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creation to come out of Russia since Tetris?" Find out here.
thing to the Holodeck from Star Trek"
couple of inches around the waste...but the next step in gaming could take that right off." Listen here.
wheel. Wearing a head-mounted display, a user can step inside the 8.5-foot-tall sphere and
experience physical movements while the mind is in cyberspace. "The purpose is to enable natural
motion," said Palladin. "You can walk and there is no limit." Read the full article
the user to move about in virtual space by simply walking." Read the full article.
“The Virtusphere is like a personal amusement park. Put on the headset and step inside the
sphere, and you are projected right into your favorite computer game. All of your motions, including
walking and running, are simulated in virtual reality. And if you look over your shoulder, you can
"see" what is going on behind you in the game. In addition to game arcades, the virtual sphere can
be used to train police and military personnel or to simulate situations for job training. ... The
Latypovs have U.S. Patents for their virtual sphere and the motion capture system at its heart. The
virtual studio is awaiting a patent. Their technology is "awesome," says Internet doyenne Esther
Dyson.”
“If Alexey Palladin wants to see into the future, all he has to do is go to his garage. He doesn't have
a crystal ball, but rather a giant, plastic one. "This is the virtusphere – a device that will allow
people to walk effortlessly in virtual reality," he said. It may look like a human hamster wheel, but
Alexey and his company, VirtuSphere Inc., believe this device will add a whole new spin on virtual
reality. "You can walk, you can run, you can crawl, you can jump, you can roll, you can do all kinds
of things," said Alexey. How it works is relatively simple. "The virtusphere acts like a giant track ball.
As it rolls, the coordinates are sent to the PC and as you walk the PC knows that and relays the
information back to you showing you a different position," he explained.”
“The invention already has drawn interest in Russia. The sphere helped Moscow’s 2012 Olympic
bid committee offer the International Olympic Committee a virtual tour of possible Olympic venues
and assess security issues. And Palladin sees a market in video games and even health clubs,
where a run through New York’s Central Park could liven up a treadmill workout. VirtuSphere is
jointly applying with the University of Washington’s Human Interface Technology lab for a grant from
the Washington Technology Center to test the sphere’s potential as a tool for education,
rehabilitative medicine, exercise and interactive gaming. But the biggest market could be the U.S.
military, which is working on its own virtual reality projects for training and recruiting. Palladin said
VirtuSphere is delivering a prototype globe to the Office of Naval Research’s U.S. Marines VIRTE
program.”
development grant from the Washington Technology Center at the University of Washington. ...
The funds will be used to explore potential commercial applications for the company's proprietary
virtual reality simulation technology. VirtuSphere will conduct its research by teaming with UW's
Human Interface Technology Laboratory and virtual reality research scientist Suzanne Weghorst.
VirtuSphere and HIT Lab proposal was evaluated by the WTC's Advisory Committee - a group
comprised of academic and business leaders from technology companies including Battelle,
Boeing, Microvision, and Paccar - who forwarded their recommendations to the WTC's board of
directors." Read the full story here.
Virtual Technologies and Environments (VIRTE) program. The 8.5-foot sphere, produced by
Redmond, Wash.-based VirtuSphere Inc., enables immersive, physical training in virtual settings
“Unlike desktop simulations, the VirtuSphere allows the trainee to be physically challenged while
gaining important skills. The design allows for easy transportation and set-up, enabling training
simulation capabilities from the barracks to the battlefield,” said Alexey Palladin, chief executive
officer of VirtuSphere. Trainees can walk, run, jump or roll inside the simulator." Read the article.
us with an innovative locomotion input device for virtual environment research," said Commander
Dylan Schmorrow, program manager at the Office of Naval Research."
sort of cool being able to look around a virtual environment (yes, despite the subsequent neck ache
you get from wearing a three ton helmet), it wasn’t as immersive as you’d like since you couldn’t
actually “walk around”. All movement was done through the push of a button on your handheld
control, which, obviously, isn’t quite as nice as being able to use your feet. That might change with
the VirtuSphere." Read the full article.
The ability to actually interact physically with your environment is what keeps games from truly
lending a sense of reality, but this will change that!" Read the full article.
movement in enclosed spaces. The VirtuSphere looks a lot like a giant
mouse ball, or hamster wheel. However, it is perfect for the task at hand -
complete freedom in all six degrees." Read the full review.
explained... "The VirtuSphere combines the locomotion of a sphere with 3D sensors that monitor
the body's movements," translating the two into a virtual world on the computer".
