I can't believe no one's talking about Infinideck

impossible to run or suddently move on the side, on it.
too slow to react i think

Yes, now this is the direction this system needs to head in. It could be more so that entrepuneurs need to get to gather and actually put these pieces together. Or people such as us bring such items together an present it to tech companies. Good find

Frankly, the reason nobody is talking about it is because it's a ridiculous idea.
Put more delicately, the reason nobody is talking about it is because it's very unlikely to take off:

- It's going to be really expensive - lots of moving parts require fancy engineering to stay reliable. Expect to spend upwards of $1000 on something like this, guaranteed

- It's going to be a legal nightmare. If Oculus is unwilling to endorse anything other than a seated experience for liability reasons, I'd be interested to see how the guys building the Infinideck are going to get around having people run around on a big treadmill with (presumably) no harnessing. (The reason I say presumably no harnessing is that's the whole point of a system like this. If you're going to put a harness on, then you may as well just be in an Omni)

- It's technically either impossible, or ludicrously difficult. A common use case in games involves running at full speed forward, then coming to an immediate stop. For this to be done on a device like the Infinideck, the system needs some way of changing from rolling at vaguely 15km/h to a complete stop, in 100% perfect sync with the player's movements. While wearing a HMD, any strange movements of the ground will almost certainly cause you to lose your balance. And without being able to see if you're falling off the platform or not, this could be something that causes people to get legitimately injured. The problem is - how do you know exactly how fast the system should be rolling? I feel like rather than spending ages answering that extremely complicated question, people could be coming up with answers to easier, more fruitful problems concerning VR locomotion

That all being said, I do think that the endgame of VR will have a device vaguely like this (or like the Walkmouse), but I think that it's an answer that introduces too many new questions right now.

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As a side note: I wonder if you could put the rollers on the bottom of a pair of shoes... :P

Have a look at the Cyberith: http://cyberith.com/

it's looks to be the best of the offerings available right now. The Infinideck may have success in providing hardware to companies for bigger simulations however it's not a consumer product at that size and estimated price.

Cyberith has a harness, and the harness can never be optional in such a system. Might work for FPS and certain other games, but doesn't allow natural movement (since you can't put your hands by your sides). Come to think of it - I don't think I've ever seen a demo of the Cyberith or the Omni that wasn't an FPS. Might be mistaken though.

Also I didn't mention, but if anyone missed it, the Infinideck has to be controlled manually by someone watching the person walking on the treadmill.
The fact that this is being marketed as an upcoming input system for the rift is, to me, slightly dodgy. The motion-detection system that turns this from a treadmill that can go in multiple directions into a controller is a huge hurdle - sufficient that the system shouldn't have even been announced before the concept had been proven.
...that being said, perhaps they've already got a good proof-of-concept working and they just haven't shown it off. I find this slightly unlikely since there have been videos of them testing the thing in a warehouse in a video that looked like it was recorded with a mobile phone. :P

The harness has to be there indeed otherwise you'd be flopping all over the place. It's a necessary addition for safety and proper motion. Also the angle of the bars allows for good arm freedom when aiming controllers. You won't be able to have your arms straight down but for the most part you'll be holding a controller or something anyways. It's definitely suited for first person games I wouldn't say shooters in general but a first person perspective.

The treadmill video shows the motion style pretty well I think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wRZ5LLvyPg


To me its the best I've seen there will be more tech in the future however It looks like they've done a great job with the Cyberith.

I'm sorry, but I have to be very skeptical about these walking platforms. There are a few things:

- It will never feel the same as being free to move, walk, run, jump. If you've ever run on a treadmill you know that you need to keep up with the treadmill, not the other way around, otherwise you might injure yourself. Treadmills are very cumbersome, heavy, expensive, take up a lot of space, and dangerous!

- I like the harness/suspension platform better because it's not as expensive, not as dangerous, doesn't take up as much space and probably isn't as heavy, as the treadmill. But it's still not good enough. Also, I think doesn't simulate walking or running at all, it restrains you alot more than the treadmill.

I'm sorry, but most of the solutions I've seen are not very practical. I think the best solution right now is a very big open room, maybe something like a hangar, or stadium, where you can roam freely with a HMD on. But that's hardly practical either, but it is the most realistic experience.

I'd like that more than the Virtuix Omni trample on the spot approach.
You could pair that with a harness like it too with the difference that the threadmill could also simulate terrain feedback alas upwards and downwards slopes by offsetting the treadmill vector.
It could even stand on hydraulic struts to simulate real slopes but I doubt that can be built rigid enough for a reasonable price.

"ElectricMucus" wrote:
I'd like that more than the Virtuix Omni trample on the spot approach.
You could pair that with a harness like it too with the difference that the threadmill could also simulate terrain feedback alas upwards and downwards slopes by offsetting the treadmill vector.
It could even stand on hydraulic struts to simulate real slopes but I doubt that can be built rigid enough for a reasonable price.

did i read hydraulics ?
Do you really imagine someone having a "machine" in his living room ?

Do you prefer linear actuators instead? :lol:
At this point that probably won't matter much. I mean there was a thread earlier about exoskeletons. :mrgreen:

To be honest I see these projects as kind of silly, but while we are at it: Imagine two upside down delta robots mounted on the floor equipped with force feedback servo mechanisms and ski boots mounted on the toolhead. I can already imagine the lawsuits. :twisted: