Running from the reality: VR treadmills & Cybershoes

Virtual reality headsets have really made a breakthrough, that hints quite clearly: “VR support in games soon will become a common thing.” And what is targeted at the mass audience, will be definitely expanded with a pile of additional bells and whistles.

In the case with the headsets, these are treadmills, that provide a new level of immersion to the virtual reality. After all, one of the main disadvantages of Oculus and Vive is that they cope good enough with the virtualization of visual objects, however, the tactual perception doesn't differ from the common games – finally, a gamer has a common keyboard or a controller in hands.

Now imagine – 100% of visual immersion, an endless battlefield spread in front of the gamer, but instead of a heavy gun, you feel a vibrating controller in hand or even worse – a mouse and a keyboard. After gamers become experienced enough in VR gaming, will arise a question concerning the deeper immersion into far away worlds. One large concept has been picked up by a few developers – how far is it successful, we shall see as considering the main details.

Cybershoes is a new VR market sensation 

UPD 05/05/2019 I am going to tell you about an amazing product that has every chance of becoming a market sensation — cybershoes. Check out this video to see how awesome it is to walk in virtual reality. As Hayden Dingman from PCWorld correctly noted, “It is like a VR treadmill without the treadmill.” Indeed, this is a cool device providing you with the most immersive experience you have ever had with VR. What is so good about this product?

First of all, I’d like to draw your attention to the fact that the cybershoes have been thoroughly tested, with almost 4,000 users having tried them personally. This means that the company takes a very responsible approach and makes sure that the product really works great before placing it on the market.

Now, the manufacturer of this product, Cybershoes GMBH, has launched an Indiegogo campaign demonstrating redesigned model allowing users to perform walking movements in a 360-degree radius. So I wish good luck to the team of developers that includes VR industry enthusiasts and veterans, programmers, virtual designers. It seems that these guys know their stuff and are really obsessed with making walking in virtual reality a possibility.

What other benefits should we highlight? Cybershoes are easy to use and set up. What you need to do is to sit in a swivel chair and strap on the shoes to your feet. The device is compatible with any VR game and is the first treadmill integrated into SteamVR.

The idea of the product is to make you control your game movements by walking in place, so you both literally and figuratively walk in the shoes of your character. Also, I like that cybershoes are quiet affordable compared with other VR movement accessories that are generally very pricey. And finally, there is one thing that matters for me personally — cybershoes do not take much space, unlike many other accessories in the VR industry.

Treadmills for VR: how do they work, why and who needs them

Why do we need treadmills for VR?

So, you have bought a VR headset - happiness, delight, bright emotions is what you are definitely going to feel after 10 minutes of sitting in a chair and enjoying some kind of a preview from developers. Stop your outbreak of euphoria accompanied by tears of happiness and think about a more serious game. Battlefield 4, perfect! Connect to the server and let's join the battle. One step and the second - good. And then suddenly we get a full range of experience from the physical contact, though not with an enemy and the environment of Battlefield, but with the favorite plasma panel, which is unlikely to return to life after such a collision. Annoying, isn't it? And this variant is the most real - often there isn't enough place even to move around.

How do treadmills for VR work?

A gamer safe, and special shoes will provide the most comfortable experience from walking around in virtual worlds. Add to this crouch support (in Virtuix Omni) and get a sufficiently attractive option for shooters and all sorts of "walk simulators." In the racing, and other genres that do not involve much walking, the device becomes less useful: a combination of "wheel + helmet" is still a more acceptable option. Although many will consider even these advantages a luxury, and some just can 't or won't want to kill enemies with a plastic rifle that comes in the set.

The camera orientation is fixed for the treadmill and the helmet at once - but there is one snag. In games where you can turn your head separately from your body the feature will work, but in the majority of modern shooters, it will become another “backstab”. ARMA - you might say. Well, I'll answer that you have never played at this very Arma. Yes, you should turn the head separately there, what discourages many casual gamers, but this is not all. I remember my gaming session - about 70% of the time in the active phase of the fight, I spent by wiping the wrinkles of the surface with my belly. Decided to crouch and you will become an attractive target for a sniper, and in the open field for any dog. Well, during the battle you don't need to walk at all. Yes, the problem of "lying" position can be solved by using a programmable button on the controller, but you must admit — this is not the same.

Subjectively:

If consider for a moment, it has potential - for some reason, I remembered a rather definitive Fallout New Vegas and the challenging expansion Dead Money, well, where we ran with a collar-bomb, around a sinister casino, stuffed with traps. So: the engine in the third Fallout is not as good as it may be, let's face it, but by combining it with VR-track, you could get a rather good VR-port. And in the same Dead Money, many with pleasure walked among the traps. Yes, I know, something similar exists, but I remembered Vegas that is well-loved for its atmosphere and the depth of immersion. By the way, the disgusting Fallout 4 has been adapted to one of the models. As you can see, the engine hasn't improved much. But by adding some explosive stuff that one should avoid, we could get a quite exciting 'kill yourself' type of game. A kind of Super Meat Boy with the gamer in the lead role. And many dream of walking around the Skyrim and Morrowind - open world provides such an opportunity. Or smart adventures like The Witness, where during the breaks between tricky puzzles you can be run around the neighborhood area. The potential is huge - the most important thing is to use it wisely.

Who needs treadmills for VR?

And no less the relevant question concerning technology: for whom is it? Even having glanced at the photo of the gadget, it becomes clear that at this stage of development it is available not for everyone. And it's not about the price. The dimensions of such a device differ significantly from the consoles and compact headsets. However, let's not forget that all of the models provided below are the first in the line. Once PC also seemed to be a far-off dream, and now fits into a compact box under the table. So maybe someday a treadmill will smoothly transform into a lighter version, and the device will be publicly available among gamers.

And now let's take a look at the 3 most promising models, being developed for the market.

VR Treadmills Comparison Chart

VR Treadmill perspectives in 2016

Three products exist on this rather specific market, but no one hasn't been released yet, so it's quite unwise to criticize harshly at the moment. But already at this stage, it can be said with certainty that the leading concept belongs to Virtualizer. From the very beginning, they forwent the bulky design and additional accessories - and it is right because even the stylus in smartphones (it would seem a good thing) became a burden. And the idea with sliding looks promising due to the absence of massive elements.

In the future, provided that the successful development of technology, will arise a question of making it smaller, slimmer and more compact. And the victory belongs to the model that is not equipped with a bulky, heavy basis. But who knows, maybe the concept provided by Omni and KatWalk, will be accepted by the mass-market customer, and no one will wonder about making the device more compact. And sliding, perhaps will prove itself not so groundbreaking and simply inconvenient compared with normal walking, and even in special boots.

Whet first models will be delivered - once it becomes clear in what direction the development should move. After all the first sales — is first of all the additional funding, and it is what the further development of products require. Only Virtuix Omni can boast - they started the first and gathered the most. KatWalk, the developers of which snapped a million dollars for further development, takes the second place. Virtualizer takes the last place due to the lack of funding outside Kickstarter. Let's see how the tings will be moving.

Playing with VR Treadmill on the early stages will resemble a dense game Pong — a kind of novelty it was, but many continued to dedicate more time to mundane pleasures, like tabletop games. But then home console and PC gaming have flourished! Therefore, the success of the development will depend primarily on the personal interest of game developers.