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Virtual_Michal's avatar
Virtual_Michal
Explorer
18 days ago
Solved

The simplest VR locomotion system developers could build – and it would be great

Imagine special shoes with electronic switches built into the sole, under the insole. When I’m standing, both switches are pressed and they send a signal to the headset that I’m standing still. When I lift my right foot, it’s a signal that I’ve stepped forward, and then I alternate my feet to control walking speed or running. When I lift my left foot, it’s a signal that I’ve taken a step backward, and then I alternate my feet again to indicate backward movement.

While walking in place, I can physically turn my body, which naturally rotates the headset, so turning is already solved. The only exception would be turning in place without walking — in that case, I’d need to hold a button on the hand controller so that it doesn’t trigger movement in VR. The same button could also be used to recalibrate my position if I end up outside the safe zone.

Another advantage of this system would be the natural swaying of the body, making walking in VR look very realistic.

Another advantage is that the sound of footsteps in VR would match your actual steps on the floor, and the walking speed would dynamically change with the speed of your foot movement.

Simply stepping in place by lightly lifting your feet alternately — right, left, right — is the best and safest way to control walking in VR.

4 Replies

  • Maccyb123's avatar
    Maccyb123
    Expert Trustee
    18 days ago

    That's a very nice idea. There is a company that do a total motion system where you have sensors attached to you wrists and your ankles that detect foot movements. I'm sorry, I can't remember who does it, saw it on a YouTube video. But the shoes idea sounds even better. However making special shoes would probably not be commercially viable given all the different sizes and the possibility that even if you get the right size they might not be comfortable. Maybe just getting the sensors that can be attached to the player's shoes could be better, Or just insoles that you can place in your shoes. Of course there is the engineering and durability problem of how long would the sensors survive under such rigorous conditions. 

  • Virtual_Michal's avatar
    Virtual_Michal
    Explorer
    16 days ago

    I’ve come up with a breakthrough idea for solving in-place turning. Imagine a small sensor attached to the chest using elastic straps. This sensor would track torso rotation. When I want to turn in place and, at the same time, lift my foot, the sensor would detect the torso rotation beyond a certain threshold and would not trigger walking. The first step is always slower, so the system has enough time to detect this. This completely eliminates the need to press a button on the controller 🙂

     

    At the same time, this solution would also solve free looking while walking, because the walking direction would be controlled by this chest sensor, while the VR headset would handle only head rotation for looking around the environment 🙂

  • Virtual_Michal's avatar
    Virtual_Michal
    Explorer
    16 days ago

    There should also be something that keeps track of my position in the room. I’ve noticed that when stepping in place and turning on the spot, I unconsciously drift a little, and sometimes I end up outside the safe boundary. On YouTube I saw a prototype of a kind of platform that slowly moves you back toward the center from any direction. It’s supposed to be designed for walking in VR, but it doesn’t seem very comfortable to me. People walk on it cautiously and only at a certain pace. For the purpose of keeping the player in a safe position, it might not be a bad idea to combine it with those special shoes.