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Scientists develop 'CyberWalk' watch!

news.bbc.co.uk — German researchers have developed a treadmill which allows people to have the sensation of walking while staying in the same place. There is no audio on this clip.

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  • biggiantmat, on 04/15/2008, -4/+31cool :) - this would be awesome as part of a virtual reality game
    • FrankTheTank17, on 04/15/2008, -7/+3Imagine playing FPS games, could do whatever you want, lean against a wall, barrel roll, peak your head around a corner. This would make video game strategies a whole different story.
      • skatastrophy, on 04/15/2008, -1/+6I'd have to start working out though... I think I'll stick to the keyboard and mouse for the time being :)
        • theaceoffire, on 04/15/2008, -3/+2God players of UT5 are going to be freaking buff...
    • kreneskyp, on 04/15/2008, -2/+5it would be way too expensive to be practical. You might see it in a big arcade but it would cost like $20 a game
      • Cerebral, on 04/15/2008, -1/+2I would pay. Could you imagine a fighting game with this where each person had their own platform... amazing.
    • Stupidumb, on 04/15/2008, -0/+15That demonstration would have been a lot more impressive if they didn't always walk in one ***** direction.
      • Katana314, on 04/15/2008, -1/+1Erm. They also walked diagonally; an engineering feat I've been thinking about for a long time.
        • bitcloud, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1I've been thinking about walking diagonally too some day...
          • FarvaRadio, on 04/15/2008, -1/+0Quick someone mod and analog stick for walking! We will no longer be restricted to the the 4 base movements of the d-pad!
      • Cerebral, on 04/15/2008, -2/+1Can you explain to me how it is possible to walk in more than one direction?
        • mahuebel, on 04/15/2008, -0/+2i think he means walking one way then turning around and walking the opposite direction
          • Cerebral, on 04/15/2008, -3/+1I know he does but it just "technically" can't be done because even if you turn around and walk in the opposite direction you are still walking in "one" direction. You can't walk in more than one direction or you'd do a split and fall over. It was a failed attempt at a joke apparently.
          • Stupidumb, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2"technically", communism works.
        • glinsvad, on 04/15/2008, -1/+1Look closer. It's actually a large treadmill in one direction with a lot of smaller treadmills moving in the transverse direction... pretty clever!
        • Cerebral, on 04/15/2008, -1/+2You guy's missed my point/joke... I failed :(
          • Stupidumb, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2I get it, but you just made your comment look too "real". Good job, though.
          • Cerebral, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1Thanks man :)
            ...of course I read your comment which comes from "stupidumb" so... it doesn't make me feel much better :)
          • Stupidumb, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1If the "stupidumb" guys are the only ones who get things, then sign me up for stupidity!
      • bitcloud, on 04/15/2008, -0/+3yah... also would have been impressive if say for example noone had ever invented the GIANT SPHERE before...

        http://youtube.com/watch?v=C19jmWePpHw

        also might have been impressive if when the guy stops walking he didn't continue to feel momentum (the thing keeps moving when he stops)

        this to me screams of trying to secure more VC funding for an overengineered product by getting media coverage...
    • voomfoo, on 04/15/2008, -1/+1i personally think the coolest part of this video is the fact that the sound control goes to eleven.... i found that a thousand times more entertaining than their giant treadmill
      • tippmann1, on 04/15/2008, -1/+1Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
        I don't know.
        Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
        Put it up to eleven.
        Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
        Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
        These go to eleven.
  • newmanator77, on 04/15/2008, -28/+57useless much?
    • epohs, on 04/15/2008, -9/+4Yes your post was very useless. Good job.
    • rkef, on 04/15/2008, -0/+3Your brain would appreciate the sensory feedback, in a true VR environment. It could prevent dizziness, vomiting, and diarrhea (not sure about that last one). Plus, it's a lot more realistic than pressing the forward key. AFAIK the US military has been researching stuff like this for a long time.

      You need something that lets you move in any direction, for this to work. Another approach is the gopher ball.

      So, no, not useless much.
      • rkef, on 04/15/2008, -1/+1and, yes, by "any direction", I mean any direction on a single plane... :S
    • NSResponder, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1I'm sure glad that R&D isn't dependent on people like you.

