Omni-directional treadmill could put you in the game

Sure, you get a pretty good workout on that regular treadmill, but don't you think you could burn more calories if you had a little directional freedom? Well, thanks to the ridiculously clever people at Virtual Space Devices, you're one step closer to breaking free of your staid workout -- and one step closer to fully immersive virtual environments. The Michigan-based company has been developing an omni-directional treadmill since 1996, and they appear to have come up with a real solution -- a self-contained unit which allows you to walk (or run) in any direction you choose, without actually covering any ground. Next up the company plans to manufacture a device called the iPlane, which will not only allow you to walk and run wherever you want, but fly as well, which should make future iterations of Doom really, really interesting. Watch the video after the break and be stunned and amazed.

[Via Digg]

[Scott @ Aug 10th 2007 12:09PM]

Can someone tell me what applications this might have? I'm not saying there are none, I just haven't thought too long about it. Interesting, nonetheless.

[Etienne Martel @ Aug 10th 2007 12:11PM]

Immersive virtual reality, where you would have your 3D glasses, would walk accross a location and actually "move" through the place.

Next: virtual steps!

[Matt @ Aug 10th 2007 12:12PM]

Read the headline...

[Scott @ Aug 10th 2007 12:17PM]

Thanks, guys. But I have to believe that their purpose for developing this is maybe more than virtual reality/video games.

What I was originally thinking was maybe sports/physical training where the subject has to react quickly to the directional changes. Thoughts?

[joey @ Aug 10th 2007 12:23PM]

Yeah, ever played an fps (first person shooter)?
Ever held a gun (thing the shoots out lead slugs)?
Ever worn a head mounted display ( video screen glasses/a Display mounted in front of your eyes)?
Ever wanted to live a game? the technology is emerging.. :)

[Scott @ Aug 10th 2007 12:21PM]

Hmmm. I RTFA and apparently VR is their primary purpose. There's gotta be other good uses, too.

[jason @ Aug 10th 2007 1:09PM]

Think Holodeck...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodeck

[jason @ Aug 10th 2007 1:16PM]

Scott, what you're referring to was called "American Gladiators". You might be able to catch some reruns on ESPN Classic

[Loonie @ Aug 10th 2007 12:11PM]

Okay, now we're getting somewhere!

...no pun intended.

[Frankenstein Black @ Aug 10th 2007 5:04PM]

Very nice :^).. But I have a question: Wouldn't the sole of a shoe composed of many ballberings achieve the same goal? I mean, I'm just saying...

[Loonie @ Aug 11th 2007 5:44PM]

Only if walking on the spot is all you wish to achieve.

A system like this will provide readable x-y data to a computer, and no doubt it would be easy to allow the computer to control the tension and even the slope of the surface. This has some serious immersive video gaming potential (and probably by extension of that, the ability to make things like physiotherapy a bit more enjoyable).

Being able to have video games make you fit, rather than a big fat slob, I like where that's going.

[Loonie @ Aug 11th 2007 5:49PM]

Only if walking on the spot is all you wish to achieve.

A system like this will provide readable x-y data to a computer, and no doubt it would be easy to allow the computer to control the tension and even the slope of the surface. This has some serious immersive video gaming potential (and probably by extension of that, the ability to make things like physiotherapy a bit more enjoyable).

Being able to have video games make you fit, rather than a big fat slob, I like where that's going.

[Loonie @ Aug 11th 2007 5:54PM]

Stupid double posting grumble grumble.

[Ben Shroyer @ Aug 10th 2007 12:13PM]

One step closer to a real Holodeck!

[Ben Shroyer @ Aug 10th 2007 12:16PM]

Or even better make your own Jamiroquai video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJmX1z1NY2c

[Scott @ Aug 10th 2007 12:18PM]

"Or even better make your own Jamiroquai video"

I think you nailed it.

[Matt B @ Aug 10th 2007 3:41PM]

This would be awesome for Madden 2011.
"EA Sports. Your in the game!"

[Jammrock @ Aug 10th 2007 12:17PM]

Virtual Reality gaming...like the article says. You would put on your VR helmet, ot have projection surrounding you, and then you would interact with the virtual reality world around you without requiring a lot of real estate to pull it off.

[Preston @ Aug 10th 2007 12:20PM]

"Wow, this is great!"
30 minutes later
"Wait, how do I get off?"

[Redpill @ Aug 10th 2007 12:23PM]

So thats what happened to Sadam Husain hes tied to a tredmill.................

[Zoheir El-Eita @ Aug 10th 2007 12:26PM]

okay so been looking at the treadmill and i don't think omnidirectional is correct while it is infinite from left to right, now north-south there is a little play, maybe a foot each direction, that is play not a direction.

[Penguin Warlord @ Aug 10th 2007 12:33PM]

Actually I think that what your seeing is just an optical illusion. I noticed it too, it doesn't seem like it's moving however if you notice he keeps walking in that direction without getting any closer to the edge. Or maybe your right.

[jason p @ Aug 10th 2007 2:06PM]

my thoughts exactly. it's not 'omni-directional', but merely bi-directional.

[OuroborosATX @ Aug 10th 2007 2:15PM]

There is a section where he quite clearly walks the diagonal for 5 or 6 steps. Never mind the fact that if you looked at the diagram of how this if put together it is definitely omni-directional.

