Naturally walk, run, jump, or crawl through Virtual Reality with completely free, untethered, and natural locomotion.
V R S U R F A C E
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The Moving Floor works by wrapping an elastic and durable skin around a weighted core, which is supported by a motor-driven support and control system. The powered “C-Shaped Supports” both grasps and supports the core, as well as rotate the skin around the core in 360 degrees using powerful electric motors. When a user walks toward the edge, our system uses weight distribution to detect the user’s location and moves the skin below the user’s feet in the opposite direction. This allows the user to walk in any direction while staying actively centered. Optionally, the Moving Floor can also tilt, shake, rotate, and provide real walls within the virtual environment.
The problem that must be solved for VR to take off is how to allow a VR user to walk naturally and without limits while taking up a small place in reality. The result must be believable.
patented OMNIDIRECTIONAL POWERED TREADMILL
THE PROBLEM WITH VR AND OUR SOLUTION
The holy grail of a VR locomotion is to provide untethered sub-conscious presence. None of the competitive offerings come close. Sub-conscious presence in VR can only be accomplished by the introduction of a completely natural methodology for movement in VR which does not mimic natural walking but IS natural walking. Our product achieves this by using a patented technology called “Powered Floor Technology”. No other VR product made uses it.
THE solution checklist
PROACTIVE
The user must not move across the floor, the floor must move underneath the user. There are two kinds of omnidirectional treadmills; ACTIVE (Powered) and PASSIVE (Unpowered). Natual VR locomotion can only be accomplished by a powered floor. A floor that has electric motors which move the floor beneath you. Walking in a bowl using slippery socks will never feel real. Only a flat floor that you are actually walking on will feel natural. Our product is only one of a few that is a PROACTIVE and motorized system.
RESPONSIVE
The user must be able to move in unexpected directions at unexpected velocities without concern. To create the sense of really walking or running in a VR environment, the user must be able to sprint or walk randomly in any direction, with rapid changes of movement, and the ODT (Omni Directional Treadmill) must react quickly enough to prevent the user from getting to the edge of the device. This can only be accomplished by using a combination of POWERFUL electric motors and weight-based user location. The responsiveness and speed needed must be equal to or faster than a SEGWAY reacts when it keeps you from falling. Even if the user moves quickly, they will still remain centered.
UNRESTRICTED
The user must not be able to detect any harness, cable, waistband, or other restrictive motion sensing or confinement barriers.If a user feels restrictions or has to react in an unnatural way to the environment, it ceases to be real. Such is the case when you are restricted by wires, harnesses, belts, or a bowl-shaped floor. All of these stop-gap measures will never feel real. The VR user must be completely untethered, unrestricted, and moving on a flat floor using a normal gate. Our product meets all of these requirements.
SAFE
The user and the people surrounding the device, must be safe at all times. Our product has safety built-in from the ground up with a number of user safeguards. Safety rails, automatic shutdown, spectator shutdown, and in-game warnings, to name a few.
RELIABLE
The device must perform as advertised, over a long period of time, and must be serviceable.
INEXPENSIVE
The device must have a price that is attainable by the general public.