The virtual reality (VR) it is a technology that offers immersive and engaging experiences, but which also presents challenges. One of these is the movement: How can you feel the sensation of walking in a virtual world while standing still in a living room? But above all, how can you move safely with a visor on your head? The answer is apparently trivial: with a carpet that makes movements in VR safe.
There are several solutions to this problem, although none are perfect. Some are expensive, some bulky, some noisy. One of the best known is the Virtuix Omni, a sort of concave treadmill that allows you to move in all directions while wearing slippery shoes. This system, which inspired the film Ready Player One, was launched on the market this year after a long wait. But it has a limit: the user, for security reasons, he is literally harnessed to the system.
Today, however, another innovative solution arrives that could also remove this obstacle. It’s about HoloTilesolution developed by Disney Researchthe research and innovation laboratory of the famous production company.
HoloTile: a tech carpet for safe and immersive VR experiences
At first glance HoloTile looks like a normal living room carpet. Its great innovative feature, however, lies precisely in its structure. The carpet is in fact composed of hundreds of small round tiles which They work like mini omnidirectional treadmills. Their purpose is to always keep the user in the center of the mat, preventing him from leaving the edges.
Disney officially presented the project in a video on YouTube. In the clip – which you can find below – we get to know Lanny Smoot, Disney researcher, who explains how the system works. Furthermore, Smoot is a name that is not new to professionals: he is the one who created the special effects for Madame Leota in House of Ghosts as well as some innovative lightsabers in the Star Wars franchise. All aspects that should not be underestimated, and we will soon understand why.
“I can walk on this omnidirectional carpet in any direction I want,” Smoot says in the video. “The system will automatically do whatever it takes to keep me in the center of it. And the amazing thing is that it can be used by multiple people and they can all walk independently. They can walk in virtual reality and do many other things.”
How will the new technology be used?
The solution proposed by Disney Research is decidedly innovative and, thinking back to the aforementioned Virtuix Omni, much more advanced. The VR HoloTile carpet is elegant in appearance, not bulky, silent and does not require complex electronics. Furthermore, it can support multiple people at the same time, creating a shared and social VR experience.
A technology so advanced that it was probably not designed for the consumer sector. Even the cost, which however has not been announced, seems to position the product well outside the commercial range of VR-related tech products. In fact Disney, at least at the moment, does not have products designed for Virtual Reality on the market (unlike the tech big names who are jostling to position themselves better in the metaverse).
Barring any shocking announcements in the future, we can assume that HoloTile will be used by Disney for internal use. The VR carpet could revolutionize the numerous Disney theme parks around the world, guaranteeing Virtual Reality experiences for their visitors. Not only that: the technology could also be used in future cinematographic and serial productions, given that it allows actors to move in a virtually limited but physically pre-established space.
But these are just hypotheses, only time will tell how Disney will decide to use this revolutionary technology.