      -jcr
  • chanop, on 04/15/2008, -20/+15In other news, there is still no cure for cancer
  • Witchbaby, on 04/15/2008, -21/+62I don't get it...looks like just a bigger treadmill to me.
    • Steven8890, on 04/15/2008, -3/+10I think it gives you the sensation of moving. Where as a treadmill doesn't.
    • bonjovisucks, on 04/15/2008, -0/+44except it's multi-directional. Unlike traditional treadmills, this one allows you to walk in any direction as opposed to just walking forward.
      • Mistaxe, on 04/15/2008, -1/+3Yeah, but still, where's the application?
        • mediaphile, on 04/15/2008, -1/+3The application is that you can be wearing a set of VR goggles which are linked to the treadmill, allowing you to walk through a 3d virtual environment.
      • bitcloud, on 04/15/2008, -1/+3and unlike traditional science this one is moving progress in random directions as opposed to moving progress forward.
    • WolverineBlue, on 04/15/2008, -1/+4It's more like treadmills on a treadmill. Probably close to useless for consumers, but I expect it might find a place somewhere in industry.
      • davidlow, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1If you always fall out of bed this will help.
    • fishbert, on 04/15/2008, -2/+3"German researchers have developed a treadmill which allows people to have the sensation of walking while staying in the same place."
      And it sounds like a normal treadmill to me.

      Maybe the researchers were confused, thinking those things in the Ok, Go video were just fancy dance machines. "I've got a great idea; we could repurpose those dance machines as never-ending walkways... brilliant!"
      • danpat, on 04/15/2008, -1/+2Dugg, not for "it sounds like a normal treadmill to me" but for the OK, GO joke.
      • mediaphile, on 04/15/2008, -1/+2@fishbert

        You do realize you can walk in any direction on this treadmill.
    • i22yb, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2I didn't get it at first either, until about half way through the video I realized that each of those individual "bars" that rotate around like tank treads have a conveyor belt surface on them that moves in the cross-direction - so the platform can move you in any direction (or keep you in one spot no matter which way you try to move). Very cool once I realized what was happening, at first it looked like it was just one giant treadmill.
  • BaderG, on 04/15/2008, -8/+6uhh.. so what happens when you stop walking?
    • shortyjacobs, on 04/15/2008, -2/+13If you were walking east, the earth speeds up a little bit. If you were walking west, the earth slows down a little bit. If you were on this stupid treadmill thing, you fall on your ass, swear, and walk out of the room muttering about evil dwarfs.
      • jakobmakob, on 04/15/2008, -2/+2The comment was funny up until the evil dwarfs bit. People need to stop with the evil/crazy/insane + monkey/dwarf/turtle crap.
        • shortyjacobs, on 04/15/2008, -0/+7Damn crazy monkeys, digging down my comments about evil dwarfs just to impress their insane turtle posse!!!
    • RoroCo, on 04/15/2008, -1/+21You get fat?
      • DGHtruenorth, on 04/17/2008, -0/+0Sorry, buried you, add two diggs.
  • DavidtheDuke, on 04/15/2008, -9/+2The only way I can see how this would work very well is if the treadmill perfectly mimic the speed of the person, which would mean it would have to predict it, which means it probably doesn't work exactly like that.
    • macgyber, on 04/15/2008, -0/+8It does.
    • Harabeck, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1Computers can measure fast enough to make the needed adjustments, go find the story on the robotic exoskeleton, it uses sensors to keep the whole thing only lightly in contact with the operator as he/she moves.
      • bitcloud, on 04/15/2008, -0/+3OK, so millions of dollars later, whats wrong with suspending the exoskeleton and using it to simulate a false "floor", giving the same experience as this oversized exercise machine?
  • senorcool, on 04/15/2008, -8/+91Does this mean a new OK GO video!??!??!?!??!?
  • jperras, on 04/15/2008, -15/+4Big deal. I have a smaller version of this in my basement. It's called a treadmill.
    • 3Den, on 04/15/2008, -0/+4Your treadmill only runs in one direction.
      This runs in 4.
    • bitcloud, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1Seriously... this is the most overengineered thing ive ever seen...

      a really large sphere on a set of rollers would have the same effect (only better...)
      (it's also already been invented and works beautifully)
  • Pake, on 04/15/2008, -2/+30Imagine torturing someone with that. Toss them in the center, turn it on, and have it match the persons speed the entire time.
    • NaR883, on 04/15/2008, -1/+16Hmmm... good point. You could use this as a jail without walls.
      • chedabob, on 04/15/2008, -0/+4Two people could just walk in opposite directions.
    • jaredr672, on 04/15/2008, -2/+4Yea and we could call it a treadmill.
    • djAnakin, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1Or you could call it "jogging".
    • mali1, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1Have lava all around and always keep it moving.
    • BetterOffEd, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1It'd still be better than waterboarding.
    • grantmoore3d, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1I bet if you ran as fast as you could then just forcably fell down, it would throw you off the side before it recognized the change in speed.
      • Rahmatullah, on 04/19/2008, -0/+0I dunno, computers are really fast. The time the person would be in mid-air would be like a year for a fast computer to process what it'd need to compensate itself.
  • homercles337, on 04/15/2008, -16/+5Cyberwalk should be renamed to colossal waste of money and time.
    • onikiller, on 04/15/2008, -2/+3just to sit in someones basement collecting dust
  • HaSatan, on 04/15/2008, -1/+102One does not simply CyberWalk into Mordor!
    • Pikk, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1I wish I could dig this more!
    • decyx, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1I wish I could favorite this comment.
    • McMagic, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1I wish I could add this comment to my Friends on Myspace.
  • cldershem, on 04/15/2008, -8/+3does this change the meaning of C-Walking now?

