@FreeaimVR I decided not to buy an omni one because of these things. Way cheaper, more practical, and just plain smarter. I REALLY think you guys are on to something here. I FULLY INTEND TO BUY THESE once they are a finished product. But..........PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE consider an option for swappable batteries. OR...........consider making the shoes wirelessly rechargeable and create a "charging mat" to go under the walking surface as an optional add on.
Honestly you guys could prolly patent this after a lil resign as a walker for the elderly. The version with the harness. And that could funnel money back into you using it for vr if you have multiple uses for it. And the shoes honestly could be used for exercise for the same target consumer group.
The swivel caster frame is like training wheels, and I like that. Also, if you fall you can't possibly smash your face into it. It probably is the safest option to get people comfortable with this tech, while still having freedom of movement. It's an ingenious idea, really. You should also offer that mat you are walking on or something similar for people with carpets like me.
Different purpose. Your not gonna run an obstacle course where your sprinting or jumping over stuff in free aim shoes. Your not gonna crawl under stuff (maybe crouch) in a slidemill.
I wouldn't say their different purposes. Both are meant to do VR locomotion.
6 месяцев назад+2
@@FreeaimVR How would you sprint though? Distance multiplier when sprint is toggled on? I'm very curious. It's definitely a technology I am interested in. I just saw footage of you jogging. I guess I got my answer 🤓
Yes, they can go up to a jog as you saw. You can click the sprint button to go faster in-game if you want, or there is a slider to increase/decrease your in-game speed. So you can be moving fast in-game, but just be walking in real life. In the future we may have ways to auto-trigger sprinting when a certain speed threshold is reached.
@@FreeaimVR Okay, that's fine, but the point is that your system does not allow a user to genuinely sprint in real-life. If someone wants to be able to experience that specifically, they must look for a different product.
If you're in the middle of the frame, the top opening is pretty large (in the video you can see that I have to extend my arm out to grab the top), but yes it could still happen. There are pros and cons. The top will at least be padded. The swivel caster frame shouldn't have as much of a problem with this.
Very cool idea. I wonder if it would be reasonable to have a HUD indicator that shows your distance from the starting origin so you know if you've strayed from center too far.
We're considering that option, but haven't made any final decisions yet. The batteries last 2 hours (for me at 170 pounds), and 2 hours of constant walking can feel like a lot. The batteries can be swapped quickly to continue past that point.
@@KayoMichiels Hmm I don't know about having even more wires going down from your waist to the shoes... Feels like more "things" to put on before getting in the zone, but having options are always good
Exciting update with the new modes and beginner experience in mind. Assistive devices are well thought out with the most interesting being the castor system. Seems to be able to give a confidence for new users or those who desire assist while still giving great freedom of mobility.
This is an idea I had and was thinking about building. I'm glad to see someone who actually knows what they're doing has had the same idea and is actually working on one.
I filled out the survey to try the shoes and I seriously hope they pick me. Thank you for this awesome video! It would be a dream to try these shoes. This is like one step closer to that Ready Player One lifestyle ! 🤞 Fingers crossed 🤞I’m chosen to try this amazing product !
The best I've seen yet! What I wasn't able to see was how much a player could move their body around, like ducking and leaning and (Heaven forbid) dancing. If you can't enable people to do those things, then some future inventor inevitably will!
Just this weekend I have borrowed Quest 2 from a friend and for the first time tried VR. And let me tell you, that's a great idea you have here. Number of games that would need this to save me from the motion sickness is surprisingly big... honestly it is the thing that is stopping me from buying VR for myself right now.
I really like the swivel frame the best. If it had a latch release for a pop-down chair so you could sit then get back up and relatch the seat it would be spectacular and maybe a bit more expensive. Also, add mounting hardware mounted on the frame so we could swivel a HOTAS into position once we sat down. EDIT:@zurditen has a great point. The frames need a Collapse function or Flailing around release (LOL) so we don't bash the controllers and or our knuckles.)
Can't wait for the release. I still get motion sickness in VR and these shoes could help solve the problem. Just hope they will be for big people too and have a reasonable price.
NIce!!!!!! Have you ever thought about adding, for example, the thumbstick as an additional sensor to simply help predict the exact moment the user will stop. I noticed in the video that the only thing that doesn't seem very stable yet is the moment the sneakers should stop. There seems to be a small delay. Wouldn't adding, as I said, using the thumbstick just to help stop, improve this aspect? When the user wants to stop, the fact that they completely release the thumbstick in the neutral position could help reduce this delay between walking and being completely stopped
This is some really great progress, super excited about the manual control option for beginners. Even tying that to forward and backward on the controller can go a long way giving people confidence when trying the shoes out. I think the supports are great too. I would suggest something in between the hexagon and mobile type, something similar to those that wrap around the waist and hold you in place. Probably not ideal for what you're going for with the reliance on freely walking, and getting used to not having to rely on it but one that holds you in place might help with smaller play spaces that can be tucked away in a corner easily. From what I've seen, I would love to try one of these as is currently, it's just so much better than the alternatives I've seen
You can merge the two help support options in on product. Your shoes is the missing piece of the vr treadmill. Could be interesting to see if it can be adapted to a VR treadmill with spherical base.
Think my ideal support frame for something like these would be like the bending support arm of virtuix omni but with a flat platform as the slight bowl for the virtuix omni isn't needed for these shoes to work. Still I am pretty interested to see where these go, If they were to work on standalone headsets that would be awesome though for me they would need to be strong enough to do slight jumps in for games like bonelab.
I’m excited for this. I’m in the UK and I’m 72. Recently I bought a treadmill which doesn’t have a frame and I really wish I’d bought one that hand a handle! So I feel if I bought these shoes I’d definitely want the hexagonal frame. I’d love to use my Quest 3 for exercise and the shoes would be amazing ! Please make them available here!
