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- 1 Submitted designs include a trackball and a touch-sensitive surface.
- 2 Meta Platforms is leading the metaverse race with its head-mounted displays.
Omni-directional treadmills are a great way to move around in a virtual reality (VR) environment as showcased in Steven Speilberg’s metaverse movie Ready Player One. But tech giant Sony has submitted a patent for a concept that may prove fruitful to VR players globally. The design resembles a trackball used in early computer mouse, just it will be the size of a foot. The limited size of a room limits the movement of a VR player which may prevent a user from experiencing a virtual world freely.
More Feasible Tech
First reported by Tom’s Hardware, a tech-focused online publication, submitted designs include a trackball and a touch-sensitive surface for augmented reality (AR) and VR controllers. For the trackball design, Sony the controllers will hold three or more bearings for smoother rotation. Additionally, there will be encoders to each ball, which will calculate the rotation to be used in a game.
Sony describes these devices as more feasible than past technologies taking a lot of room. “These pedals do not work well as general purpose game controllers. In the past some older VR systems have strapped the user off center above a large turntable or an omni-directional treadmill allowing them to walk freely while remaining stationary,” they explained. “This past system was bulky and required a lot of space for the turn table or omni-directional treadmill and the straps to hold the user.”
The device was invented by the company’s senior hardware engineers Glenn Black, Celeste Bean, Sergey Bashkirov, and Michael Taylor. Tom’s Hardware writes, “From cleaning the ball of an analog mouse to potentially cleaning the ball of an AR/VR foot controller. We may have reached a full circle for ball-operated input peripherals.”
Furthermore, these designs won’t require a user to move around the room. “Use of a spherical control ball may provide a small device footprint that is controllable with the user’s foot or feet and allows the user to sit while using the controller,” Sony explains. “The spherical control ball provides numerous benefits over previous foot control devices. The spherical shape of the control ball allows the user to move the control ball in any direction without hitting an end stop.”
It is still unclear when Sony plans to bring this technology to the market. However, it should be noted that it may not gain mainstream attention upon entering the gaming industry. Similar to AR/VR headsets, these controllers might come expensive initially, which may create affordability issues.
Nonetheless, this will not be a problem for the users already using AR/VR devices as they might be able to afford it. Additionally, users may initially find it hard to adopt considering its new mechanism. As of now, Meta Platforms, a social media company, is leading the metaverse race with its head-mounted displays (HMDs) in its Quest series. Sony could pull ahead in the future with the introduction of their patented technology.
Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.
