jakiro
Source: Yuan Cosmic Daily
For more than 10 years in the AR/VR industry, related software and hardware still have not become popular products. This technology combined with virtual and reality has also been regarded as the entrance to the Yuan universe.
It now seems that the entrance is far from humans, but there is no shortage of “touches”. Various headsets such as Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest3 are one of the paths. Recently, Disney exposed another immersive experience.
This time it is not a top, but the VR floor “Holotile Floor”.Disney’s positioning for it is “the world’s first multi -person, all -direction, modular, scalable virtual reality running shot floor” -The user stepped on the place in reality, but in the virtual worldEffect.
If Vision PRO brings the visual space of people in the virtual real world, then Holotile is extending body sensation.Bleak
01Start “walk” into the virtual reality in place
Holotile Floor’s name is like its shape, and it looks like an irregular floor, consisting of hundreds of round small tiles of hundreds of silver dollars.It is kept in the center of the overall floor.When using it, the user has stepped in the reality, but in the virtual real world, it may have been 2 kilometers.
It sounds like the effect of the treadmill. With the use of the VR headset, it solves a problem -when the user’s head wears the head to explore the virtual environment, you can focus on it.Items.Although the current headset has achieved the mutual switch between virtual and reality, Holotile Floor can make people psychologically more assured of “space”.
A similar VR walking device has long existed.If you have watched the drama version of “Three Body”, the “V -installed” players entering that world are such devices.
It is not a item produced in science fiction film and television works, but a real real product that exists.The VR treadmill provided by the Chinese manufacturer KAT VR in the play in the play is WALK MINI, which is provided by the Chinese manufacturer KAT VR, and the headset device comes from the PIMAX8KX of Xiaopai Technology.
According to “Orange Persimmon Interaction”, the chief director Yang Lei is said to be shocked by the realistic experience during his own test. He believes that this set of devices can indeed show the synchronous performance of V installations in the three bodies.
The functions provided by Walk Mini and Holotile are to make people feel the real walk in the virtual scene. From the perspective of the device form, Walk mini with a chassis requires supporting support from back and seat belt -like devices, and protecting players will not fall out.The base, and Holotile seems to want to get rid of these restraints and make it directly into a floor that is not too high.
The “V Fit” in the “Three Body” is not a fake prop.
Of course, Holotile also needs to be used with VR headset. As long as users step on it, they can walk in any direction. With the virtual reality scene provided by VR head display, users are really walking in the virtual world.
Disney believes that Holotile can open up new possibilities for VR applications, and scenes include games, education and even travel.
Meta Quest3, Apple VisionPro, etc., are actually visual feelings to provide virtual real world. Walk mini and Holotile triedThe sense of dizziness caused by it is also enhancing the immersion of virtual reality.
Imagine that if you wear a VR header, stand on the VR treadmill “eating chicken”, turn, pull guns, and shoot these actions will not only be operated by two fingers on your mobile phone.When you move your legs, at that time, your virtual incarnation in the game was really “you” yourself, and the immersion feeling was full.
However, although the VR treadmill can provide a sense of movement, Wang Miao in the play in “Three Body” can feel the windy rain and the cold and coldness of the chaos in the V -installation.Touching ability, but some people are researching and developing.
02Fortunately, you have to wait a wait
“Three Body” author Liu Cixin has described his ideal virtual real world: “VR is a three -dimensional virtual world by computer simulation, vision, hearing, touch, and even smell can interact with virtual scenes. This is a brand new.Experience.
Speaking of Holotile, it only solves a simple walking experience. Although it allows us to “walk through” every corner of the virtual world on a few square meters of flooring, the experience of human walking is because of the diverse space of the space.After giving, “It’s easy to go down the mountain and go down the mountain”, climb the building on an empty stomach, “Burning your calories”, and walk quickly.Holotile cannot provide these “walking” experiences.
Judging from the demonstration video, Holotile still does not support significant lower limbs, such as jumping and fast running.These actions are already very common in 2D and 3D games, and it can be seen that it needs to continue to upgrade.
In addition to vision and exercise, we also hope to achieve touch or even smell in the virtual world, just like the character experience in “Number Player” or “Three Body”.Now, touching is already on the way, but it seems difficult.
As early as 2021, the Meta Reality Labs team launched the “pneumatic touch gloves” R & D project, which can allow users to experience the real touch when grabbing virtual objects, so as to give users more immersive immersiveThe touch experience, and also wants to liberate the player from the head handle through it.
Meta’s pneumatic touch gloves
Meta once described the development of VR touch gloves as the “moon landing plan”, but unfortunately the future is unclear.
“When we start to develop VR touch gloves, we hope to create a consumer equipment that can be mass -produced, consumers can afford consumer equipment so that people can experience the virtual world anywhere.” Meta’s project leader alsoUnfortunately, “But it’s almost impossible.”
As he said, using new equipment to provide a sense of touch in virtual reality, which involves new materials, new sensors and actuators, new integration and system methods, new rendering algorithms, new physical engines, and so on.Today, this glove is still under development.It is said that the prototype cost of this glove is about $ 5,000. It is conceivable that even if it is listed, consumers will be difficult to look.
Whether it is a VR treadmill or a VR glove, it is essentially a VR headset accessory. It must be used to use it to play the function. In the process of the titles of the Toujian, there is no such foundation. It is difficult to open these accessories. It is difficult to open these accessories.market.
For example, the “pioneer” Virtuix of the VR treadmill. This company launched the OMNI project in 2013, raised more than 1.1 million US dollars, and launched two VR universal treadmill Omni Pro and Omni One, but the price of more than 2,000 US dollarsDirectly gave Virtuix a defeat for sales.So far, Omni Pro has only sold more than 3,500 units.
For these more sexy VR installations, users who like to experience virtual reality must first wait for the VR head to show a climate of mass consumption.
