This Bizarre VR Treadmill Folds Up Like A Taco - VRScout

The delicious-looking instrumentality folds up similar an oversized taco for casual proscription and storage.

After becoming frustrated by the deficiency of effectual walking solutions for VR, Mark Dufour came up with his ain bizarre contraption helium calls the Taco VR platform. First reported by Hackaday, Dufour’s food-inspired instrumentality combines a unique-looking omnidirectional treadmill with an precocious robotic platform. When not successful use, the instrumentality tin acceptable into a tiny country of your location oregon office.

To recreate the sensation of walking, the Taco VR level features a bid of motors, a gaffe ringing for continuous rotation, an Arduino Mega 2560 Rev3 microcontroller board, and 2 pixy2 cameras that way each measurement you instrumentality successful VR and determination the level nether your feet.

But wherefore telephone it Taco VR? When you’re not utilizing the device, you tin fold it up similar an oversized taco for casual proscription and storage. Dufour developed the treadmill arsenic portion of a hackathon, documenting his efforts successful a four-part video bid connected YouTube.

The Taco VR level uses gears to link the stationary basal sheet to the platform. This ensures that the level volition ever look the aforesaid absorption arsenic the tiles connected the floor. To marque definite your feet ever person a spot to step, Dufour uses 2 disc platforms that usage sensors to determination the treadmill arsenic you instrumentality each step.

At the moment, the level doesn’t enactment up/down movement, but according to a blog post, Dufour says it whitethorn beryllium imaginable to present said capabilities implicit time.

To physique his Taco VR platform, Dufour utilized Infento to find sturdy prototyping components. He besides utilized 3D printing to marque immoderate gears Infento doesn’t carry.

Currently, determination are nary information features built into the Taco VR platform. According to Dufour, if this were to go an existent user product, helium could adhd a ample circular encasing oregon thing that you could usage to drawback yourself if you suffer your balance. 

The VR treadmill manufacture has made important advancement implicit the past respective years. That said, the champion solution volition ever beryllium to present experiences wherever users tin physically locomotion around, specified arsenic location-based VR games similar Uncontained. There are besides location solutions similar Cybershoes oregon Virtuix, but Dufour wants thing wherever he’s capable to “feel” the crushed with his ain shoes oregon adjacent his ain bare feet.

For now, the Taco VR level is simply a prototype that we each privation we could try. You tin larn much astir the Taco VR level connected Dufour’s blog page, Blogfarts. He’s besides listed everything you’ll request to physique our ain Taco VR setup connected Github.

Image Credit: Mark Dufour