So nice to see this project progressing. I am curious what is the sensation of walking in VR like. How much that adds to the immersion ? Is the VR experience more convincing ?
@@FreeaimVRI bet. Something like Skyrim or fallout with these would be insane honestly I could spend hundreds of hours just walking around the game worlds taking in sights before actually even playing the games this is truly some engineering wizardry I hope as many people as possible will get to experience such immersion with these shoes tech like this is really reshaping the world I’m starting to get old but I hope to see vr and xr become the biggest greatest platform around these shoes help make that more possible.
Haha, for some reason, I did not expect for the motorized shoes to impress me this much. Cool stuff! Very interesting where this'll go to. May be one day the shoes will support strafing by spinning the wheels. Or perhaps I missed it in the video?
The shoes have rotating drive modules. You can take a few sidesteps and then when you walk forward the shoes will bring you back to the center. You can see that here: ruclips.net/video/PoIr0Ba0zpQ/видео.htmlsi=X1k5HMl2HkmWEfq1&t=172
I prefer the swivel caster frame because you can move your arms without hitting any bars. It would make it a lot better if you can have the harness slide up and down so you can crouch and make it so you can hang horizontally for swimming and fly like superman simulators.
In the future Prisoners will be fitted with Shoes like this so they can't run away :P Really neat concept- whoever figures out how to allow a person to walk in place in any direction with a VR set on is going to make a whole lot of Money. Easier said than done though! Next we need to be able to jump, dive, roll and pretty much do anything while staying in place. I've always imagined a GIANT ball that you walk on top of and it moves/adjusts with you, but you'd need a whole room for that, and a second couple rooms beneath you- so, not practical at all.
The very first problem I thought of was that you can't swipe a sword or anything like that if you use the hexagon frame. If you do, you'll hit your hand, so I would probably stay with the swivel caster frame.
If you're in the middle of the frame, the top opening is pretty large (in the video you can see that I have to extend my arm out to grab the top), but yes it could still happen. There are pros and cons. The top will at least be padded. As you say, the swivel caster frame shouldn't have as much of a problem with this.
This looks so awesome and like a real finished andd polished product. I hope you will make these available for PSVR2 also, then it will be a day 1 buy for me. 😻👍
You should have swivel wheels under there somewhere because when people turn in vr they dont usually side step but twist one foot first then twist the next foot, it would also help slightly change direction while the shoes still are working
These look perfect for social vr with fbt. You get natural walking without a frame holding you back from anything else! Have you tried VR chat or Resonite in them?
Okay these look cool as heck and I could definitely see myself using them for content creation inside of VRChat. There's times where I want to record something but I could only see it working if I could use my actual legs to move. I'd love to test them but sadly I live to far from Wisconsin to make it feasible
These shoes can also serve as an under desk treadmill if you make the batteries swappable. 2 hours of constant waking isn't a lot in fact. I often walk 6-8 hours a day on a treadmill as well as many as people in that community.
My guess would be that most users won't use the standing frame / support but its smart as a company to require your customer to purchase one and then you have less liability in that you can claim any injuries were the user was not using the support are not your fault since the user was not following the safety recommendations. I would personally not use the support, but the shoes are compelling.
Yeah we've had internal discussions where we've discussed what you've pointed out, among other things. As I said in the video, our intent is the shoes to not need support equipment, and we're doing our best to achieve that. But there are a lot of factors to consider.
I would say that the support frame should come with the kit, and it's an option as to which one you choose. Phrasing it as people have to buy the shoes THEN buy a frame is going to annoy many people, as it feels like they're being forced to buy an extra part they don't want. It should be phrased as if you're buying the shoes and just happen to get a frame along with it. Plus the frame would be a good sell if it can be used as a seat or perhaps to store extra batteries. Something added to encourage people to be happy with it, make them feel as though they got a good deal.
I think there's big promise here. It has more freedom than catwalk, but the speed seems more limited at the moment. I think the ultimate product is still the Disney infinite treadmill.
Thanks but I don't think many people realise the Disney Holotile is a one off prototype that cost millions to develop and build over more than a decade. I don't believe it is a 'product' that any consumer will be able to buy, at least not for a very long time. Disney said they might use it for theme park attractions or unique stage performances for their artists. It's somewhat annoying that they didn't explain how large and complex the machine actually is, each little disc of which there are 100’s, has at least two motors and electronics meaning 1000s of motors in a small platform. If you look in the video clip you can see the whole thing is raised a few feet off the ground and there are huge boxes of electronics in the background. Now what if we told you that Freeaim's VR shoes with its unique tech built into the shoes can achieve the same (including being faster) and we're trying to make it available to anyone at a price similar to existing sliding treadmills, eventually less! I give credit to Disney for their sly viral marketing, showing 30sec clips but not really saying anything about the device.
@@FreeaimVR Absolutely! I never meant to imply it's a feasible product. It's an absolute beast of a machine, and it achieves nigh magical levels of 360° treadmill affect, but price, size, construction, and tech place it even outside the most hardcore DIY space for the foreseeable future.
Interesting idea; just 2 problems: 1) how do you sidestep? Seems to work using friction, so forward and backwards is easy to accomplish sliding your feet on the floor; but how do you sidestep? Do you slide your feet sideways too? 2) while it is great to see alternatives to mats; this is probably one of the ways to get sued for injuries while using this device. There are so many things that can go wrong by sliding onto something while you have a headset on, and I am sure you considered the risks here. One thing is to walk while tethered onto something, another is free walk around with rollerblades under your feet, with the risk of slip and fall. Looking forward to see how this project evolve; previous walking mats didn't make it far, mostly because there are not that many games either that are worth playing in VR and invest in more hardware, beside the headset; so that add to the complexity of the problem.
