Ordinary computerized simulations allow a person to use VR controllers, in which a person can only press down the directive buttons or move the joystick to search out the unreal world. This is not comparable to the activities we do in our daily life. Also, the absence of physical activity while playing augmented simulation games can be damaging to physical fitness. For this purpose, inventors have introduced a VR treadmill.
VR treadmill is an Omnidirectional running area, which allows the user to move around physically in any direction (left, right, forward, backward, or diagonally) in a virtual environment. The user has a restricted gaming zone covered with a fence and waist belt, linked to the treadmill with firm rods. VR treadmills systems can trace the movement of the body on the tread/walk by the use of integral sensors. This information is assembled and transferred to the computer. After processing, this information gets converted into motion within a virtual environment. This kind of perspective guarantees intense involvement in the artificial world and imparts a life-like experience in contrast to movement controlled by remote-controllers. Hence, clients can walk and move around in the artificial world while doing it in reality.
Some of the best treadmills of 2020 are explained below:
- Kat Walk Mini
- Virtuix Omni
- CyberithVirtualizer
- SpaceWalker VR
- Aperium K-01 pod
Kat Walk Mini:
It is the lightweight, compact, low cost, and most practical Omnidirectional treadmill in the marketplace. It can be placed appropriately in an ordinary room as it has only 158 cm height and 1.76 m base area. It has a rotating seat and specific waist harness and the user can execute different activities cautiously and easily. Subsequently, a VR treadmill can hold up and stabilize the user while moving in any position, even for bending to grasp some unreal things within a virtual world. It has the perfect rotational inertia, and you can easily rotate and pause at any moment. It is appropriate for those who are 140–195 cm tall and has a body mass of up to 130 kg.
To trace the movements of the user, there are built-in contact-free detectors rather than two sensors that were positioned on the user’s feet. The latest movement tracking system determines the exact location and speed of a single foot. The system utilizes input from the detectors, along with headsets. This complete procedure takes not more than 20 milliseconds and these integrated sensors are charged by an instant machine. Kat Walk Mini is compatible with the most famous headsets.
https://www.kat-vr.com/products/kat-walk-mini-vr-treadmill
Virtuix Omni:
Virtuix Omni is an Omni-directional treadmill that empowers the user to experience the 3-D world while strolling or rushing on any path. It has a smooth steady surface that enables you to stroll while wearing frictionless shoes that can effortlessly slide over the surface. Your position and rate are tracked by inertial sensors, with a special integrated gyroscope and accelerometer attached to these shoes. Furthermore, it transfers the gathered information to the PC, which then alters into the game movements. It will take about 10 minutes to get used to this device to move around in virtual space because it has an extraordinarily smooth surface. During this transformation, you may feel awkward since it might appear as you are going to slide and fall. Luckily, it has flexible barriers with comfy soft belts keeping the body in a stable position, allowing the body’s direction to alter. These barriers make dropping out of the gaming zone practically impossible. This is the main reason why this device is an extraordinary VR treadmill. The major benefit of this treadmill is that you can move as quickly as you need, which will then be indicated in the digital world.
https://www.virtuix.com/
CyberithVirtualizer:
It is an Omni-directional VR treadmill, which allows users to move around in any direction in the digital environment. It enables them to jump, stroll, run, bend, and even sit. It has built-in optical sensors, which assures low interruption, enough space, and liberty to move. This treadmill permits you to stroll one way and look towards another path, while digitally shooting the other way. Its working principle is based on the same idea as of Virtuix Omni. This treadmill naturally inclines while the user is strolling, consequently examining the digital environments easily. Moreover, the platform can alter its slope as per the direction you stroll in. This VR treadmill comprises a circular sensor-based platform, body belts to secure a user, a vault for the connection of head-mounted display, and 3 base panels. These panels have sensors that help in determining the movement and spatial position of the user. It is compatible with HTC Vive Pro.
https://www.cyberith.com/
SpaceWalker VR:
It is a mono-directional VR treadmill created by a Turkey-based organization. The gadget empowers users to move in forwarding and backward directions and explore different aspects of the virtual world. To enable the users to move around towards any path in the 3D environment, the SpaceWalker VR has a circular platform that can rotate at an angle of 360° companying a sensor-controlled treadmill waistband. It is also charged by 4 electric engines. This revolving platform depends upon a joystick to spontaneously move around according to the direction of the user’s body. This treadmill also has an integral joystick, which allows the user to perform various actions like shooting, picking objects, interacting with artificial items, etc. Additionally, it also has pressure sensors, which observes the user’s strides, and enables the system to alter the speed for sustenance. Also, the SpaceWalkerVR Treadmill belt can speed up or slow down by pressing a single button. It is compatible with VR head-mounted displays like Google Cardboard, Vive, and Rift. The proportions of this treadmill are 133x144x114 cm and weighing 120 kg.
http://www.spacewalkervr.com/
Aperium K-01 pod:
Premium designed the biggest VR treadmill available. It is has a Uni-directional arrangement, preferably created as a gaming fascination rather than for home-usage. In the light of V-orient innovation, it redirects a computerized 3-D environment delicately, which consequently causes clients to feel like strolling towards left, right, and diagonally, although just walking forward. Aperium K-01 can accelerate or hinder the waist harness based on what’s going on in artificial environments. It doesn’t have any safety belt, but high stop barriers are present all around it, having a height of 3 feet or more than that.
To record the movement and spatial position of users, this VR treadmill utilizes a special tracker arranged on the belt of the user, positioned on alternative panels. This treadmill is extra-ordinarily huge (dimensions are 10.5 x 8 feet), so it’s not a good idea to keep it at home. Therefore, it is preferably used for commercial purposes. In contrast to other comparative systems, this VR treadmill has a fixed full-ATX PC that creates a video signal and sends it to a computer-generated simulation headset like HTC Vive.
https://aperiumreality.com/index.php/en/K01/
Conclusion:
VR treadmills are quite expensive, huge, and heavy, and we scarcely make use of them at home. These VR treadmills are mostly for business purposes, gaming experience, or display in shopping malls. However, you can discover this great experience in your city and evaluate how it feels as you genuinely immerse yourself in the virtual environment. Irrespective of the overpriced cost of the VR treadmills, these platforms are just for gaming and can probably become universal just as VR headsets.
