The Virtualizer (or Cyberith Virtualizer) is a series of omnidirectional treadmills for

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...

applications. The treadmills have integrated sensors for motion detection of the user. The products are being developed, manufactured and sold by the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n company Cyberith GmbH.

History

The idea was born in 2012 by Tuncay Cakmak. During his studies at the

Technical University of Vienna TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...

he started testing and developing the first prototypes. In 2013 he founded Cyberith and formed a team for further development of the device. He demonstrated the device at different exhibitions in Europe and shared the progress with the community through the Cyberith YouTube channel. A

kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign started on 23. of July 2014 and in the first 24 hours they made more than 50% of their pledged goal of 250 000 $. The campaign was successfully funded, ending at 361 452 $ from 577 backers, however the delivery of the Kickstarter rewards has been delayed beyond the initial estimate without the company providing an updated estimated delivery date. After the initial crowdfunding on Kickstarter, the company started focusing on commercial use of the Virtualizer products and launched the first generation Virtualizer VR Treadmill in 2016 exclusively to commercial customers. According to unconfirmed rumors, the company has been sued by one of its Kickstarter backers. These rumors suggest that the claim of the backer has been rejected by the court. The second generation Virtualizer was launched for business customers in March 2019 with an implemented motion platform.

Functional principle

The Virtualizer enables motion by the principle of low friction. The body is fixed in a rotatable ring that can be moved vertically. In combination with a head-mounted display it allows to move, run, jump or crouch in virtual worlds. The products don't require to wear any special kind of shoes. Instead, textile overshoes are used, that are worn above regular shoes. The second generation Virtualizer uses a 2 DOF (Degrees of Freedom)

motion platform A motion simulator or motion platform is a mechanism that creates the feelings of being in a real motion environment. In a simulator, the movement is synchronised with a visual display of the outside world (OTW) scene. Motion platforms can provi ...

to actively support the walking movement of a user. For walking forwards, the platform inclines in front of the user, so that the feet glide back more easily due to the support of gravity. When a user rotates or starts to walk backwards, the inclination of the platform follows these movements to continuously support gliding of the feet through gravity. The company claims this motorized system would improve the gait and make walking easier.

External links

References

Kickstarter-funded products Multimodal interaction Game controllers Virtual reality accessories {{Comp-sci-stub

History

Functional principle

See also

External links

References