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Up and Coming
May 25, 2013

Viiwok - Virtual treadmill & reality simulator.

Hi all, I'm a young systems engineer from Spain with a passion for architecture, topography, surveilling, photogrammetry and gaming.

In about 2 weeks I'll be launching an IndieGogo campaign (I'm european so I can't submit projects for KickStarter) for a similar product, a treadmill simulator that would have the added advantage that all the sensors would be built in (walking, turning, jumping, crouching) at 120 Hz response frequency (basically zero latency/lag, the same you have from using a keyboard/mouse combo).

You wouldn't need a Kinect or a Hydra at an added cost and you wouldn't need to wear those Virtuix special shoes to be able to slide, like in the Virtuix or the cvasi-walk like with the WizDish. You'd be able to crouch properly, instead of bending. You'd be able to sit down when you get tired after all that moving around.

The system is natively compatible with any platform - Windows, Mac OSX and Linux are supported out of the box, no special drivers needed, you plug it in and it's set to go. And most of all, the price would be around 250€.

The concept is orientated towards virtual exploration and tourism (real monuments, historic sites and other places of interest modeled and rendered using powerful gaming engines like the CryEngine) but FPS gamers would find it quite tight in addition to the Oculus, whenever the latter will be launched. Until then, players would be able to shoot ahead without an Oculus, using a normal monitor screen or a HDTV, since everything would be motion ready and fitted with all the necesary sensors.

Stay tuned for more details.

Youtube demos to follow and other details on http://www.viiwok.com during the next few weeks.

    104 replies

    AttreyuAuthor
    Up and Coming
    August 30, 2013
    You can do it, even a bit of a slide, since the wheels don't have extraordinary grip.

    The question is why would you want to do it, since the strafe isn't supported by the motion sensors as a lateral movement.

    If you don't try to sidestep or move laterally, you have no reason to worry. Even if you manage to sidestep, the waist support is powerful enough to keep you balanced and vertical.
    ViiWok
    Up and Coming
    August 30, 2013
    ok thank you for information :)
    Up and Coming
    August 30, 2013
    Fantastic, I can't wait to check it out.. good luck
    Our Website: http://www.virtualreality.com.au Our Youtube Channel : http://www.youtube.com/user/virtualrealityau
    Up and Coming
    September 1, 2013
    nice
    Participant
    September 1, 2013
    After doing some thinking, I was about to agree that any time the human gait does lateral motion there's stepping involved. Until I turned around in place and wound up using a martial arts motion that resulted in my feet spinning on their vertical axis through the motion. Hunting YouTube for something that demonstrates the motion, I found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSy4GTXFjv8

    The result would be that some of the wheels will be forced into a lateral motion as the foot spins in place with some portion of the body weight pressing down on it. Not unsolvable.

    The only other problem I can think of off the top of my head will be cleaning hair and debris out of the wheels - the riveted shafts remind me of cleaning ballmice, the nasty part where the sensor shafts get coated in crusty stuff and wrapped in hair and string... Again, a not unsolvable problem: simply make the shafts able to be removed in one of many possible ways. Then hair and string can be removed trivially.

    [5/10]
    September 3, 2013
    I just went to www.viiwok.com and there's a message saying "Site suspended" :(
    Up and Coming
    September 3, 2013
    "Zoide" wrote:
    I just went to http://www.viiwok.com and there's a message saying "Site suspended" :(


    Hmm... did he forget to pay the electricity bill? I hope he has his priorities in check and his cheques in priority order. Food before self-actualization. Remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs. ;)

    I'd like to see this project at least get to the prototype stage. I think there's a legitimate idea here that needs to be investigated.
    AttreyuAuthor
    Up and Coming
    September 3, 2013
    I'm redesigning the site from the ground up guys, it's under heavy maintainance, chill out :)
    ViiWok
    Up and Coming
    September 3, 2013
    "Attreyu" wrote:
    I'm redesigning the site from the ground up guys, it's under heavy maintainance, chill out :)


    Hehe, good to hear. Sorry for the speculation. :D
    Up and Coming
    March 27, 2014
    Hello, is the Viiwok still alive?