Shoes with motorized wheels could revolutionize the way gamers walk in VR worlds. British and American startup Freeaim is developing the smart shoe, which is essentially a small, wearable treadmill.
It's easy to replicate a user's real-world head and arm movements in a VR environment, but walking is trickier. After all, if a gamer can walk the length of a virtual city block in the game, there's no way they can walk the same distance in real life...at least, not without bumping into things.
One solution to this problem is to use a so-called omnidirectional treadmill. This type of treadmill typically features a slippery, round platform that slopes toward the middle like a bowl. As users walk on the platform—facing in any direction—their feet continually slide toward the center, staying in place.
However, according to Friam, some people describe walking on the platform feeling more like skating, or like awkwardly pushing a plate around the inside of it. In addition, omnidirectional treadmills are relatively large, expensive, and require a harness or wraparound railing to support the user.
In comparison, FreeaimVR shoes are more like electric roller skates.
The wearer only needs to stand on a square of hard floor that is at least 2x2 meters (6.6 feet). When a user steps forward with one leg, an omnidirectional wheel module on the other leg's shoe moves that leg backward, preventing the user from stepping forward on the floor. However, if the user starts to move too far toward the edge of the actual walking area, the shoe gradually brings them back to the center.
In the current version of the system, it's also possible to turn while walking (or jogging), turn while standing in one place, and take one or two steps to the left or right. Next, it can also walk backwards and infinitely sideways - the latter will be achieved by having the wheel modules pivot perpendicular to the rest of each shoe.
Each shoe's replaceable battery lasts 1.5 to 2 hours on a charge, depending on factors such as the user's weight.
FreeaimVR shoes are currently compatible with any VR headset supported by SteamVR and work with most PC-based VR games with walkable environments.
A developer version of the shoe is now available to enterprise customers for $4,999 per pair. Freeaim co-founder Alex Evans told us that a consumer version will be launched next year and will cost about $1,000. CEO Ashley Foxcroft is another co-founder who launched the company in 2021.
The video below shows off the shoe.