Proof of concept ODT.

Bottom platform allows for implementing of 6dof harware.....but this task is far away from today.
At present I'm working on improving user comfort and some prototyping of budget force resistance ...
It won't be possible to make VR thai chi training dummy but for starters I can see it would be good for sword vs sword impact effect or door kick resistance effect.

This is very cool! Are you intending to make a commercial version - or will you be letting people know how it works so they can build their own?

-- Steve

"3dgeek" wrote:
This is very cool! Are you intending to make a commercial version - or will you be letting people know how it works so they can build their own?

-- Steve

Thanks!
When it is polished out I'm thinking to make DIY tutorials for enthusiasts and for folks with out time or tools some kind of complete kit order. I can see a potential from DIY approach a possibility to improve this ODT because people definitely will try different solutions while working on it.
Regards!

wow, now that some ingenuity and resourcefulness. I have to give it you. Impressive.
The harness looks a bit cumbersome but, as proof of concept, I'd say you did it. setup a kinect for direction/heading/jump/crouch and I think you may have some real DIY action there. Please post how you setup the floor plating...
Are there some support items in between the golfballs to keep it level and in place? materials? I'm actually pretty excited about this. :)

[EDIT: I just read-up what I missed in previous the posts... I'll definitely follow this thread. Look forward to the DIY post]

nice work

Wow, nice work. Have you tried using smooth (large) glass marbles instead of golf balls? That could lower the friction and also help with the noise.

Very cool! I used to wear that harness a lot at work. Surprisingly comfortable. Can you sit in it?

Instead of the moving part being attached to the roof to hold the harness...

Couldn't you simply have a (very) strong pole sticking up from the center of your treadmill, and attach your harness to that ?

If you try it out, do make sure the top of your pole is high enough (or offers you sufficient protection), so you can't hurt yourself on it, and is strong enough to hold you up even if you fall over.

You might require a bigger surface for the treadmill, but it would make a do it yourself installation much more practical (just click in the pole in the central hole, child's play), and still end up reducing the total cost instead of increasing it.

Treadmills have been focusing on protection rings, with you in the center : But maybe all you need is a strong pole in the center (without digging a hole in your house), combined with "whatever surface works best" for you to walk or slide on.

It also means the surrounding protection ring is no longer interfering with your movements (which it otherwise does), since you no longer need one, and at roughly half the price of a Virtuix Omni (based on your own pricing).

As for the tracking : I think you should depend on an external source to provide it (I'm thinking of the Sixense Stem system), removing software development problems while increasing your compatibility (since I believe the Sixense Stem system is bound to receive a high amount of software developer support), so you can focus entirely on the (cheap) treadmill design instead.

The only tricky part I can think of, is designing an adjustable way to limit how low you harness will let you fall, that you can't hurt your back on if you fall over. And as far as your own testing goes, you can start out with the fixed height that suits you instead of designing a user adjustable height right away.

"Cyril" wrote:
Instead of the moving part being attached to the roof to hold the harness...

Couldn't you simply have a (very) strong pole sticking up from the center of your treadmill, and attach your harness to that ?

If you try it out, do make sure the top of your pole is high enough (or offers you sufficient protection), so you can't hurt yourself on it, and is strong enough to hold you up even if you fall over.

You might require a bigger surface for the treadmill, but it would make a do it yourself installation much more practical (just click in the pole in the central hole, child's play), and still end up reducing the total cost instead of increasing it.

Treadmills have been focusing on protection rings, with you in the center : But maybe all you need is a strong pole in the center (without digging a hole in your house), combined with "whatever surface works best" for you to walk or slide on.

It also means the surrounding protection ring is no longer interfering with your movements (which it otherwise does), since you no longer need one, and at roughly half the price of a Virtuix Omni (based on your own pricing).

As for the tracking : I think you should depend on an external source to provide it (I'm thinking of the Sixense Stem system), removing software development problems while increasing your compatibility (since I believe the Sixense Stem system is bound to receive a high amount of software developer support), so you can focus entirely on the (cheap) treadmill design instead.

The only tricky part I can think of, is designing an adjustable way to limit how low you harness will let you fall, that you can't hurt your back on if you fall over. And as far as your own testing goes, you can start out with the fixed height that suits you instead of designing a user adjustable height right away.

A pole in the middle would hinder your gait since your feet are making a big movement to your back.
A pole that would slide around the outer radius of the action surface might be a solution.

"cerebral" wrote:
A pole in the middle would hinder your gait since your feet are making a big movement to your back.
A pole that would slide around the outer radius of the action surface might be a solution.

Well that's why I said the central pole solution "might require a bigger surface for the treadmill". And that increased treadmill surface might be required to allow you to move your arms freely around anyway. Not to mention to maintain the treadmill stability, because your harness is then attached to the loose treadmill instead of being firmly attached to the ceiling.

But your suggestion might be better because although it sounds more expensive and complicated to implement a moving pole instead of a fixed one, it doesn't require a bigger surface instead, and keeping the surface requirement as small as possible is an issue treadmills should take into account.

But what do you think would work out best ?
- The solution in the video with the rotating pole fixed to the ceiling.
- The solution with the fixed pole in the middle that might require a bigger treadmill size to maintain the gait.
- The solution with the pole rotating around the outer radius.
- The Virtuix Omni solution which replaces the pole with a protection ring.