Google's Patented VR Sneakers Let Users Walk Freely Into a Virtual Environment
Google has patented a system comprised of motorized roller-skate-like shoes and a VR headset that could theoretically allow users move freely into a virtual environment without interruptions due to limitations of the physical world.
Normal, tracks, and even omnidirectional mecanum wheels wheels on the shoes will negate users's physical movement and keep the wearer safe from walls and other obstacles. The solution solution will track the user's feet. The tracking will know when you're too close to the virtual walls of your VR area, and the system would wheel you back into place.
"This may allow the user to walk, seemingly endlessly in the virtual environment, while remaining within a defined physical space in the physical environment," the patent application reads.
Google says that users will be immersed in the virtual environment provided by their VR headset and they will freely interact with objects and features in their virtual environment using different input methods. At the same time, physical boundaries or obstacles in the physical environment in which the system is operated will not affect users' VR experience.
Currently, there are some solutions that take aim at VR's "limited space" problem. Users may have a motion tracker on them and jog in place. Another solution is the "VR treadmill" solution, which has you strap into a big plastic platform that keeps users in place with slippery footwear and a waist harness.
If the concept ever reach an actual product, Google will have to make sure that users don't fall over while wearing the snazzy footwear.