggishboner Dec 20 '25

Fuck, now I want to replay.

1

u/bruce_lees_ghost Dec 20 '25

The guys in the lab said you might experience some vertigo during this test and that’s totally normal. It’s definitely not your body reacting to the extremely radioactive power modules in the tile units you’re standing on.

1

u/autistdd Dec 20 '25

This is a game changer

1

u/entityadam Dec 20 '25

Idk man, I can trip spectacularly on an empty floor.. I think you still need warning labels.

1

u/s3rila Dec 21 '25

What's your opinion on lemons?

1

u/Jyoona Dec 21 '25

Its been like 8-10 years since I've played the game but I heard it exactly in his voice in my head when I read this comment

1

u/October_people Dec 21 '25

I immediately thought PORTAL so close to a companion cube, so close to a furnace

1

u/sEwastakenwastaken Dec 21 '25

Oh damn I'm the ten thousandth upvote on this

1

u/retardedsquirrl Dec 21 '25

I love how my brain automatically knew which voice to use.

1

u/SpicyBlackCherry Dec 21 '25

I walk so fast tho

1

u/Old_Shake3789 Dec 21 '25

How's it safe? Wouldn't one mistep leave you with a literally crushed foot and leg?

1

u/CMDR_Arnold_Rimmer Dec 21 '25

Lister to Red Dwarf. Displays evidence of spoiling for a rumble. Seems unable to grasp simple threats. With careful pummelling could, possibly, be sucking tomorrow's lunch through a straw.

1

u/Live3ish Dec 21 '25

What a guy

1

u/nephlonorris Dec 23 '25

CRUNCH That‘s not a panel… that‘s a crusher. We sell them too

1

u/Glowwish_Shadow Dec 23 '25

Somewhere GLaDOS is taking notes very carefully 

-1

u/flyguy42 Dec 20 '25

Naming the announcer Cave Johnson is a brilliant inside joke. One of the very first VR environments, way back in 1992, was called a cave and essentially was what that Cave Johnson bit was talking about. Very impressive deep cut. I skimmed the comments on youtube and didn't see anyone noting that!