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Walking Around In Spherical VR
GDaddy writes: "Space Daily has a report on a collaboration between University of Warwick's Warwick Manufacturing Group and VR Systems UK that spawned a VR system without dimensional boundaries. Called the Cybersphere, It combines the ease of use of the CAVE system (no head mounts, big projected walls), with the lack of distance limitations of, well, of no VR system developed so far. They say it allows a person to walk, run, and crawl smoothly and naturally around an arbitrarily large VR world by putting the user in a rolling sphere suspended on air bearings. But wouldn't the sphere's inertia cause a noticable lag when you start or stop walking, or when you change direction? They don't address it, and I'll remain dubious until I roll it on my own."
The dates mentioned in the article are from 1998. The idea itself isn't new either. At least one person has though about it as early as 1990 (me :-)
BTW, if they wish to follow the motion of the sphere without requiring any contact they can use the same mechanism as the MS IntelliEye mouse.
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Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
Other problems (when I tried it - a couple of years ago now).
* Noise
* Lag
* Wobble (the sphere wasn't that rigid)
* Image alignment problems
Also if I remember right there was a problem with direction and turning, but I can't think what it was.
That said it was quite impressive.
My work sent me to try this thing out whilst it was in development. Although I felt it had a lot of potential it should not be mistaken for the answer to our synthetic prayers.
You take a step and then it moves, your weight further up the sphere causes it to rotate as you sink back to the lowest point. As it rotates the synthetic environment is updated. As a result the lag is a serious problem. This is extremely unnerving and caused me to fall over a couple of times. I really recommend against trying to run in one of these things.
When I got in they had to refit the panels that covered the entrance, therefore this was not something you could play with on your own.
On the up side there is none of the motion sickness that can be caused by VR glasses.
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
Telefeedback, force feedback, and a few other buzznames for the same thing. It's just like power steering. You move something a little bit in one way, and some simple hydraulic valvery assists greatly. Throw in some pressure sensors in the sphere, and it can tell if you're starting to change direction. Some low-speed computer can keep up with this information. No more complex than a large Caterpillar-style tractor.
/thought/.
But on the other hand, let's not fixate on inertia. I bet your system adapts to it really quickly. Riding a unicycle is non instantaneous in changing directions. You have to kind of work at it. Not a major effort, but it does take
"So there I was, Doctor, in the Avengers movie scenario, when I lost my balance in the middle of the river. Last thing I remember was dropping my Coke and then it's all flashes of water and the villain shooting..."
Maann.. I don't know if I could stomach Tribes. Imagine getting hit square in the chest with a shockwave cannon and being thrown off a platform, spinning wildly through the air, plummeting hundreds and hundreds of feet, until your eventual gory collision with the ground below.
That's the kind of thing that'll give you post-traumatic stress disorder.
"Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he deems himself your master."
I think that's just the problem with the spherical model. It would be easy to render terrain - but rendering an actual object, like a brick being thrown at your head, or a glass of beer, or a naked woman, would be considerably more difficult.
As for actually having sex with the naked woman... well, this isn't the device for that. I think you're going to have to wait for the nanorobots that interface directly with your brain.
"Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he deems himself your master."
That's the bigest trackball I've _ever_ seen!
(IMHO). I routinely take *groups* of people into a CAVE, I can't see myself being able to do that with this thing (8 people all trying to walk in different directions?). The other advantage is that you can leave one side of a CAVE open, and people outside can look in and see stuff (kind of like a big bent powerwall), so you can be showing VR to say 20 people. You can't do that with this device.
OTOH, it looks pretty cool, and has definate new-and-funky appeal.
Mike.
Tales from behind the Lagom Curtain
Why does this remind me of those transparent spheres you put gerbils into, and watch as they run around and bump into everything? Or kinda like a mouse in a wheel, you run, but you don't go anywhere. Just more scenic now ;)
...I'll procrastinate tomorrow...
Now I stop and wonder, this is of course a step closer to a complete VR-world, but how would one fix to have a second person there. This technique seems to me to be limitated to only one person, unless of course there is a second sphere somewhere, either in same room or in a different room. Which brings us to the next problem, if in the same room you can bump into each other but are still quite far from each other. At least I see that sphere as at least the size of the person, in my case that would be 6'8'' in the case that you have a 2'4'' person(which is unlikely but still) you would have two spheres of a total of 10' that means there is a distance of 5' and still you bump into each other. On the other hand in two different rooms you have the following problem, how can you bump into each other, or better said can you bump into each other
In my opinion it is a good step into developing a new VR-Experience but it is still just as the cave limited, just in a different way
Grootvoet
-= Free your mind and your Ass will follow,
-= Free your mind and your Ass will follow,
Bono(U2), MTV Video Music Awards=-
... do you breathe in that thing ? After two hours of virtual walking though virtual beaches filled with virtual gorgeous women there will be no breathable oxygen left in the bubble.
And wouldn't the sound be atenuated by the sphere's walls ? (they have to be preety thick to suport a human without bending/breaking)
And the thing looks preety exprensive. I'll stick to a cheaper Actual Reality Sphere.
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1% APY, No fees, Online Bank https://captl1.co/2uIErYq Don't let your $$$ sit in a no-interest acct.
I see a perfect marketing opportunity. If these people are willing to brand their product in conjunction with a well known leader in modular livingspaces, they could profit immensely.
I speak, of course of:
VR by Habitrail!
Think about it: The ultimate geek houses with modular hallways, ladders, and function specific rooms. Oh, and excercise wheels....