This is pretty awesome! Have you done any research with some sort of micro-muscular interface around the ankles to predict when the user may intend to start or stop walking thus improving the latency (e.g. similar to Meta's research on the wrist sensors that can detect the micro muscular movements)? Also, it might be interesting if the treadmill mode is somehow connected with the movement thumbstick input that a user can learn to synchronize the speed of thumbstick input and how fast to walk on the treadmill. The stopping seems like it needs a lot of work. Otherwise, looks really impressive so far!
please find another solution to frames.... i think your product solves the big volumen problem usually vr treadmill takes, so i love your shoes just can be used almost in any space... frames beats that
Excellent product, consider the idea of putting the batteries hooked to the belt of your trousers and not on your shoes, I'm worried about the weight of the shoes, it could make "walking" uncomfortable/unnatural
Those who have tried the shoes haven't said the weight is a concern, even after we asked them. However we are considering a belt option, and future versions will have design updates to make the shoes lighter.
I have an idea for the wheels on the shoes that will allow for 2-degrees of freedom so the user will be able to go forward, backward, strafe left, and strafe right while staying in place.
If we decide to move forward with it, it would have adjustable height and support at least the weight that the shoes themselves can support. We'd do our best to also have some crouching support, maybe even sitting. What is shown in the video is just a prototype.
Looks very interesting. It does not occupy space. The thing for me is always which games will support it. Have you tried out adding force feedback to the shoes? It would be interesting to feel force for .e.g a rocket is launching, earth quake, tank passes nearby.
Quick questions, since this will work with SteamVR directly, will it work on Linux? And also, do you have more info on whether I'll be able to get them if my shoe size is European size 47 / US male size 13? (I do not go over the weight limit at all, just my feet are huge) Thanks :)
We haven't tried them on Linux. For the consumer version we'll try to support as many foot sizes as possible, large and small. They can go up to a US size 11 comfortably but we've tested them with people with larger feet and they seemed to work fine, but we'll do more testing.
@@FreeaimVR For the Linux thing: All the SteamVR add-ons that I know of (HTC trackers, SlimeVR trackers) "just work" with SteamVR, so it would be nice to have some confirmation of whether this is the case here. And for the foot size thing: I hope you can have a definitive answer by the time they're up for sale! I want them, but I wouldn't spend money if whether my foot fits or not is a "maybe" lol!
Currently the optimal foot sizes we've tested are US sizes 4-12 male and 6-12.5 female. The shoes can work for feet larger than that, but may feel small. With newer designs we're planning increasing the range and supporting as wide of a range of foot sizes as we can.
Working with non Vr games is awesome I use the praydog injector for titles and play wow with my Vr treadmill all I can say is take my money already lol
Form wasn't submitted due to a technical issue. Try again in a moment. :( Have you ever considered adding other kinds of sensors to your technology? Like heart rate monitoring, or breathing, and such?
I don't know anything about this product, but something that immediately sticks out to me is how do these shoes handle jumping or running? Even if you don't plan on making shoes that can handle that kind of speed, durability is something I strongly recommend you maintain a health focus on. There's no way people aren't going to try to jump, or take a rapid quick step. How would these shoes handle the shock of a jump, or the traction needed if one were to jump in a direction or come to a hard stop with a foot a decent distance away from your center of gravity. People might expect this to grip like a shoe only to experience the slip of socks on tile. I love the idea behind this product, but potential injury from losing oneself to an intense game and forgetting to be careful with how they stepped is something that worries me greatly.
Jumping is not supported at this time. People have stomped on the shoes without a problem. Nobody has jumped with them accidently. They support up to a jog. This is the current max speed of the shoes: ruclips.net/video/JAYVDkn9W5A/видео.htmlsi=LgLs1PqoUyRk9Zvl&t=379 Our intent is for the shoes to be good enough to not need a frame, but we're working on frames too as shown in the video.
Hexframe might be good until you play a game where the player needs to crouch. Looks like a neck breaker or headset catcher. :) That said, the benefit is once you place it you can make sure you don't travel so far that you accidentally smack a wall (PCVR the guardian is really not super helpful). The swivel caster frame looks a bit unsecure (like if someone does actually trip/slide/fall). It also doesn't look like it can handle side tipping well if it's aluminum. I'd be curious to see someone drop to one knee, misstep with the shoes to see how well this can actually catch them. Especially if it's on carpet or such. With the support designs, side stepping is good to take into mind, but in my experience, crouching is used more and the shoes by default seem to not be friendly for that (unless you can 'lock them' by leaning forward on the toes), so any support that can help with that would be great. I'm glad to see more investment and innovation in the VR movement sphere.
Always interested to see progress on this product! I have a hypothetical question, that I'm sure you've been asked a bunch of times already - would it be feasible for the shoes to be two-dimensional treadmills at some point in the future?
Can I suggest a possibility? Ok cool. Have you considered using a couple velcro elbow bands that you would strap around your arm, each w/ a fairly robust quality elastic band that could be anchored, attached, velcroed somewhere, depending on the end users area of play - the ceiling, floor, frame etc? The idea being, one would intuitively know how far they are drifting simply by how much resistance is being felt on each side & what direction it’s from, thus being able to gauge where in space they are & how to adjust.
