Floor system providing omnidirectional movement of a person walking in a virtual reality environment

Number: 10416754
Published: 2019-09-17
Filed: 2017-10-23
Assignee: DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.
Inventors: Smoot; Lanny S., Niemeyer; Günter D., Christensen; David Loyal, Bristow; Robert
CPC: A43B3/34; G06F3/011; A61B5/112; A63F13/24; G06F3/0334; A63B22/02; A63B24/0021
Verdict: High Hardware
Source: Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline

The keeper's note

Omnidirectional VR walking floor (Smoot watchlist).

Abstract

A modular floor with active tiles that utilize numerous friction or contact disks each with a raised segment or portion on their edges that together provide a planar contact surface for the active tile. Each disk is oriented at a fixed tilt angle to define which part of the disk's outer surfaces act as the raised portion, and each disk is oriented to position where the raised surface is located so as to define the direction that a supported object is moved over the modular floor. The drive system typically includes, for each disk assembly, a disk orienting mechanism along with a disk rotation mechanism to rotate the disk at a rotation rate about its central axis. The controller of the motion system operates the disk orienting mechanism to orient the disk so that a particular location on the disk behaves as the raised portion where an object is contacted.

Background

BACKGROUND1. Field of the Description(1) The present description relates, in general, to providing mobility to people in a virtual reality (VR) environment, and, more particularly, to a system (and corresponding control method) configured to allow multiple participants in a VR environment to have the sensation of moving (e.g., walking) about the space in any direction and for unlimited distances without collisions with the other moving participants, with objects in the space, and/or with physical borders of the space.2. Relevant Background(2) Virtual reality (VR), which is also known as augmented reality, immersive multimedia, and computer-simulated reality, is a computer technology that replicates a real or imagined environment and simulates a user's presence in the environment in a way that allows the user to interact with the environment. VR systems can create environments that artificially create a variety of sensory experiences such as sight, sound, and even touch (e.g., through haptic feedback devices) and smell in some cases. Most VR systems include a special VR headset with additional simulations to provide sensory information in addition to visual input such as sound and air movement.(3) VR environments can be quite detailed and immersive with present technologies and control techniques, but there remain a number of challenges for the designers of new VR systems. For example, designers of VR systems often aspire to provide a VR environment like science fiction models

Claims

1. A floor system providing omnidirectional movement of a supported object, comprising: a plurality of disk assemblies, wherein each of the disk assemblies includes a contact disk with an upper contact surface supported at a tilt angle relative to horizontal whereby the contact disk has a raised portion for supporting an object placed on the floor system; a drive system comprising a disk orienting mechanism and a disk rotation mechanism for each of the disk assemblies; and during each operating period, a controller first operating the disk orienting mechanism for each of the disk assemblies to orient the contact disk to set a location of the raised portion and second operating the disk rotation mechanism for each of the disk assemblies to rotate the contact disk about a rotation axis at a rotation rate. 10. A floor system providing selective movement of a supported object, comprising: a plurality of active tiles each comprising a plurality of disk assemblies, wherein each of the disk assemblies includes a contact disk supported at a tilt angle whereby the contact disk has a raised portion for contacting an object; and a drive system for each of the active tiles, wherein the drive system of at least one of the active tiles first operates to orient the contact disks of the plurality of disk assemblies in the at least one of the active tiles to set a location of the raised portion and second operates to rotate each of the contact disks of the plurality of disk assemblies at a rotation rate about a rotation axis, wherein the rotation axes of the disk assemblies in the at least one of the active tiles are parallel. 16. A floor system providing selective movement of a supported object, comprising: a plurality of active tiles each comprising a plurality of disk assemblies, wherein each of the disk assemblies includes a contact disk supported at a tilt angle whereby the contact disk has a raised portion for contacting an object; and a drive system for each of the active tiles, wherein the drive system of at least one of the active tiles operates to rotate each of the contact disks of the plurality of disk assemblies at a rotation rate about a rotation axis, wherein the rotation axes of the disk assemblies in the at least one of the active tiles are parallel, and wherein the tilt angle is fixed during rotation of the contact disk and is within the range of 5 to 60 degrees.