The VirtuSphere: full body immersion Virtual reality at last

The VirtuSphere is a new platform that is a breakthrough in the science of Virtual Reality and one we are convinced will take VR into the broader community. It is that significant and more because it is the solution for a million problems offering more compelling, convincing and relevant VR experiences than any device yet conceived, and with VR advancing rapidly in its other constituent areas (graphics, sound, touch, and to a lesser extent, smell and taste), we believe the VirtuSphere will be the device to make VR relevant to the world – this is a killer app. Inside the VirtuSphere, the virtual explorer can physically navigate the virtual world with genuine human movement, - the headset is wireless, and senses 360 degree movement, but unlike any existing virtual reality or gaming peripheral, the floor moves and each virtual step is accompanied by a real one of the same dimensions. It promises to be the ultimate computer games peripheral, the ultimate treadmill at the gymnasium, the ultimate educational resource with remarkable flexibility and offer the most realistic virtual experience of almost any kind - enabling you to walk through the house you’re hiring across the world for your holidays or explore the Daintree Rainforest. It also has major occupational training implications as it offers experiential learning for everyone from athletes to fire fighters and is already being developed by the military for training crack troops and saving lives on the battlefield. Like we said, this is significant!

November 12, 2005 The VirtuSphere is a breakthrough in Virtual Reality and one we are convinced will take VR into the broader community. It offers a more compelling, convincing and relevant set of virtual reality experiences than any device yet conceived, and with VR advancing rapidly in its other constituent areas (graphics, sound, touch, and to a lesser extent, smell and taste), we believe it will be the device to make VR relevant to the world. Inside the VirtuSphere, the virtual explorer can physically navigate the virtual world with genuine human movement, - the headset is wireless, and senses 360 degree movement, but unlike any existing virtual reality peripheral, the floor moves and each virtual step is accompanied by a real one of the same dimensions.

A decade ago VR inputs were limited to the eyes and ears being fed enough computer-generated information to offer rudimentary sort-of-believable virtual worlds. The human brain seems happy to suspend disbelief and accept many crude kludges in order to roleplay along with a VR event, but the missing factor has been the ability to give the body the same sort of corresponding feedback as the brain. You can’t simulate true human movement with any authenticity without the exertion normally accompanying it – until the invention of the VirtuSphere.

The VirtuSphere is a large hollow sphere that sits atop of a base of rollers enabling the sphere to rotate 360 degrees. Wearing a wireless, head-mounted display, users can walk, jump, roll, crawl and run in any direction over unlimited distances without encountering real-world physical obstacles. The Virtisphere is a fundamental step forward for the entire science as it offers six degrees of freedom.

With computers and graphics engines growing exponentially in processing power, the ability to generate life-like 360 degree audio and visuals at the speeds necessary for realism is fast approaching, and thanks to Moore’s Law, inevitable.

So the major barrier left to creating convincing virtual reality, is the realistic immersion of the whole body – to enable the human body to move through a virtual world as vast and exhausting as the real one.

The VirtuSphere is both an input device and an enabling technological platform, opening up new possibilities for fully experiencing VR and to commercially exploit it.

The VirtuSphere could also be the ultimate 360 degree treadmill because it adapts to millions of applications and can significantly enhance a range of VR experiences ranging from walking through a building before it is built or after it has perished, taking a stroll through 16th century Amsterdam or exploring a virtual coliseum in incredible authenticity.

...continued