@@FreeaimVR Yea, Sorry my comment was already getting kinda wordy so I ended up cutting some stuff out. However, I think it would be most optimal & ideal to sink an eyelet w/ a free rotating end loop into a ceiling beam or stud. It could be kept small that way & would need no bigger than 3/4”-1” I.d. loop to clip to. Let’s pan out & really look at this from a business perspective (I majored in business) -100% of the units you sell will _likely_ have to come w/ some containment or “safety” apparatus to make the lawyers & insurance happy. But, 99% of the units you sell, no one will bother using it anyway. Face it, We’re all human & we don’t like to be bound to finite spaces. *_What’s the point to live in a real life open world but play in a virtual “open world” only to restrict ourselves in our real world by purchasing a product meant to unchain us? After all thats exactly what your trying to accomplish here which is to liberate the player._* With that said I would think no matter what you do, you are going to want to keep whatever apparatus you end up using to be low cost to procure/produce, be small, lightweight & easily replaceable for you & your end user because it’s going to be tossed to the wayside & not used anyway.
Thanks for your advice. Regarding units having to have some sort of support system, we've had similar thoughts. We are considering overhead an ceiling mounted options (as I explained in the video). But many people have small beams in their ceilings. I believe you need a 8in beam for one support point to be good enough, which isn't normally used for ceilings. For 6in, 2 support points are needed. Less than that obviously needs more. It can be a headache.
The shoes support doing a few sidesteps, then as you walk forward they can gradually bring you back to the center. You can see how this works here: ruclips.net/video/PoIr0Ba0zpQ/видео.htmlsi=blbmgzBoMl78k61C&t=172
Can u make a pair with roller blades as the concept. With a small brake in tip and heal. But instead of a line of wheels do 4 in a diamond pattern. Or maybe no brakes instead internal brakes. Controlled wireless with a glove
amazing idea, i am worried about how you might not be able to move in a full degree range, like side-stepping unless you use spherical wheels with some special motors along with something to hold the person in place (camera connection to pull the person back in middle). Something to add to this could be running in conjuction with a rotating platform? Edit: forgot to say, maybe using a platform would be more appropriate if people don't want a heavy foot, something that can decrease the natural feel of walking freely Edit: wanted to say i came up with a quick idea to use two cogs on a steel ball with a perforated design to allow full computerised motion instead of passive human-needed locomotion. Like how holo-tile in disney has right now but spheres instead of sandwiched wheels akin to an office chair. two cogs to do x and y axis of the steel spheres? large cogs and small spheres? my only issue was the ability to minimize gaps between the spheres, maybe use cogs below spheres if not decreasing torque too much?
I am most interested in reliability, battery life, and price. This seems like it would be a much better option then those large omni directional booth treadmill things if only due to space those take up, however, if they are also priced similar then I dont see much adoption of these. I would like to see a price point between $500 and $800 but would gladly accept a price lower then that if it is possible. The other big questions would be can you actually run with them or only kind of speed walk, what kind of weight limit would be looking at, and what shoe sizes could there be.
If you're going to AWE this year make sure to stop by our booth!
Support equipment survey: forms.wix.com/f/7202307064851333205
will they be affordable? :)
I can hardly express how interested I am in these
@FreeaimVR I decided not to buy an omni one because of these things. Way cheaper, more practical, and just plain smarter. I REALLY think you guys are on to something here. I FULLY INTEND TO BUY THESE once they are a finished product. But..........PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE consider an option for swappable batteries. OR...........consider making the shoes wirelessly rechargeable and create a "charging mat" to go under the walking surface as an optional add on.
Honestly you guys could prolly patent this after a lil resign as a walker for the elderly. The version with the harness. And that could funnel money back into you using it for vr if you have multiple uses for it. And the shoes honestly could be used for exercise for the same target consumer group.
The swivel caster frame is like training wheels, and I like that. Also, if you fall you can't possibly smash your face into it. It probably is the safest option to get people comfortable with this tech, while still having freedom of movement. It's an ingenious idea, really. You should also offer that mat you are walking on or something similar for people with carpets like me.
You just reinvented the treadmill itself! Taking up lots less space, this could also be implemented as a true fitness tool outside of the VR spectrum.
trueeee
Honestly that'd be my main market. Travelers treadmill.
The movement look sooo much better than the slippin' in a bowl alternatives.
Different purpose. Your not gonna run an obstacle course where your sprinting or jumping over stuff in free aim shoes. Your not gonna crawl under stuff (maybe crouch) in a slidemill.
I wouldn't say their different purposes. Both are meant to do VR locomotion.
@@FreeaimVR How would you sprint though? Distance multiplier when sprint is toggled on? I'm very curious. It's definitely a technology I am interested in. I just saw footage of you jogging. I guess I got my answer 🤓
Yes, they can go up to a jog as you saw. You can click the sprint button to go faster in-game if you want, or there is a slider to increase/decrease your in-game speed. So you can be moving fast in-game, but just be walking in real life. In the future we may have ways to auto-trigger sprinting when a certain speed threshold is reached.
@@FreeaimVR Okay, that's fine, but the point is that your system does not allow a user to genuinely sprint in real-life. If someone wants to be able to experience that specifically, they must look for a different product.
This is a WAY more practical idea than an omni treadmill. I love this idea.
Got to say this seems like the most reasonable locomotion solution I've seen so far. I'll keep following best of luck!
Congratulations! I think that when playing, for example, with swords, you could hit your hands with the hex frame.
If you're in the middle of the frame, the top opening is pretty large (in the video you can see that I have to extend my arm out to grab the top), but yes it could still happen. There are pros and cons. The top will at least be padded. The swivel caster frame shouldn't have as much of a problem with this.
Absolutely incredible!!! Can't wait til these are released 😩
Very cool idea. I wonder if it would be reasonable to have a HUD indicator that shows your distance from the starting origin so you know if you've strayed from center too far.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I really hope you blow up considering this just was in my recommended. LOOKS SICK
Also, if you wanna send me a vr set and your vr shoes ill be your test dummy :p
This is something i would totally support. Skyrim will have me Fit af.
SAME!!!
