Despite it becoming a more common thing, virtual reality still sometimes feels like something out of the distant future. But with rumors about the upcoming PSVR2 being leaked recently, it's a gaming feature which is arguably going to be on the rise for some time. One of the main drawbacks, however, is the fact that VR only seems to incorporate the head movements through the use of the helmet device. When it comes to actually walking around in the game, gamers are still stuck having to use controllers. Until now.
A user on Reddit by the name of u/delpratvh recently posted a short clip which shows the potential for a step forward in virtual reality engineering. The looped video uploaded to the r/gaming subreddit shows the user wearing a standard VR headset but with some large shoes attached to their feet. The shoes appear to be on wheels and show that the gamer can actually walk forward in-game without moving forward in the real world. While it isn't mentioned which system the shoes work with, the user looks to be wearing the Oculus Quest in the video.
Splint into two halves, the inventor stays in the same spot as they move while gameplay footage from No Man's Sky is shown on the right in which the character is indeed seen walking forward. While only a short clip, the post has amassed thousands of comments and feedback with many praising the ingenuity of u/delpratch's creation. Though they haven't spoken about what they intend to do with the VR shoes, either market it or sell it to an investor, it could be the next big step, as it were, in moving virtual reality into the next era.
Many who have played or tried out virtual reality gaming can probably speak of the future potentials for it. Virtual reality in horror games, for example, is already something of a winning combination given the sheer amount of immersion that comes from using a headset in a game like Alien Isolation. To be able to add VR shoes into the mix in order to run away in-game is bound to pump up the scares and this Reddit user's invention could be what the market, and indeed VR enthusiasts, is screaming out for.
There's no telling what will come of these virtual reality shoes, but with even children being encouraged to adopt VR technology, the idea of being able to be immersed not only visually in a game world, but kinaesthetically as well shows just how far gaming has come. Imagine the likes of FIFA using VR shoes.
Source: Reddit