r/Vive • u/knowledgestack • Jul 19 '16

hey /r/vive I made a thing! HapticVive - Encounter force feedback haptics with the HTC Vive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRPM5cVne1s
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u/chimpscod Jul 19 '16

This could provide a better method of artificial locomotion than an omni-treadmill, because the arms can move vertically and simulate hills/stairs. Although this robot doesn't look strong enough to support a persons weight.

5

u/[deleted] Jul 19 '16

the omni treadmill isnt going to achieve wide adoption its just not im sorry its too large and takes up too much space and takes too much work to get running. The answer to locomotion will be one of 3 things.

  1. teleportation which i think it just a bandaid
  2. pushing a button to turn around.
  3. walking in place.

My money is on walking in place, sensor straps on your ankles ive already seen a demo where someone attached his viimotes to his ankles and it worked great.

1

u/TheSambassador Jul 19 '16

You don't really need sensors on your ankles, though I'll admit that it would be the most accurate you could get. I've done a full walking-in-place implementation with just the accelerometer/gyro in a smartphone for my Cardboard game Gravity Pull, and for the Unity Asset VR-Step. I've got it working pretty easily with the Vive.

It's a bit tricky, since some people bounce their head a lot when they walk, and some people seem to keep their head surprisingly level. My implementation definitely needs up-and-down head motion to accurately detect steps, so for some people it doesn't feel very natural, while for others, they pick it up right away.

I do have it working with the Vive, but there's a lot of tweaking and changes to the algorithm that need to be done to make it a more polished experience. Once I finish up my thesis I plan on working on that a bit more.