Finally working out and not getting bored. Are we on the verge of the era of the fit nerdy gamer? Only time will tell...
I would so much prefer to have the batteries in my waist and run cables to the shoes. Will that be a possibility?
We're considering that option, but haven't made any final decisions yet. The batteries last 2 hours (for me at 170 pounds), and 2 hours of constant walking can feel like a lot. The batteries can be swapped quickly to continue past that point.
Its probably easy to do a dummy battery connector and wires. Would make the shoes much lighter and this would probably be a big benefit for the feel.
You could get PrismXR's P Carina W1 Wearable Battery Pack and then route a powercable from it to the shoes.
@@KayoMichiels Hmm I don't know about having even more wires going down from your waist to the shoes... Feels like more "things" to put on before getting in the zone, but having options are always good
@@LunchAndVR You could route them through your pants...
Nice! Looking forward to seeing you there at AWE.
Looking good Freeaim. Sorry we wont be over in AWE this year but maybe we'll see you at Immersive Tech Week? (Preydog is the Don.)
I was about to say that I still want to see these paired with an Exit Suit.
Reminds me of ALL of my visits to the roller skate rink back in the 80’s.
Exciting update with the new modes and beginner experience in mind. Assistive devices are well thought out with the most interesting being the castor system. Seems to be able to give a confidence for new users or those who desire assist while still giving great freedom of mobility.
This is an idea I had and was thinking about building. I'm glad to see someone who actually knows what they're doing has had the same idea and is actually working on one.
So cool! Can’t wait for a version we can buy! Best of luck to you guys, you’re changing the game with these
I filled out the survey to try the shoes and I seriously hope they pick me. Thank you for this awesome video! It would be a dream to try these shoes. This is like one step closer to that Ready Player One lifestyle ! 🤞 Fingers crossed 🤞I’m chosen to try this amazing product !
yeah I'm sure they'll definitely pick you now that you've made this comment
@@ennayanne hahaha shut up
The best I've seen yet!
What I wasn't able to see was how much a player could move their body around, like ducking and leaning and (Heaven forbid) dancing. If you can't enable people to do those things, then some future inventor inevitably will!
Shoes look awesome, and its great they work with UEVR so fluently!
This is probably the most practical idea for VR immersion, great work
Just this weekend I have borrowed Quest 2 from a friend and for the first time tried VR. And let me tell you, that's a great idea you have here. Number of games that would need this to save me from the motion sickness is surprisingly big... honestly it is the thing that is stopping me from buying VR for myself right now.
These are exactly what ive been looking for, cant wait to buy these
Just leaving a comment for the algorithm. These look amazing, good luck!
Very excited about these. I love the idea about just having shoes and no rails like current vr units
These look so cool! Really well executed.
I can only wish for this to continue to innovate and succeed. This is a lot better than treadmills.
My KatVR2+ slidemill takes up so much space, excited about your solution!
I really like the swivel frame the best. If it had a latch release for a pop-down chair so you could sit then get back up and relatch the seat it would be spectacular and maybe a bit more expensive. Also, add mounting hardware mounted on the frame so we could swivel a HOTAS into position once we sat down. EDIT:@zurditen has a great point. The frames need a Collapse function or Flailing around release (LOL) so we don't bash the controllers and or our knuckles.)
Can't wait for the release. I still get motion sickness in VR and these shoes could help solve the problem.
Just hope they will be for big people too and have a reasonable price.
NIce!!!!!! Have you ever thought about adding, for example, the thumbstick as an additional sensor to simply help predict the exact moment the user will stop. I noticed in the video that the only thing that doesn't seem very stable yet is the moment the sneakers should stop. There seems to be a small delay. Wouldn't adding, as I said, using the thumbstick just to help stop, improve this aspect?
When the user wants to stop, the fact that they completely release the thumbstick in the neutral position could help reduce this delay between walking and being completely stopped
As far as I understand the delay is intentional, because stopping you abruptly will cause you to fall over. (I am not sure)
Wow, guys! That's awesome! I'm looking forward to it! :) Good luck with your developments!
This is fantastic, having watched from concept to now. amazing cant wait!
You turned something that took up a room in recent science fiction and made it into shoes. A roomscale setup can fit in a backpack, now.
This is some really great progress, super excited about the manual control option for beginners. Even tying that to forward and backward on the controller can go a long way giving people confidence when trying the shoes out. I think the supports are great too. I would suggest something in between the hexagon and mobile type, something similar to those that wrap around the waist and hold you in place. Probably not ideal for what you're going for with the reliance on freely walking, and getting used to not having to rely on it but one that holds you in place might help with smaller play spaces that can be tucked away in a corner easily. From what I've seen, I would love to try one of these as is currently, it's just so much better than the alternatives I've seen
You can merge the two help support options in on product.
Your shoes is the missing piece of the vr treadmill. Could be interesting to see if it can be adapted to a VR treadmill with spherical base.
Fianlly, Back walking! It is so great!
I like the stationary frame. If you have kids you can make a temporary fort with it.
Looks absolutely amazing guys! Fantastic development! UEVR support is great!
Ever since I saw some of the first demos I am so hard on the hype train, that I hate you for not releasing them still!!!
Best of luck! This is a very clever idea and I hope you succeed.
i think the hex frame makes the most sense. Easy to set up and less weird movement from the spiral frame.
Think my ideal support frame for something like these would be like the bending support arm of virtuix omni but with a flat platform as the slight bowl for the virtuix omni isn't needed for these shoes to work. Still I am pretty interested to see where these go, If they were to work on standalone headsets that would be awesome though for me they would need to be strong enough to do slight jumps in for games like bonelab.
Holy shit actually viable and vr space friendly natural locomotion?
This is a game changer.
