Virtual Reality has always been a grounded experience, where your feet are firmly rooted. You have limited movement when it comes to being involved in a VR game with your only movement being rotating your body and moving your hands.
An indie developer, Ivan Mathy, wanted to experiment with the potential which the HTC Vive Tracker had to offer, an independent device that offers real time tracking on anything you wish to attach it to, in this instance, he chose to make use of the Oculus Rift.
Ivan has successfully replicated his foot movements to show his feet while in the HMD (head-mounted display)
We all knew this was coming. Lighthouse tracking on the @Oculus Rift using a @HTCVive tracker. Works great, better video & details soon! pic.twitter.com/iclwTK0BoI
— Ivan Mathy (@OKatBest) April 2, 2017
Here are early mount tests. IR lights would interfere with the tracking and I had to block them out, so it doesn't look as good anymore… pic.twitter.com/lZ4B1rMN0h
— Ivan Mathy (@OKatBest) April 2, 2017
As you can see, this was only the beginning of his journey.
His excitement was further heightened upon discovering the ability of attaching the HTC Vive Tracker to his foot, and you can see from his tweet, he has been able to make the Vive Tracker work with the Oculus Rift Touch AND the Vive Controllers! This is quite the feat.
I just realized I can add Touch AND Vive controllers to the mix. That means… Foot tracking on the Rift!! Had to put them in my socks. pic.twitter.com/RX62IdfMr6
— Ivan Mathy (@OKatBest) April 3, 2017
With this development, it might be bold enough to hope that this can allow us to have greater experiences in the world of Virtual Reality with the help of foot tracking being a part of the experience.
All videos presented by Ivan Mathy demonstrate movement in the Oculus SDK without the controller. This crown was previously held by the Virtuix Omni, a VR treadmill that kept you tied to one spot.
The applications of further support could mean experiences similar to that of the Omni, but we have to wait and see whether any developer would actually take advantage of this.
So far, the HTC Vive Tracker has proven to be quite the investment if you are a VR aficionado, what are your thoughts on this?