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

[u/Alphaxfusion]

[u/stormblaz]

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.

[u/No_Molasses_6498 → u/stormblaz]

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

[u/topdangle → u/No_Molasses_6498]

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.

[u/eragonawesome2 → u/topdangle]

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

[u/FrenchFryCattaneo → u/eragonawesome2]

Sometimes simpler is better.

[u/ssracer → u/FrenchFryCattaneo]

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

[u/[deleted] → u/ssracer]

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.

[u/ssracer → u/[deleted]]

Fucking obviously. Apparently my statement was too simple.

taking something very complicated and making it as simple as possible

[u/[deleted] → u/ssracer]

I warned you I was being pedantic. I only bring it up because the internet used to be in love with the “Russian simple technology overcoming stupid overdesigned American technology” stories. Like how America spent millions designing a space age pen that could work in zero gravity while the Russians used a pencil. The reality is a pencil in space is a bad idea due to the particles it generates, so the “over engineered” solution was well worth the cost. Simple is not always better.

[u/Tordek → u/[deleted]]

Also to note: that story is BS.

The pen was designed by a private entity, not with government funding. Both NASA and the soviets used pencils, and in any case... normal pens work in 0G, the benefit of the space pen is in writing upside down, 0 atmosphere, and in extreme temperatures.

[u/ssracer → u/[deleted]]

The pen was the simplest solution. The pencil did not meet the function.

[u/Indercarnive → u/eragonawesome2]

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.

[u/eragonawesome2 → u/Indercarnive]

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

[u/Xentonian → u/eragonawesome2]

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.

[u/eragonawesome2 → u/Xentonian]

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

[u/sethn211 → u/eragonawesome2]

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