A student group from the virtual reality lab at the University of Tsukuba in Japan has developed shoes that allow the wearer to walk through virtual worlds. Right, Hiroshi Tomioka, one of the developers of the powered shoes goes for a virtual walk.
Here’s a closeup of the sole of the shoe. Three sets of motorized rollers drive the skate backwards in time with the pace of the walker to cancel his forward motion and remain in place–similar to a treadmill. Direction is changed by rotating the computer and monitor around a circular track on the floor.
The virtual walker must use the monitor to see where he’s going.
Bill Detwiler is the Editor for Technical Content and Ecosystem at Celonis. He is the former Editor in Chief of TechRepublic and previous host of TechRepublic's Dynamic Developer podcast and Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Previously, Bill was an IT manager in the social research and energy industries. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Louisville, where he has also lectured on computer crime and crime prevention.