    /gang references.
  • TiggyThaiMein, on 04/15/2008, -3/+8Great. Now I can take my Real Doll for a "walk" and complete my ultimate loserdomness. Let's hook this up to a Wii.
    • Fragowell, on 04/15/2008, -0/+2I'm imagining Real Doll owners taking offense to your comment being the ones who digg you down.
  • kevpsu, on 04/15/2008, -6/+20I want my 2 minutes back
  • fyrehart, on 04/15/2008, -2/+13No audio? You'd think they'd at least explain it a bit. If the person stops moving, do they move (I couldn't tell from the first part - just woke up)? What's the cost? Any plans to commercialize it? Thanks, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics.
    • mwdcodeninja, on 04/15/2008, -3/+1The real question is how do we weaponise this? I think Pake is on the right track with his torture idea.
    • danpat, on 04/15/2008, -0/+2It's German developed, so maybe the BBC just ripped off the German VO.
  • peteophile44, on 04/15/2008, -1/+3I'd like to see someone ride a bike or drive a car on it.
  • fr3ddie, on 04/15/2008, -2/+2one jump to the side and youre screwed.
  • HookmasterCH47, on 04/15/2008, -6/+15Futures made of virtual insanity
    now always seem, to be governed by this love we have
    For useless, twisting, our new technology
    Oh now there is no sound for we all live underground...
    Jamiroquai
    • syar, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Dugg comment for using a JK lyric as a comment. Awesome, and true
  • SanDiablo78, on 04/15/2008, -7/+1Has this person ever been to the airport? What the freak is the point of this?
  • blynder, on 04/15/2008, -2/+1I can't fit that in my living room!
  • ANT1138, on 04/15/2008, -8/+3I'm not sure why, but I laughed hysterically through the whole video, and even at the commercial before the video. XD
  • FaceCage, on 04/15/2008, -0/+40I remembered seeing this last year. Looks like it works much better to me....
    http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/10/omni-directiona ...
    You see the address, not a rickroll.
    • Harabeck, on 04/15/2008, -1/+4That looks much more funcional, and perhaps more importantly, simpler.
      • tehbored, on 04/15/2008, -1/+1No I'm pretty sure it's more complex. It does appear to be more functional though.
    • unicornpaco, on 04/15/2008, -0/+2this one is better. and at least it has an explanation.
    • reginaldino, on 04/15/2008, -0/+3notice how much larger the individual treadmills are compared to the one in the link you supplied. That could be the cause of its *****
    • actionscripted, on 04/15/2008, -0/+3Agreed. This one might actually get used.
    • bitcloud, on 04/15/2008, -1/+1awesome...

      someone at cyberwalk co is feeling a little sheepish right now..
    • tehbored, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1It looks like a more expensive version of the same thing. the treadmills are smaller so it looks smoother, but it seems to work the same way. Since it has all those tiny links and is more compact, it's probably much more expensive.
  • shortyjacobs, on 04/15/2008, -1/+6Apparently, the "sensation of walking" includes haltingly taking steps whilst drunkenly listing from side to side
  • bonjovisucks, on 04/15/2008, -0/+24There was a video posted a while back of a much better implementation of a multi-directional treadmill:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msci440q18s
    • Arnos, on 04/15/2008, -0/+2I sorta expected a rick- but correct, looked much better in this video. Add a VR helm and boom!
  • KraftDinner101, on 04/15/2008, -2/+3The description doesn't do the treadmill justice. While normal treadmills can go in only one direction, this one allows you to go in any direction while staying in the same place.
    • mwdcodeninja, on 04/15/2008, -1/+3and yet does not look to reactive to those using it.
    • theHM, on 04/15/2008, -0/+2s/any direction/2 axes/

      It doesn't let you move up and down.
  • Wilsomatic, on 04/15/2008, -5/+10To the untrained eye it may just be a large scale version of a Treadmill, but no, this is different. This has the word cyber in front of it, it's futuristic and innovative!
    • debbiedragon, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1OOOH so that's what I was missing. "CYBER".
    • CarStan, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1Yeah, like Cyber-Sex
    • bitcloud, on 04/15/2008, -0/+2well *****!

