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The "aha" moment for me, as an outsider to this industry, is using a special shoe to reduce friction and increase lateral stability versus only focusing on deve
by mikeknoop 13y ago
The "aha" moment for me, as an outsider to this industry, is using a special shoe to reduce friction and increase lateral stability versus only focusing on developing a 3D treadmill itself.
- duked 13y agoI completely agree, I was very excited until I saw the special shoes requirements. While I can see how it works, I don't really understand why they couldn't use a regular treadmill belt with some piezoelectric sensor to detect lateral movements.
- mikeknoop 13y agoI'm still excited; I think it's the type of innovation required to bring something like this to a mass market for a reasonable price.
- 1qaz2wsx3edc 13y agoOne of the design goals was "No moving parts". (And was done to keep costs down and a more maintainable/repairable/defect-free product)
- uptown 13y agoBecause something capable of achieving that currently looks like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-8eVcN2z3k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-8eVcN2z3k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msci440q18s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msci440q18s Think about it. How do you accomodate movement along multiple axis simultaneously using treadmill technology in a compact, affordable, game-room-sized package?
- aaron695 13y ago> I don't really understand why they couldn't use a regular treadmill belt with some piezoelectric sensor to detect lateral movements. Other than the obvious reason as they say, no moving parts(min 4 motors, moving belts etc) How would this work? How would one get coverage on a cone shaped walking zone, sounds to me like an engineering nightmare?
- seferphier 13y agoprice is an important factor as well. try finding a treadmill that supports lateral movement for $300 USD.
- scotty79 13y agoDoesn't it push your feet towards the middle since grooves in are radial?
- jevinskie 13y agoIndeed. I wonder how you strafe.
- nknighthb 13y agoSee ~3:30 in the video for strafing.
- deletes 13y agoNote that in real life you almost never strafe. Just look at any footage ( or a movie ) of soldiers/police. No strafing. Games made us believe that we need it.
- nknighthb 13y agoTrue, it's really the fact that aim/view and walking direction are tied together in a typical game that puts so much emphasis on strafing. Any 'Mech with torso twist is closer to what we'd see with this device.
- Tuna-Fish 13y agoUntrue. If wearing a vest, taking a corner involves side-stepping, and in any urban combat situation you'll spend a very high proportion of your time doing that. Source: Urban combat training, FDF.
- deletes 13y agoOf course in reality you move in every direction, even perpendicular to your direction.( Omni supports side_stepping.) I define strafing ( in games ) as running sideways at the same speed as running forward ( as in most shooters ) , which is not done in real life.