Omni-directional treadmill allows individuals to sashay through virtual cities

Though not the first omni-directional treadmill we've ever seen, this version crafted for the EU-funded CyberWalk Project is entirely more interesting. The 6- x 6-meter device features an active walking area of 4.5- x 4.5-meters, and later this month, individuals anxious to prance through a virtual city will be able to strap on a head-mounted display, lace up their LA Lights and indulge in escapism. Aside from giving curious persons the ability to walk through a recreated version of ancient Pompeii, the device could also be used to meander through buildings not yet created or give firefighters a way to train without placing them in harm's way. Now, if only there was an option to dissolve into pixels and teleport to locales you find particularly intriguing, we'd be sold.

[Via Slashdot]

[w00t @ Apr 12th 2008 1:39PM]

Is anyone else thinking about how cool this tech would be in gaming? :)

[Aguiluz @ Apr 12th 2008 2:27PM]

Pair it up with those "feedback" vests and we have the real FPS baby!

(I don't really know what are those vests called.)

(Please don't ask the "D" game.)

[DSeaver @ Apr 12th 2008 2:33PM]

Futures made of virtual insanity
now always seem, to be governed by this love we have
For useless, twisting, our new technology
Oh now there is no sound for we all live underground

[ace_spades @ Apr 12th 2008 2:34PM]

especially with a crowbar! (and some other stuff)

[Dean @ Apr 12th 2008 3:25PM]

real fps? paintball anyone?

[BowserUSC @ Apr 12th 2008 3:39PM]

@DSeaver

You are a horrendous poet, incredibly gimmicky. Just because you know how to rhyme doesn't make you even halfway decent.

[kyle allen @ Apr 12th 2008 3:59PM]

its a song.... virtual insanity? ever herd it? jameriquai? did i spell that right?

[DSeaver @ Apr 12th 2008 4:05PM]

Look up the video for virtual insanity. Kyle, +1 for knowing it!

[mahmud @ Apr 12th 2008 4:18PM]

i feel sorry for you, bowserUSC
your ears have suffered, this i see
never heard jamiraquai?, now that's a shame.
deprived of funky music... who is to blame?

[SK etch @ Apr 12th 2008 1:44PM]

The sky is blue.

[jbspeyer @ Apr 12th 2008 1:49PM]

sashay, step, cross, hop, kick ball change...wait... does that make me a test subject for walking through virtual cities?

[marky-b @ Apr 12th 2008 1:54PM]

would be cool to see a pic or vid of this in action.

@ w00t: a large portion of American obesity would be eliminated if that ever pans out :)

[EdZ @ Apr 12th 2008 2:13PM]

There's a video on their site. It's made up of several long thin treadmills that rotate in a flat loop.

Let's see what OK, GO can do with this baby!

[DAL @ Apr 13th 2008 6:24AM]

There you find 2 videos: (Only one chain)
http://www.amm.mw.tum.de/index.php?id=250

[Cellenin @ Apr 12th 2008 1:58PM]

Combined with halographic babes, beer and shot guns and it's a win in my book.

[andrew @ Apr 12th 2008 6:01PM]

YEAH MEN!

[Wes Palmer @ Apr 12th 2008 2:00PM]

I've always thought about this when I think of virtual reality, thinking of "why don't they stick the person on a treadmill?", and than I'd remember that treadmills go in only one direction!

This will greatly increase gaming and make it more futuristic.

[94 taurus owner @ Apr 12th 2008 2:00PM]

What's the point.???

[fashionista @ Apr 12th 2008 2:04PM]

Because walking around outside might expose you to rain, cold, or other human beings.

[phanbouy @ Apr 12th 2008 2:08PM]

Because sometimes our Taurus breaks down before we reach a real city

[EdZ @ Apr 12th 2008 2:12PM]

Because otherwise a fully haptic virtual environment would require an arbitrarily large empty enclosed room, and a highly complicated tracking system.

[Wolfticket @ Apr 12th 2008 2:13PM]

This wouldn't work with more tan one person on a single treadmill. Also, any bugs could actually be quite painful.

[AlexL @ Apr 12th 2008 2:22PM]

You wouldn't ever need to place more than one person on a single treadmill. Each person gets his/her own treadmill, and they are placed together in the virtual environment. Of course haptic feedback devices would be needed if these people want to physically interact with each other.

