Remember the Virtuix Omni? The omnidirecional treadmill for VR applications that was first revealed all the way back in 2013? It was one of the very few solutions that tried to extend the immersion of VR to also include movement of the player, rather than just their head and hands. After over a decade, we’re finally seeing another possible solution to the problem, and it’s coming from the House of Mouse, of all places. And it’s called the Disney HoloTile.
The item made an appearance in a YouTube video honouring Lanny Smoot, with the Disney HoloTile being demoed in the last third of the video. Said video only shows a cursory look at what the setup looks like and the way it works, so there’s no detailed breakdown for anyone interested, unfortunately.
But from what can be seen the whole setup consists of a bunch of tiles that look like Chinese chess pieces. When the Disney HoloTile is turned on, these tiles work together to keep the person on the setup from leaving. The method for achieving this is unclear, but the tiles to seem to tilt and rotate quite a bit as part of the process.
It’s also not limited to keeping someone – or something – in the middle, as the video also shows operators off-screen being able to control the position of whatever is on the tiles. Making it even more impressive is that the setup can work with multiple people on it.
Understandably, in a segment as short as it is, the video doesn’t describe any limitations of the Disney HoloTile either. The most important one would likely be speed, as Smoot was walking at a very slow pace as part of the demo. For what it’s worth, Smoot also mentions whole theatrical stages with these built into them, allowing dancers to “do amazing moves”.
Which probably brings us to the biggest problem with the Disney HoloTile setup. It’s clear from the setup that there’s a lot of mechanical wizardry going on underneath the whole setup, which would also be an indication of its cost. Considering that the video is posted on the Disney Parks YouTube channel, it may be the first, if not only, places to experience it as well. Not to mention that the video ends with Smoot saying “we don’t know yet where it will be used”.
(Source: Disney Parks / YouTube)
