Sony's VR patent proposes foot-operated controllers, allowing you to sit and use your feet to control the ball to move

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(XR Navigation Network December 15, 2023）社区正在积极为VRExplore a variety of mobility mechanisms including teleportation, bi-arm swing based, gimbaled running platforms, smart carpeting and more. Now.Sonyare exploring an interesting movement mechanism: sitting and maneuvering a sphere with their feet, the

索尼表示，VR和ARis becoming an increasingly popular medium for home entertainment. For the immersive technologies described, the associated controls are currently limited to room-scale mobile standing or seated sitting controls.

Room-scale movement control is limited by the size of the user's room, so users in small rooms cannot take full advantage of this feature, and the program has hard limits on the size area and must use specific tricks to allow the user to move further. Sitting controls, on the other hand, typically use handheld game controllers, and this limits the natural manipulation of the hands. Additionally, users with limited use of their arms or hands will not be able to enjoy VR and AR.

To address this issue, Sony suggests that it can be solved by using a foot-operated controller. The team says, "Foot-operated controllers can provide a valuable control option for users with limited use of their arms or hands."

So in a patent application titled "Single sphere foot operated position-based controller", Sony has proposed an interesting foot operated controller.

As shown in the image above, the user can sit in a seated position and use their feet to maneuver the rolling sphere, which is placed inside the quad and is exposed by about one-third.

Three or more bearings 103 may be arranged within the circular cavity and in close proximity to the spherical control ball 110. the spherical controller ball 110 has sufficient weight and rotational inertia to provide a natural and intuitive feel as the user rolls it through both feet.

The on-shaft rotary encoder can then use one or more magnets attached to the shaft and an induction coil to detect when one or more magnets pass through the coil. As the magnet passes through the induction coil, it generates a small voltage that can be detected. The change in voltage can be counted to determine the rotational displacement of the shaft or axes and used to determine the movement of the user's Avatar.

Alternatively, Sony states that the sphere may be a size large enough to be operated by two feet, for example a diameter between 21 and 24 centimeters, while the overall volume of the device is slightly larger. However, the actual volume of the device is similar to that of a conventional universaltreadmillThe device remains relatively small and easy to carry and set up compared to other devices. Users simply take a seat and place the device at their feet and plug into the system.

Of course, this is just a patent and it's unclear what the actual effect and experience will be. But this Sony invention gives the community an interesting idea.

The Sony patent application titled "Single sphere foot operated position-based controller" was originally filed in June 2022 and was recently published by the USPTO.