[Xzavier @ Aug 10th 2007 12:27PM]

That’s pretty HOT! I would love to play some sort of FPS game or some sort of adventure game where that Omni-directional treadmill could also tilt to simulate inclines!

But of course after 15-30 minuets or so, I might get tired and walk off the dame thing to go find myself a joystick and a chair. :P Still, I bet that would be 1 great Kick A$$ Experience!

[strider_mt2k @ Aug 10th 2007 1:00PM]

First thing I thought of.

-and with Haptics AND the flight feature it could simulate when I get Panzered in the face playing Enemy Territory and it slams me into the side of a mountain!

Very cool!

Oh man, waitaminute...

[chadow @ Aug 10th 2007 12:30PM]

Its pretty cool regardless of what use they find for it.

I think this most definitely will be bought and used by movie producers if nothing else.

[Defferoo @ Aug 10th 2007 12:37PM]

that's genius! wow.. haha

[Ben @ Aug 10th 2007 12:37PM]

But how do you get off?

[KR @ Aug 10th 2007 1:09PM]

By playing "Tomb Raider: VR Edition"

[Michael @ Aug 10th 2007 2:44PM]

"But how do you get off?"
haha, that's exactly what I was thinking.

[Dank @ Aug 10th 2007 12:38PM]

If you watch the video carefully, you'll see that he can really cover a lot of ground while traveling perpendicular to the lines on the treadmill, and his distance traveled parallel to the lines on the treadmill is only ever a few half-steps at most. I am skeptical as to whether or not this is a true omnidirectional treadmill. The treadmill appears to have a small amount of lateral movement, but mostly forward and backward movement.

It is still a major advance over any other treadmill I've seen before.

[chadow @ Aug 10th 2007 12:49PM]

Part of that could be because movement of the surface would be much less noticeable since there are no reference points for your eyes. His steps don't seem to be that much smaller, just less frequent in those directions. I wonder if there isn't a limiting factor in 2 of the 4 directions.

[jbcaro @ Aug 10th 2007 1:03PM]

Looking at the video and the drawings, it looks like the entire surface is a treadmill for left and right movement and each segment is a mini-treadmill for front to back movement. If that is true than it does have true omni-directional movement.

[Solomon @ Aug 11th 2007 2:50PM]

jbcaro, you are probably right. I was unable to think how that worked for myself; though now I get it.

[Ken Atanacio @ Aug 10th 2007 12:41PM]

FAKE... they use the same technique as the Jamiroquai video

[J. Neutron @ Aug 10th 2007 1:03PM]

In J's video, the floor stayed still and people moved the room around from the outside. I doubt thats the case here.

I watched "Pop-up video" a long time ago. kys

[chadow @ Aug 10th 2007 12:43PM]

I would like to see someone drive that omni-directional wheelchair (similar video that you can click on after watching this YouTube video) on this treadmill.

[Ken @ Aug 10th 2007 12:46PM]

iPlane? So 10 years down the road when Apple decides to make a flight vehicle is it going to be Cicsco/iPhone copyright infringement litigation all over again?

If anyone was smart they'd go wildly trademarking all the i-nouns for all nouns such that noun:english dictionary.

[Ryan @ Aug 10th 2007 12:49PM]

Omni-directional? I only saw it moving in two directions.

[Virgina @ Aug 10th 2007 1:12PM]

If it can move in 2 dimensions simultaneously, which I can't determine from the video, then yes it can move in any direction.

[Carl M @ Aug 10th 2007 2:55PM]

You're right. It's just two dimensional.

Once they get to three dimensions, then it'll be more omnidirectional.

[MarkZ @ Aug 10th 2007 12:54PM]

While this is a great advancement, bringing it to market won't be as lucrative as what will be released soon after it:

The omni-directional treadmill-compatible scooter.

[soniiic @ Aug 10th 2007 1:20PM]

but does it play doom?

[HigherBe1ng @ Aug 10th 2007 1:36PM]

hmm is it just me, or does the picture kinda look like the hanging of Saddam?

[Jon @ Aug 10th 2007 1:40PM]

Am I the only one who was freaked out by that? I know several people have made the "how do you get off" joke, but really, if you got trapped on there, how would you get off? If you do not have a way to kill the system or someone there to turn it off for you and it was designed correctly, you could not get off. That kind of freaks me out.

My first thought when I saw it? Imagine incorporating those into prisons. Throw one in the bottom of a cell and you never have to let them out into the yard for exercise. No more CaU punishment with solitary for everyone. No more prison riots.

[Marshall @ Aug 10th 2007 2:11PM]

You could hook it up to a generator, and the prisoners could power our houses too.

[jbulava @ Aug 10th 2007 7:42PM]

To get slightly physics-y, there are two definite methods to get off. 1) Run really fast in one direction then stop on the spot and let the momentum take you to the side (only a massive amount of friction in the device would stop it), or, 2) Move slow and low to the ground so that your motion does not overcome the coefficient of friction needed to move the surface. Thus, if method 1 doesn't work, method 2 would, and vice versa. ...and that became more of a serious argument than I expected.

[dan @ Aug 10th 2007 1:42PM]

What happens if your playing a fps game and you wana jump to avoid getting killed?

[R1cebrner @ Aug 10th 2007 1:49PM]

I think you would just jump to get off.