You don’t need to fully fool the vestibular system. This could be installed in a large room and move users slowly back to center as they approach the edge
I tried out an experience last night called "SandboxVR" which would be the perfect customer for such a system - you walk into a room equipped with motion-tracker cameras, the staff straps you into VR gear, then you play an immersive video game with your friends. The games are designed so you don't need to move around much, because a flashing red grid appears in your vision if you get too close to the walls; with a moving floor, they could give you a lot more freedom to explore.
B'elanna Torres (and many other characters, mostly Klingon) are notorious for disabling the holodeck safety protocols, because the experience is not "real enough" unless one can actually get hurt:
I think this is the correct direction for AR/XR development (and why I'm a fan of AR as a concept, but not necessarily of VR): rather than trying to imitate a real experience as closely as possible (and then inevitably nose-diving into the uncanny valley), work with the medium and its inherent limitations and just let it be its own thing. We might discover applications we wouldn't dream of, just like the EMH from Voyager eventually rediscovers himself as a real person.
I think this is the most likely outcome. Then you get unlimited walking distance and no vestibular drama (or light vestibular drama).
I wonder if it makes you puke if you don't quite move as far as you expected... like each step counts for 3/4ths of a step or something... and then you imperceptibly move backward.
I don't think the size of the room matters much. The speed of the floor is determined by the speed of the person walking, otherwise they'll reach the edge of the floor and fall off eventually.
Maybe you could make the speed of the floor slower as long as the person stays in the middle, but as they reach the edge, it increases to keep them on it? I imagine it would feel strange to have a varying floor speed like that though.
marssaxman|2 years ago
rollcat|2 years ago
https://youtu.be/uWWn0fPbcRs?feature=shared&t=192
B'elanna Torres (and many other characters, mostly Klingon) are notorious for disabling the holodeck safety protocols, because the experience is not "real enough" unless one can actually get hurt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30TXMZ_TSjk
The awareness of the holodeck experience being fake is so pervasive, that Odo actually believes the real Kira Nerys is a holodeck character:
https://youtu.be/8_nfZGFEm5k?feature=shared&t=82
I think this is the correct direction for AR/XR development (and why I'm a fan of AR as a concept, but not necessarily of VR): rather than trying to imitate a real experience as closely as possible (and then inevitably nose-diving into the uncanny valley), work with the medium and its inherent limitations and just let it be its own thing. We might discover applications we wouldn't dream of, just like the EMH from Voyager eventually rediscovers himself as a real person.
randall|2 years ago
I wonder if it makes you puke if you don't quite move as far as you expected... like each step counts for 3/4ths of a step or something... and then you imperceptibly move backward.
persolb|2 years ago
I get motion sick easy, but this option doesn’t make me sick.
nabakin|2 years ago
Maybe you could make the speed of the floor slower as long as the person stays in the middle, but as they reach the edge, it increases to keep them on it? I imagine it would feel strange to have a varying floor speed like that though.
Rapzid|2 years ago