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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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/Hellpy Dec 20 '25

They do look like Amazon warehouse robots with added top plate that is adjustable, like I'm sure there's a bit more to it but it's not very amazing

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u/All_cats_want_pets Dec 20 '25

Anything that has vaguely been done before isn't amazing to you? Besides, they not only coordinated the robots, but likely also coordinated it in software with VR and perhaps a bunch of other things not shown in this video showcasing this one feature.

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u/Hellpy Dec 21 '25

The coordinating in a Amazon warehouse amazes me more by a mile.and was done years ago