I definitely think the hex frame is the absolute best option for support equipment
I’m excited for this. I’m in the UK and I’m 72. Recently I bought a treadmill which doesn’t have a frame and I really wish I’d bought one that hand a handle! So I feel if I bought these shoes I’d definitely want the hexagonal frame. I’d love to use my Quest 3 for exercise and the shoes would be amazing ! Please make them available here!
Our HQ is near London, so they'll definitely be available in the UK.
@@FreeaimVR Ooh great news. Thank you for the reply!
We're getting there,, it all starts somewhere,,
Progress is going awesome! I like that caster frame! Have you looked into using rock wool around the motors to reduce the noise?
No we haven't but thanks for the suggestion.
So nice to see this project progressing.
I am curious what is the sensation of walking in VR like. How much that adds to the immersion ? Is the VR experience more convincing ?
For me personally it's adds a lot to the immersion. I can't really go back, I don't play VR without them, unless it's a game like Beat Saber.
@@FreeaimVRI bet. Something like Skyrim or fallout with these would be insane honestly I could spend hundreds of hours just walking around the game worlds taking in sights before actually even playing the games this is truly some engineering wizardry I hope as many people as possible will get to experience such immersion with these shoes tech like this is really reshaping the world I’m starting to get old but I hope to see vr and xr become the biggest greatest platform around these shoes help make that more possible.
Haha, for some reason, I did not expect for the motorized shoes to impress me this much. Cool stuff! Very interesting where this'll go to. May be one day the shoes will support strafing by spinning the wheels. Or perhaps I missed it in the video?
The shoes have rotating drive modules. You can take a few sidesteps and then when you walk forward the shoes will bring you back to the center. You can see that here: ruclips.net/video/PoIr0Ba0zpQ/видео.htmlsi=X1k5HMl2HkmWEfq1&t=172
I can already see myself falling on my face in these shoes 🤣
the last frame .. would be good especially if you need a walker after using vr hehe
I prefer the swivel caster frame because you can move your arms without hitting any bars. It would make it a lot better if you can have the harness slide up and down so you can crouch and make it so you can hang horizontally for swimming and fly like superman simulators.
In the future Prisoners will be fitted with Shoes like this so they can't run away :P
Really neat concept- whoever figures out how to allow a person to walk in place in any direction with a VR set on is going to make a whole lot of Money. Easier said than done though! Next we need to be able to jump, dive, roll and pretty much do anything while staying in place. I've always imagined a GIANT ball that you walk on top of and it moves/adjusts with you, but you'd need a whole room for that, and a second couple rooms beneath you- so, not practical at all.
The very first problem I thought of was that you can't swipe a sword or anything like that if you use the hexagon frame. If you do, you'll hit your hand, so I would probably stay with the swivel caster frame.
If you're in the middle of the frame, the top opening is pretty large (in the video you can see that I have to extend my arm out to grab the top), but yes it could still happen. There are pros and cons. The top will at least be padded. As you say, the swivel caster frame shouldn't have as much of a problem with this.
Noice work. Absolute🔥
Would be interesting to see the shoes exhibit adaptable friction when on ice or sand or whatever, to level-up the realism 🤔⛸🥾🩴👟
With our (in-progress) SDK game developers could try to add effects like that.
This looks so awesome and like a real finished andd polished product.
I hope you will make these available for PSVR2 also, then it will be a day 1 buy for me. 😻👍
We've been focusing on SteamVR, working on Quest standalone, but then we want to support other platforms as well.
Love this idea .way better then those big machines!
You should have swivel wheels under there somewhere because when people turn in vr they dont usually side step but twist one foot first then twist the next foot, it would also help slightly change direction while the shoes still are working
Looks cool! Awesome to see it working with UEVR. 🔥
These look perfect for social vr with fbt. You get natural walking without a frame holding you back from anything else! Have you tried VR chat or Resonite in them?
This seems like such a great idea!
Amazing guys your on the right track, please no cables and no attachements make it light and not bulki
Okay these look cool as heck and I could definitely see myself using them for content creation inside of VRChat. There's times where I want to record something but I could only see it working if I could use my actual legs to move. I'd love to test them but sadly I live to far from Wisconsin to make it feasible
From what I can see here....very impressive
These shoes can also serve as an under desk treadmill if you make the batteries swappable. 2 hours of constant waking isn't a lot in fact. I often walk 6-8 hours a day on a treadmill as well as many as people in that community.
Are they going to make it possible to run with shoes?
You can do a slow jog. I show 100% speed in the video at 6:18.
When I first saw this i was like "well this looks like a hazard" but now im thinking, wtf, this is actually crazy
how cool is that? I wonder what the future holds for us
My guess would be that most users won't use the standing frame / support but its smart as a company to require your customer to purchase one and then you have less liability in that you can claim any injuries were the user was not using the support are not your fault since the user was not following the safety recommendations. I would personally not use the support, but the shoes are compelling.
Yeah we've had internal discussions where we've discussed what you've pointed out, among other things. As I said in the video, our intent is the shoes to not need support equipment, and we're doing our best to achieve that. But there are a lot of factors to consider.
I would say that the support frame should come with the kit, and it's an option as to which one you choose. Phrasing it as people have to buy the shoes THEN buy a frame is going to annoy many people, as it feels like they're being forced to buy an extra part they don't want. It should be phrased as if you're buying the shoes and just happen to get a frame along with it. Plus the frame would be a good sell if it can be used as a seat or perhaps to store extra batteries. Something added to encourage people to be happy with it, make them feel as though they got a good deal.
I think there's big promise here. It has more freedom than catwalk, but the speed seems more limited at the moment. I think the ultimate product is still the Disney infinite treadmill.
