The future tech of Virtual Reality
Virtual reality is already amazing but it’s far from perfect and there are still are things people would like to see in the future. In this article, I’m gonna go through some of the things including VR treadmills, haptic gloves, haptic vests and full-body tracking. Being able to physically walk around our room it’s really immersive until you come up to a wall your guardian pops up to let you know you’ve run out of space, even if you have a warehouse he’s still gonna run out of room if you try walking through an entire game.
Right now we have our thumb sticks to either teleport for smooth locomote around the environment but some companies are making VR treadmills which let you walk infinitely without ever having to worry about bumping into anything. There are two main types at the moment, with the majority using a low friction floor that requires special shoes these are mainly available for commercial applications only but “catwalk” was a consumer ready treadmill that was funded through Kickstarter back in 2018 at $700.
Unlike most, allowed users the ability to bend over, crouch and even jump thanks to the weight tether due to the stand, It seems has now gone down the commercial use just like the rest of the other is the “infinite deck” which actually functions more like a traditional treadmill with the floor moving under your feet but you can ask to move in any direction. But again this is a commercial only product.
The main issues I have with these are, first the low friction type of treadmills seemed to have you sliding your feet rather than actually walking. They’re quite large expensive and ultimately they’re not really built for consumers. We do have some other companies trying to find solutions to the locomotion problem they are more affordable and consumer friendly. The “Kat Loco” is a system that uses three sensors you place on your body two for each foot and one which goes on your hip. It’s available for $200 and it works by tracking the movement and your feet relative to your upper body. You can walk on the spot and you will walk in the game if you place one foot forward or to the side you move forward or you strafe. I haven’t tried one myself but I know someone who has and they’ve had mixed results with it so far but they’re working well in some game and not-so-great in others.
You have the “cyber shoes” which fit over your existing shoes, they’ve got rollers underneath and then you play seated on a swivel chair you then move your feet like you’re walking.
Lastly we have the “3d rudder” which is another seated device we should place on your feet and then you tilt around to forward backwards and then strafe left and right. I’m not personally a fan of these seated devices as I like to play stand-in, so “Kat loco” would be the one that I’m most interested in but like all these devices how well they’re supported with games seems to be an issue with not every game working.
read more here → The future tech of Virtual Reality