      maybe if they called it the CyberWalkTron I might have realised that...
  • jr93087, on 04/15/2008, -4/+2there already exists a useful version....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQw1tsgrJOs
    • DOUBLEZER00, on 04/15/2008, -0/+0I had this odd feeling that your link was going to point at the OK GO video :) But that one looks a lot more stable and fluid, but still I don't see a use for it.
      • yacks, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1I remember seeing okgo when they opened for They Might Be Giants in 2001 :) I think I may have their autographs somewhere.. *chuckle*
  • physco827, on 04/15/2008, -1/+2Purpose? Plus they cut to another scene every time the guy is about to turn to walk the other way, or walk off, because the useless machine can't keep up.
  • makelikepaper, on 04/15/2008, -3/+1You COULD build a massive expensive treadmill to allow you the sensation of walking, or you COULD go for a walk. The latter is free and there is no substitute for it.

    And the t-shirt ad beside the description reads, "Irish I were drunk". It seems appropriate when watching the people stumble around.
  • HeyBob, on 04/15/2008, -1/+2But will he take off?
  • killboredom, on 04/15/2008, -5/+3Holy crap...this gets research money in Germany? I suppose that fits my misconceptions of Germany, as it appears this actually mimics the human ability to stumble home drunk.

    It's also worth pointing out that this contraption still suffers the same flaw as the long time tried and tested "normal" treadmill; if you stop walking, you fall off!
    • drgreenberg, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1You really missed the point. The idea is that the treadmill keeps you in the center by exactly compensating your attempt to move. Thus, if you were in a virtual world (wearing googles or viewing a 360 degree projection), you'd be able to walk around in the world without actually going anywhere physically.
  • redback, on 04/15/2008, -1/+3it seems more psychological then technological
  • Steinr, on 04/15/2008, -1/+2looks expensive!
  • debbiedragon, on 04/15/2008, -6/+1and this is scientific and new because they never heard of a treadmill in the UK or what?
    • waydee, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1What? it's a poorly described video on the BBC. Absolutely nothing to do with the UK.
      • debbiedragon, on 04/15/2008, -2/+1oh my mistake on location- but the point remains the same- wherever it is, it's a big treadmill that doesn't seem to have much use.
    • NSResponder, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1Perhaps you missed the detail that it's omnidrectional.

      -jcr
  • Ovii, on 04/15/2008, -2/+4imagine that setup with a virtual reality headset playing GTA4
  • Wolfsoap, on 04/15/2008, -1/+2Couldn't you like trap someone on this so they could never get off?
    Am I the only one who find this scary.
    • solidhayter, on 04/15/2008, -1/+11. Stop running.
      2. Jump to the side.
      • santafr0g, on 04/15/2008, -0/+2Unless it's programed to compensate for large changes in momentum, such as the force generated prior to jumping.
  • professorfurley, on 04/15/2008, -2/+6http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMMQqE9x6i4
    useless twisting of our new technology
  • DOUBLEZER00, on 04/15/2008, -0/+0The first guy looked really awkward on it. He wasn't walking in a straight line, he was crossing his legs as he stepped and seemed to be off balance. The second guy looked better but he never really walked a straight line either for more than a couple steps. I guess like most everyone else, I don't see the point or any potential uses.
  • etx313, on 04/15/2008, -1/+1Cyber-Treadmill. Yay!
  • mattrussell1124, on 04/15/2008, -2/+1who diggs a treadmill video?
  • ninjaface, on 04/15/2008, -2/+1not to be negative, but this just seems like a huge waste of time/money. It's a treadmill comprised of several individual treadmills. Big deal.
  • CaveManJoe1, on 04/15/2008, -2/+0ahhh, the cyber treadmill. You can walk in any direction and not get anywhere. This is perfect - there have been so many times when I've been on the treadmill in my basement and I really wanted to watch the wall behind me but just couldn't. Now I'll be able to look at any one of the four walls around me anytime I want. OOOOHHH better yet I can build an octagon so i have 8 walls to look at, no wait a decahedron , no wait a DODECAHEDRON!
    • jggr, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1Oh my. You really have no idea, do you?
  • wallryan, on 04/15/2008, -5/+1wtf its just a giant treadmill?????
    • drgreenberg, on 04/15/2008, -0/+3That can move its platform in any direction to keep the user still as he/she attempts to walk. Allows you to walk in a virtual simulation.
  • slantyeyed, on 04/15/2008, -5/+2this is why there aren't cures for cancer or cheap and abundant clean fuels, because idiots waste their time on this.
    • verkon, on 04/15/2008, -1/+3if every scientist spent their time on cancer, you wouldn't be able to post on the Internet.
  • roseman5285, on 04/15/2008, -1/+1thats nothing new, you want to see something interesting check out the caren system
  • AlphaSig332, on 04/15/2008, -3/+0Glorified Treadmill??
  • 350Zed, on 04/15/2008, -3/+1I have a cheaper version of this at my local rec center... it's called a "skating rink".