Thanks but I don't think many people realise the Disney Holotile is a one off prototype that cost millions to develop and build over more than a decade. I don't believe it is a 'product' that any consumer will be able to buy, at least not for a very long time. Disney said they might use it for theme park attractions or unique stage performances for their artists. It's somewhat annoying that they didn't explain how large and complex the machine actually is, each little disc of which there are 100’s, has at least two motors and electronics meaning 1000s of motors in a small platform. If you look in the video clip you can see the whole thing is raised a few feet off the ground and there are huge boxes of electronics in the background. Now what if we told you that Freeaim's VR shoes with its unique tech built into the shoes can achieve the same (including being faster) and we're trying to make it available to anyone at a price similar to existing sliding treadmills, eventually less!
I give credit to Disney for their sly viral marketing, showing 30sec clips but not really saying anything about the device.
@@FreeaimVR Absolutely! I never meant to imply it's a feasible product. It's an absolute beast of a machine, and it achieves nigh magical levels of 360° treadmill affect, but price, size, construction, and tech place it even outside the most hardcore DIY space for the foreseeable future.
Interesting idea; just 2 problems:
1) how do you sidestep? Seems to work using friction, so forward and backwards is easy to accomplish sliding your feet on the floor; but how do you sidestep? Do you slide your feet sideways too?
2) while it is great to see alternatives to mats; this is probably one of the ways to get sued for injuries while using this device. There are so many things that can go wrong by sliding onto something while you have a headset on, and I am sure you considered the risks here. One thing is to walk while tethered onto something, another is free walk around with rollerblades under your feet, with the risk of slip and fall.
Looking forward to see how this project evolve; previous walking mats didn't make it far, mostly because there are not that many games either that are worth playing in VR and invest in more hardware, beside the headset; so that add to the complexity of the problem.
This is pretty awesome! Have you done any research with some sort of micro-muscular interface around the ankles to predict when the user may intend to start or stop walking thus improving the latency (e.g. similar to Meta's research on the wrist sensors that can detect the micro muscular movements)? Also, it might be interesting if the treadmill mode is somehow connected with the movement thumbstick input that a user can learn to synchronize the speed of thumbstick input and how fast to walk on the treadmill.
The stopping seems like it needs a lot of work. Otherwise, looks really impressive so far!
please find another solution to frames.... i think your product solves the big volumen problem usually vr treadmill takes, so i love your shoes just can be used almost in any space... frames beats that
M3D Technologies will be at AWE. We would like an opportunity to stop by and see this first hand.
We just sent you an email about setting up a demo. We hope to see you there!
Looks quite promising!
(Audio quality of video - I suggest a better mic solution)
I believe in project so much!
Awesome! Can't wait to try this out. 😻
Now if you could just make it to where the treadmill can run backwards,I would never have to walk again 😂..seriously though,this is awesome
Excellent product, consider the idea of putting the batteries hooked to the belt of your trousers and not on your shoes, I'm worried about the weight of the shoes, it could make "walking" uncomfortable/unnatural
Those who have tried the shoes haven't said the weight is a concern, even after we asked them. However we are considering a belt option, and future versions will have design updates to make the shoes lighter.
damn, i wish i could try these. seems really cool!
I have an idea for the wheels on the shoes that will allow for 2-degrees of freedom so the user will be able to go forward, backward, strafe left, and strafe right while staying in place.
Some questions about the Swivel frame, how adjustable it is? how much weight it can support if someone falls? will it be possible to crouch with it?
If we decide to move forward with it, it would have adjustable height and support at least the weight that the shoes themselves can support. We'd do our best to also have some crouching support, maybe even sitting. What is shown in the video is just a prototype.
Looks very interesting. It does not occupy space. The thing for me is always which games will support it. Have you tried out adding force feedback to the shoes? It would be interesting to feel force for .e.g a rocket is launching, earth quake, tank passes nearby.
Any SteamVR game that supports smooth locomotion should work with the VR shoes. The current version of the shoes has haptic motors.
Quick questions, since this will work with SteamVR directly, will it work on Linux? And also, do you have more info on whether I'll be able to get them if my shoe size is European size 47 / US male size 13? (I do not go over the weight limit at all, just my feet are huge)
Thanks :)
We haven't tried them on Linux. For the consumer version we'll try to support as many foot sizes as possible, large and small. They can go up to a US size 11 comfortably but we've tested them with people with larger feet and they seemed to work fine, but we'll do more testing.
@@FreeaimVR For the Linux thing: All the SteamVR add-ons that I know of (HTC trackers, SlimeVR trackers) "just work" with SteamVR, so it would be nice to have some confirmation of whether this is the case here. And for the foot size thing: I hope you can have a definitive answer by the time they're up for sale! I want them, but I wouldn't spend money if whether my foot fits or not is a "maybe" lol!
Currently the optimal foot sizes we've tested are US sizes 4-12 male and 6-12.5 female. The shoes can work for feet larger than that, but may feel small. With newer designs we're planning increasing the range and supporting as wide of a range of foot sizes as we can.
Working with non Vr games is awesome I use the praydog injector for titles and play wow with my Vr treadmill all I can say is take my money already lol
Form wasn't submitted due to a technical issue.
Try again in a moment.
:(
Have you ever considered adding other kinds of sensors to your technology? Like heart rate monitoring, or breathing, and such?
This is better than Disney's idea.
Is this PCVR only or compatible with standalone as well? It looks really good. Hopefully you guys can bring this to the market…
PCVR with SteamVR for now. We're working on Quest standalone support.
@@FreeaimVR Great news!
I don't know anything about this product, but something that immediately sticks out to me is how do these shoes handle jumping or running? Even if you don't plan on making shoes that can handle that kind of speed, durability is something I strongly recommend you maintain a health focus on. There's no way people aren't going to try to jump, or take a rapid quick step. How would these shoes handle the shock of a jump, or the traction needed if one were to jump in a direction or come to a hard stop with a foot a decent distance away from your center of gravity. People might expect this to grip like a shoe only to experience the slip of socks on tile.