[ingus @ Apr 12th 2008 2:19PM]

Holo-deck, here we come!!! :D

[EDrory @ Apr 12th 2008 2:27PM]

One more step towards having a Holodeck, if you ask me.

[DaCheez @ Apr 12th 2008 2:27PM]

Holodeck, anyone?

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Holodeck

[Macindows @ Apr 12th 2008 2:54PM]

C'mon Nintendo! Can't be that difficult to put that technology into the Wii2!

[Anthony H. @ Apr 12th 2008 2:58PM]

That would defeat the purpose of the Wii being affordable.

[nxtiak @ Apr 12th 2008 3:19PM]

Just a little modification to the Wii Fit board and you got it!

[nxtiak @ Apr 12th 2008 3:20PM]

Isn't this how the Holodeck works? The Holodeck is just a small room that you walk around in.
Sweet, Holodeck here we come!

[Kamokazi @ Apr 12th 2008 3:30PM]

Except for the fact that the holodeck uses force fields to generate the ground you walk on, and not treadmills.

[BowserUSC @ Apr 12th 2008 3:42PM]

Reminds me of a Chirchton book. Can't remember which one but they talked about VR and this type of machine.

[chen22 @ Apr 12th 2008 11:20PM]

Wow - BowserUSC you have failed 2 of 2 times. Drop out now while you still have a shred of dignity.

[kyle allen @ Apr 12th 2008 4:01PM]

they should make a game where the treadmill goes in random directions and you have to stay in the middle. and play a fake guitar, while bowling.... thad be fun

[David @ Apr 12th 2008 5:56PM]

dear god yes

[ethana2 @ Apr 13th 2008 12:40AM]

Screw with the visual cues, and you can get some awesome footage of an idiot wearing what appears to be a paintball mask slamming from wall to wall in a small room.

I wouldn't play it, but heck yes I'd watch you.

[Rob @ Apr 12th 2008 4:31PM]

Check out the video of the cyber walk in action

http://www.cyberwalk-project.org/img/Media/CyberCarpet.mpg

[Raptor721 @ Apr 12th 2008 4:41PM]

This would be good for First Person Shooters however it does have one HUGE disadvantage! FATIGUE! Imagine playing a tactical shooter like Rainbow Six Vegas and you have this fat guy on your team. He won’t be able to keep with the rest of your team putting you at a disadvantage! The most 1337 gamers will be the ones in good physical shape!

[ericisshort @ Apr 12th 2008 5:47PM]

are there any 1337 gamers that are in even remotely good shape?

[Raptor721 @ Apr 12th 2008 6:00PM]

Gives a new meaning to the name "1337".

[cybereality @ Apr 12th 2008 10:02PM]

Except he wouldn't be a fat guy for long working out on that machine.

[STNC @ Apr 12th 2008 4:52PM]

Put this together with that new Lockheed Martin projection system...and holy hell

[Salman @ Apr 12th 2008 5:06PM]

If they really integrate this thing with FPS games or any other games for that matter, then we sure are going to have less obese people. This will surely be a good workout with fun added to it. Though in the begiining some may feel tired but everyone feels such at their first day at the Gym.

[Ryan @ Apr 12th 2008 5:09PM]

oh what!

strap one of these on top of those 6-axis motion simulators you see at po shopping malls, give it a rad 3d projection dome, and voila...

the only thing that would be difficult to recreate is stairs, and other uneven ground... any hill, any valley could be simulated

[Yevon @ Apr 12th 2008 7:53PM]

I can't wait till this comes to the gym! Setting an incline has never been so confusing.

[someguy7234 @ Apr 12th 2008 9:21PM]

Check out this news story:

"European man dies of starvation on omni directional treadmill trying to reach off switch a mere 2 meters away"

Tragic really,

[ethana2 @ Apr 13th 2008 12:42AM]

Momentum of the treadmill can be a life saver...

[Noah @ Apr 12th 2008 9:59PM]

How do I do the Konami code on this?

[tony @ Apr 12th 2008 11:37PM]

This is just saying matrix. I bet you could actually put someone on this inside a dome simulating the "real world" and they wouldnt be able to tell the difference.

[ethana2 @ Apr 13th 2008 12:41AM]

they would.