Edit>> link to original thread http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1fxpqb/xpost_from_rc...
Say for example, two people facing each other with a virtual wall between them. If both accidentally try to walk "though" the wall they would simply collide with each other, potentially causing injury or damage to equipment.
Not to be a buzzkill, I'd love a system that actually could support this, in theory a large room with many freedom of movement devices (like what Virtuix Omni is working on) would allow this idea in a much smaller space and no risk of players colliding.
1) Strafing is extremely unnatural. It involves standing still in the center, lifting one leg to the edge, and "swiping" it down towards the center. It's a very impractical move for any type of game where strafing is strategic.
2) Backwards motion is extremely difficult. Try to find a video of someone doing it effectively. It's rarely shown because it's not easy to do. This removes this movement as well from any game where backwards movement is strategic.
3) http://i.imgur.com/tsccO4H.jpg Not trying to be mean, but the visual of an adult using the Omni looks very much like a baby using a walker. I believe this limits the Omni to a product you'll only want to use by yourself, when nobody is around, because it looks silly.
4) The current version looks flimsy. Maybe they've beefed up the structure of the thing, but any video that I've watched has shown serious strain on the upright portions of the Omni itself.
5) The fact that you have to wear special shoes, and perform a procedure to get the Omni within reaching distance of a keyboard/mouse, and lock yourself in to the mechanism... seems like quite a bit of overhead to play a game essentially handicapped in terms of movement.
My prediction is that some people are going to be excited about Omni, buy it, try it a few times, and realize how limiting it is in actual gameplay, how limited they are in using their computer, the fact that they look silly to others, and the overhead involved in getting dressed and locked, and realize it isn't worth it. They'll push it to the side to collect dust, or try to sell it on craigslist.
(2) I don't disagree, but it's basically going to be awkward to handle any in-game motion that isn't realistic, whether it's backwards motion or unlimited running and six-foot jumps. I suspect that you'll need to specifically design your game for the Omni in order for it to work well.
I answer that I'm terrified of running into something in the real world while my
vision is obscured, but they insist I'll be fine. It turns out the game space's
virtual walls correspond to the real ones in the admittedly small office I occupy
in meatspace.
That being said, sign me up. I have a friend with an oculus dev kit and it has blown me away time and time again. I can see this kind of thing becoming reality. Just stick foam padding all over the place and you're golden.
I spoke with someone who used VR goggles many years ago. The tech demo he was show was simply being in a room with a bottomless pit in the middle. He said even though you knew that in reality there was a carpeted floor, it was impossible virtually impossible to make yourself walk over the pit. You just had way too many mental blocks that stopped you from doing it.
I imagine something similar would happen with a wall. It would feel very eery and uncomfortable to walk through the wall.
This guy managed to get one of these systems working, and when last heard from was preparing for a Kickstarter: http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=138&t=15623
And XSens have a fully-working system, but it's Not Cheap.
I think omnidirectional treadmills and more immersive audio will be good enough. I imagine eventually the floor of the treadmill will even be able to tilt when you're walking uphill.
I don't really understand sending rendered images over wifi but perhaps you could just build small computers or laptops to go in the backpacks?
You could also put an ultrasonic transducer on each player and do triangulation on that?