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I find it very sad that someone thought about this long enough to write an article without considering "What if you just get used to it?" Like fuck me, people
by causality0 3y ago
I find it very sad that someone thought about this long enough to write an article without considering "What if you just get used to it?" Like fuck me, people train to put their bodies in an enormous variety of physical circumstances. If a human being can learn to drive a car at a hundred miles per hour, can learn to fly a wingsuit, can learn to exist in zero-G, they can probably damn learn to walk on an omnidirectional treadmill without falling over or throwing up.
- crazygringo 3y agoYou make a good point -- basically, our brain could understand that our body is fixed in space, and that when we "walk" we're actually sliding the environment around with our feet. And just quickly get used to it. It's not clear that this would work, but it's not implausible either. Maybe it'll make us nauseous, or maybe it'll feel different but still work fine.
- masfuerte 3y agoThe penultimate paragraph addresses this point. > [...] Maybe we can still use them unnaturally. If you train yourself, maybe you can learn to do the strange movements that are required to change speed and direction on the treadmill. [...]
- SamBam 3y agoBut that doesn't address the neuroplasticity that's possible with this kind of learning. It's not just a matter of training yourself, is that, when you train yourself, the movements become natural, and feel like a reasonable way to move yourself through space.
- causality0 3y agoThis is the most doomer take on the problem. You could say the same thing about learning to write or do math.
- resolutebat 3y agoSure, but it's not a great simulation of reality (the R in VR) then now is it?
- causality0 3y agoSince when has "being indistinguishable from reality" been a requirement of VR?
- LordDragonfang 3y agoYou'd be surprised at what the human brain can accommodate for. Most long-time VR users will be able to tell you about instances of the VR causing phantom sensations of touch that come purely from visual stimuli. The human brain does a lot of post-processing of sensory input to conform to its predictions - there's a huge gap between what we think we feel and the actual inputs. Even fancy haptic gloves which only add crude sensation can provide almost lifelike sensations when combined with visuals.
- Gigachad 3y agoIn that case you can just get used to a joystick or some other input method. The whole point of the treadmills was to avoid having to get used to it.
- rowanG077 3y agoThat's like saying if you have sex with a condom you might as well fuck a wooden doll. I don't get the obsession to reduce such an obvious continuous solution space to literal black and white answer. Imagine if doctors did that. Oh this medicine only gives an additional 20 years of healthy life but doesn't cure the illness, oh well might as well not do anything then.
- Gigachad 3y agoNo, because the treadmills do literally nothing but get in the way. They don’t reduce motion sickness, and they don’t enhance the experience. And it seems unlikely that it’s even possible to solve that problem. You would have a better experience using a joystick and just getting used to it.
- rowanG077 3y agoThey do not reduce motion sickness. But they for sure enhance the experience. It's simply incomparable to walk yourself vs using your thump to move. I can't fathom someone trying an omnidirectional treadmill and coming away with opinion they are on the same level of experience as using a stick.