I love the idea behind this product, but potential injury from losing oneself to an intense game and forgetting to be careful with how they stepped is something that worries me greatly.
Jumping is not supported at this time. People have stomped on the shoes without a problem. Nobody has jumped with them accidently.
They support up to a jog. This is the current max speed of the shoes: ruclips.net/video/JAYVDkn9W5A/видео.htmlsi=LgLs1PqoUyRk9Zvl&t=379
Our intent is for the shoes to be good enough to not need a frame, but we're working on frames too as shown in the video.
Hexframe might be good until you play a game where the player needs to crouch. Looks like a neck breaker or headset catcher. :) That said, the benefit is once you place it you can make sure you don't travel so far that you accidentally smack a wall (PCVR the guardian is really not super helpful).
The swivel caster frame looks a bit unsecure (like if someone does actually trip/slide/fall). It also doesn't look like it can handle side tipping well if it's aluminum. I'd be curious to see someone drop to one knee, misstep with the shoes to see how well this can actually catch them. Especially if it's on carpet or such.
With the support designs, side stepping is good to take into mind, but in my experience, crouching is used more and the shoes by default seem to not be friendly for that (unless you can 'lock them' by leaning forward on the toes), so any support that can help with that would be great. I'm glad to see more investment and innovation in the VR movement sphere.
Always interested to see progress on this product!
I have a hypothetical question, that I'm sure you've been asked a bunch of times already - would it be feasible for the shoes to be two-dimensional treadmills at some point in the future?
Even the full frame is an amazing step forward from Virtuality's massive frames that didn't even allow for free walking.
Can I suggest a possibility? Ok cool. Have you considered using a couple velcro elbow bands that you would strap around your arm, each w/ a fairly robust quality elastic band that could be anchored, attached, velcroed somewhere, depending on the end users area of play - the ceiling, floor, frame etc?
The idea being, one would intuitively know how far they are drifting simply by how much resistance is being felt on each side & what direction it’s from, thus being able to gauge where in space they are & how to adjust.
Thank you for your suggestion. How would the user turn without the elbow bands getting tangled? They'd need to be part of an overhead swivel.
@@FreeaimVR Yea, Sorry my comment was already getting kinda wordy so I ended up cutting some stuff out. However, I think it would be most optimal & ideal to sink an eyelet w/ a free rotating end loop into a ceiling beam or stud. It could be kept small that way & would need no bigger than 3/4”-1” I.d. loop to clip to.
Let’s pan out & really look at this from a business perspective (I majored in business) -100% of the units you sell will _likely_ have to come w/ some containment or “safety” apparatus to make the lawyers & insurance happy. But, 99% of the units you sell, no one will bother using it anyway. Face it, We’re all human & we don’t like to be bound to finite spaces.
*_What’s the point to live in a real life open world but play in a virtual “open world” only to restrict ourselves in our real world by purchasing a product meant to unchain us? After all thats exactly what your trying to accomplish here which is to liberate the player._*
With that said I would think no matter what you do, you are going to want to keep whatever apparatus you end up using to be low cost to procure/produce, be small, lightweight & easily replaceable for you & your end user because it’s going to be tossed to the wayside & not used anyway.
Thanks for your advice. Regarding units having to have some sort of support system, we've had similar thoughts. We are considering overhead an ceiling mounted options (as I explained in the video). But many people have small beams in their ceilings. I believe you need a 8in beam for one support point to be good enough, which isn't normally used for ceilings. For 6in, 2 support points are needed. Less than that obviously needs more. It can be a headache.
what about strafing/side stepping?
you dont show any steps on the left/right axis, you only show the front/back axis.
The shoes support doing a few sidesteps, then as you walk forward they can gradually bring you back to the center. You can see how this works here: ruclips.net/video/PoIr0Ba0zpQ/видео.htmlsi=blbmgzBoMl78k61C&t=172
Ceiling mounted harness could be the winning formula here. Give me a reason to replace my Kat walk C2.
I quite liked the wheeled-walker harness. Just add a seat to it so you can sit down wherever you are in some Skyrim tavern, and it's golden.
Can u make a pair with roller blades as the concept. With a small brake in tip and heal. But instead of a line of wheels do 4 in a diamond pattern. Or maybe no brakes instead internal brakes. Controlled wireless with a glove
amazing idea, i am worried about how you might not be able to move in a full degree range, like side-stepping unless you use spherical wheels with some special motors along with something to hold the person in place (camera connection to pull the person back in middle). Something to add to this could be running in conjuction with a rotating platform? Edit: forgot to say, maybe using a platform would be more appropriate if people don't want a heavy foot, something that can decrease the natural feel of walking freely
Edit: wanted to say i came up with a quick idea to use two cogs on a steel ball with a perforated design to allow full computerised motion instead of passive human-needed locomotion. Like how holo-tile in disney has right now but spheres instead of sandwiched wheels akin to an office chair. two cogs to do x and y axis of the steel spheres? large cogs and small spheres? my only issue was the ability to minimize gaps between the spheres, maybe use cogs below spheres if not decreasing torque too much?
I am most interested in reliability, battery life, and price. This seems like it would be a much better option then those large omni directional booth treadmill things if only due to space those take up, however, if they are also priced similar then I dont see much adoption of these. I would like to see a price point between $500 and $800 but would gladly accept a price lower then that if it is possible. The other big questions would be can you actually run with them or only kind of speed walk, what kind of weight limit would be looking at, and what shoe sizes could there be.
You can find answers to your questions on our FAQs page: www.freeaim.com/faqs