I'm thinking more of a snowboarder. No, the boots shouldn't actually lift the person, just prevent him from falling. IE, if the person leaned forward far enough, the boots would reach their maximum tilt and go no further. I don't think the boots should ever attempt to "throw" the user forward. Then again, the boots are just one part and I think if you really were to build a simulator with such a design, you'd add a simple harness or program the simulator to halt if the person tilted forward and couldn't right himself.
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- JoeShmoe
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-- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
Instead of getting fat at my computer while playing Quake III, I could be getting into shape.
Body by Carmack!
# (/.);;
- : float -> float -> float =
Boots that have a two poles attached to the them via free-motion ball-and-socket joints. One pole is attached to the tip of boot, the other attached to the heel.
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Servos that can track and tilt the pole apply enough resistance to keep the boots level and counter the weight of the wearer.
As the person moves, pressure sensors inside the boot read the direction and strength of the force, and the servos compensate accordingly.
For example. When flat, the servos provide enough force to simulate the ground plane. When the person lifts his or her foot, pressure sensors on the top of the boot register this force, and the servos release grip on the poles to allow the boot to move up. When the person lowers his or her foot, sensors on the bottom of the boot register this force, and the servos remain flexible until the software detects that the user's foot has hit the ground plane or an object, at which point they clamp down on the pole.
Using this system, it would be possible to simulate walking, running, jumping, climbing, kicking, even fighting.
Combine this with a similar setup for the hands (using gloves) and the complete immersive 3D holodeck-type enviroment can be simulated.
So, does anything like this exist, and is there even a name for this?
- JoeShmoe
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-- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
The problem is there is no depth perception. I don't even know if it tracks where your head is to generate the right viewpoint. What it needs is LCD shutter glasses and synchronised interleaved projection of left and right eye view.
Some type of sensors will be needed for the case of coming to a sudden stop. In reality, when a person is running, and they try to stop quickly, they are forced to brake their movement due to the fact that momentum will keep them going if they don't. It doesn't take much, but nobody can come to a sudden stop. However, in the ball, nobody would actually be moving, the ball would. So if someone suddenly stops, which WOULD be possible since you're not really moving, the ball would keep going, UNLESS it was somehow able to sense that the person had stopped running and brake the movement. This MIGHT not be too difficult. As the person moves around in the ball, they will never move more than a few degrees away from the center of the berings. Anytime they try to, the ball will simply roll to compensate, simulating movement. If someone suddenly stops, they will move beyond that few degree margin and the ball, sensing a force centered on a spot that is too far from the center of the berings will engage brakes to slow the ball down and readjust it. There will probably be a few balancing issues to work out, but no more than someone would have in real life after a few beers. :)
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
Yes, the inertia of the ball probably causes some lag in changing directions, etc. BUT, it might be worth noting how few people can turn on a dime when running at full speed in real life. The ultimate VR system *should* emulate this effect, not just feel like Q3 Arena on a big screen.
I think you are mistaken. The majority of the support would be provided by a clamp type system that would prevent the pole from moving up or down.
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If the person was registered as being on the ground, then the servo would be clamp down on the pole to prevent it from feeding downward. If the person was stuck in tar, the servo would clamp down to prevent (or make it harder) it from feeding upward. So it is rather passive.
What you are talking about would only be necessary if you wanted to simulate the type of enviroment where the ground could produce a force on the user, say if they stepped on a landmine or whatever. Yeah, that would be dangerous but I don't think the system I was thinking about would be. The only real danger is that a programming error causes the clamp to release completely, but if the user was supported in a safety harness this would be easily avoidable.
- JoeShmoe
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-- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
As noted before, this is an old idea - but one that is interesting, and of course, still in development.
Another individual noted that the military was developing an omnidirectional treadmill - this is true. It is part of the dismounted soldier project. Here is a link. Look around his site, under research and publications - you'll find it as a PDF file.
Basically, the treadmill can be thought of as two perpendicularly overlapping treadmills, the belts of which are composed of longitudinal "rows" of rollers along the length of each belt. Thus, when the user is walking in the center of the overlap, the motion vector is translated into X and Y motion, one axis for each belt (it is tough to explain, but once you see the thing, you will smack your head). It works real similarly to a holonomic drive robot, except in reverse. Also, various "terrain" can be simulated by tilting the platform, as well as controlling the belts with active braking/acceleration.
There is also a Japanese "toroidal" omni treadmill, but it is VERY hard to understand (I may have a link to it on my site).
Personally, I don't think any of these devices will see much entertainment or personal use in the future, just because of the scale of the devices, the complexity, and the cost of materials that go into them.
I personally advocate HMD's with tracking devices, because it allows for the most interaction with the virtual environment (ie, you can explore and look around the world easily, and manipulate and examine objects as well).
With that said, though, I think that this guy is onto something, and may make inbounds to the commercial and personal arenas before anyone...
I support the EFF - do you?
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
What work did Tesla pass off as his own, hmm?
I guarantee you: Somewhere, right now, someone is trying to figure out to have sex using this device. You laugh now, but I know how human mind works...
^_^
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For more info: The Utah Treadport
You mean flat, like the earth?
I think most of this technology was perfected in the late sixies and made various cameos on the UK TV show The Prisoner.
When I worked in the Reality Centre in the UK I related this idea to one of the visitors around five years ago. Their idea was to walk on top of a sphere as a tracking system and I pointed out that this would be inherently unstable and require motors + a significant underfloor area. I suggested that they needed to be inside a retroprojected sphere but it would be difficult to manufacture and getting in and out would require a door in the spherical screen.
Here's some info on the CAVE project at Brown (I believe where it started):_ Journal/vol23/23GSJ28e.html
http://www.cs. bro wn.edu/research/graphics/research/cave/home.html
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/George_Street
-Chris