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VIDEO: Video showing the VR walking simulator from the participant s perspective and what they see in VR. view more
Credit: Toyohashi University of Technology/University of Tokyo
Despite virtual reality (VR) technology being more affordable than ever, developers have yet to achieve a sense of full immersion in a digital world. Among the greatest challenges is making the user feel as if they are walking.
Now, researchers from the Toyohashi University of Technology and The University of Tokyo in Japan have published a paper to the journal
Frontiers in Virtual Reality describing a custom-built platform that aims to replicate the sensation of walking in VR, all while sitting motionlessly in a chair.
(CN) The sensation of walking may just be the brain’s understanding of vibrations and visual cues. Research published Wednesday in the journal Frontiers in Virtual Reality describes how to make a person who is sitting perfectly still feel like they are walking.
“Most of the previously proposed walking experience devices require users to ‘move their own feet’ and the walking sensation was easily evoked,” said Yusuke Matsuda, one of the paper’s authors. “We predicted that it would be difficult to induce a walking sensation because the user did not move at all. We solved this problem by combining three types of stimuli: optic flow, foot vibration and avatar.
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VIDEO: While the full-body avatar or the hands-and-feet-only avatar was walking, foot vibrations (represented as sounds in the movie) were applied to the heels and forefeet of users.. view more
Credit: COPYRIGHT (C) TOYOHASHI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Details:
Walking is a fundamental physical activity in humans. A research team at Toyohashi University of Technology, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Tokyo, has developed a virtual walking system for seated observers which allows them to experience walking without moving their limbs. A walking-avatar, in first-person and mirrored perspectives, enhanced illusory walking sensations by combining rhythmic foot vibrations to simulate footsteps. The invisible avatar, made of only hands and feet, also improved the illusion of walking. This system may provide virtual walking experience for people with walking disabilities. This study will be published in
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New Bluetooth-Low-Energy-Based Wireless Neuronal Recording System
Scientists have now created a compact, lightweight, Bluetooth-low-energy-based wireless neuronal recording system.
The wireless system was developed by researchers from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Information Engineering, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Department of Applied Chemistry and Life Science, and the Electronics-Inspired Interdisciplinary Research Institute (EIIRIS) at the Toyohashi University of Technology.
The weight of the system is less than 3.9 g and it measures 15 × 15 × 12 mm
3 together with the battery. The system offers the benefits of ideal versatility, high signal quality, and low cost than wired recording using a commercial neurophysiology system. The study was published online on January 8