    You stand in the middle of it wearing shoes with no grip.
    • mediaphile, on 04/15/2008, -1/+1Yeah that's totally the same thing as an omni-directional treadmill that allows you to link with a virtual reality simulation.
  • FitteMas, on 04/15/2008, -0/+7Alot of negative comments here.. people not seeing the potentail. Arguments like "there is still no cure for cancer", is stupid. It implies we cant do more than one thing at ones. Ofcourse we can. Should we stop researching and developing better telescopes as well because there is no cure for various sicknesses?.

    What I see, is a step twords developing total virtual reality. Holodeck in our lifetime!!, maby
  • mastern, on 04/15/2008, -0/+6I disagree, I'd say this is a huge breakthrough. What you're looking at here is probably the start of future warfare. This treadmill was the missing piece to what I saw as creating remote controlled robot warfare based on currently available technology.

    Think of a robot like "Big Dog," plus a VR helmet, plus a suit with Wii-mote style accelerometers which can measure a person's every movement with vibration to represent touch, plus this treadmill, plus a human controller, plus remote control, plus 3-D object detection devices like the cars in the DARPA rallies have. This is all using technology we have right now. But I'd say give it a decade or two and you'll have wars fought by robots remotely. No humans will be put in harms way, except for the people the robots are killing of course. When costs on robotics drop, the military will find the cost of losing a robot will be a lot less expensive than that of a human.

    The only thing I'd say there needs to be before human-controlled, robot warfare is ready to go is the manifestation of gradients and perhaps even 3-D objects on the treadmill, or at least some sort of barrier to represent them. Gradients shouldn't be too hard, treadmills have them now, and 3-D objects could be represented in limited form just by poles rising up to act as barriers. If your robot walks into a rock let's say, you're gonna want to know it without having to look at it in your VR helmet if you are focused on a target.

    Also, we'll probably want bipedal robots - a shape similar to ours - and currently the Big Dog is a quadruped. I doubt the developers are too far off from working on a bipedal robot though. Also vibration isn't the best solution to a lack of touch, but it seems to work well enough in video games, so for first generation robot warfare I'd imagine it would be used unless we come up with a better solution in the meantime.

    That's my two cents.
    • asus939, on 04/15/2008, -1/+0This is a step backward, and is relatively awkward compared to what we already have.

      See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msci440q18s
      • LokitheComplex, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1So its a step forward that's really a step backward?
    • mikebaldwin67, on 04/15/2008, -0/+1A poor farm boy from rural America is worth a LOT less then multi-million dollar robots, and with man controlled robots fighting our wars the Armed Forces still have to pay for the poor farm boy AND the multi-million dollar robot. Also I'm not sure if you've seen the DARPA rallies but currently those autonomous cars are about as useful and safe as a fart filled balloon floating over a candle.
      But finally this doesn't even look like new technology, it's just a matter of someone finally being able to get the funding for such a useless piece of equipment. This could have been built twenty years ago, just no one wanted to.
      • mastern, on 04/15/2008, -0/+0A few things: Yes this would cost a lot now, but within a decade or two, when this technology is even older, it'll be much cheaper. Paying for people to put themselves in harms way will always be expensive and even now when a soldier is killed it costs 400k in payments to families. Yeah the Big Dog may cost like 10 million now (I don't know how much it costs specifically, but that was their grant from DARPA), but in 10 to 20 years its cost to produce will be halved multiple times to the point where it will cost less than risking a human life. Think along the lines of Moore's law.

        Also think about this: after the Iraq war is completed Americans will be extremely hesitant to ever put American's lives in harm's way again. Using robots will take away that risk and probably prove itself to be a much more acceptable solution when times again call for armed combat.

        As for the DARPA autonomous car contest, there were many cars that had no problems completing the Urban area contest this year. But I'm not talking about the DARPA cars as whole anyway, just the technology recognizing obstacles - many street cars have a basic version of this already.
    • sunebeck, on 04/15/2008, -0/+0Or big dog could be put on the treadmill and play with itself!!!
  • bunker6, on 04/15/2008, -0/+2This is bound to dismember more children than escalators
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