Omni: The "Oculus Rift" of 3D Treadmills • Hacker News Board

Re: Omni: The "Oculus Rift" of 3D Treadmills

#51

Post by Everlag » Mon, Jul 01, 2013, 3:33 AM UTC

gilgoomesh wrote: post #44

threeseed wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually no. Most of the problems associated with running come from the unforgiving impact of your foot on the ground (often a hard surface). Devices like this and other treadmills are much better if you have joint problems.

I could definitely envisage some heavily inflamed tendons and soft-tissue from the weird crouch/walking motion though.

If this becomes an issue of picking your evil, I'd prefer the devil that allows me to play extremely immersive games for hours while maintaining a high quality fitness level.

Re: Omni: The "Oculus Rift" of 3D Treadmills

#52

Post by Tuna-Fish » Mon, Jul 01, 2013, 3:35 AM UTC

deletes wrote: post #40

nknighthb wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See ~3:30 in the video for strafing.

Note that in real life you almost never strafe. Just look at any footage ( or a movie ) of soldiers/police. No strafing. Games made us believe that we need it.

Untrue. If wearing a vest, taking a corner involves side-stepping, and in any urban combat situation you'll spend a very high proportion of your time doing that.

Source: Urban combat training, FDF.

Re: Omni: The "Oculus Rift" of 3D Treadmills

#53

Post by nsxwolf » Mon, Jul 01, 2013, 3:35 AM UTC

pmahoney wrote: post #27

mililani wrote: post #9

Ugh. This will eventually destroy my knees or hips someday. It's bad enough that I go running an hour every other day. I just can't imagine doing that for 6 to 8 hours. Although, I think this will be awesome for out of shape people who love games. Might be the thing we need to goad these people into shape!

> It's bad enough that I go running an hour every other day Well you're in luck. Running at sub-elite levels has not been correlated with osteoarthritis. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9489830 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22632690

Well it sure as shit trashed my knees and I'm sub-sub-sub-elite. Osteoarthritis is not the only potential problem.

Re: Omni: The "Oculus Rift" of 3D Treadmills

#54

Post by imchillyb » Mon, Jul 01, 2013, 3:52 AM UTC

oftenwrong wrote: post #15

With regard to the Omni as a way to exercise, I wonder how it stacks up to actual running/walking since the user does not actually have to propel his or her own weight.

Anything would be better than sitting.

Re: Omni: The "Oculus Rift" of 3D Treadmills

#55

Post by imchillyb » Mon, Jul 01, 2013, 3:58 AM UTC

Great device! I can't wait to try one out.

Re: Omni: The "Oculus Rift" of 3D Treadmills

#56

Post by mapt » Mon, Jul 01, 2013, 4:00 AM UTC

threeseed wrote: post #35

mililani wrote: post #9

Ugh. This will eventually destroy my knees or hips someday. It's bad enough that I go running an hour every other day. I just can't imagine doing that for 6 to 8 hours. Although, I think this will be awesome for out of shape people who love games. Might be the thing we need to goad these people into shape!

Actually no. Most of the problems associated with running come from the unforgiving impact of your foot on the ground (often a hard surface). Devices like this and other treadmills are much better if you have joint problems.

Mildly better.

An obese person should not be running in any case, even if they're able from a cardiovascular standpoint, the impact that running & jogging has on joints is unacceptably severe until a person reaches a normal weight range - even the ubiquitous-in-the-US 'Overweight' status is pushing it.

Ellipticals, cycling, walking, leg lift machines, etc are much better.

Re: Omni: The "Oculus Rift" of 3D Treadmills

#57

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jul 01, 2013, 4:00 AM UTC

snogglethorpe wrote: post #47

nknighthb wrote: post #36

This is a great solution to the problem, and I'm really excited about it. But there's one very important catch: The "special shoes" are not an option for people with unusual orthotics requirements (e.g. me), because they're not going to be able to make shoes suitable for everybody. They have to create soles that can be strapped on to our existing shoes.

As it's going to be used only in controlled circumstances, they don't really need to be actual shoes, something like a sandal would be enough, and those should have fewer fitting issues... and it could also accept standard inner-soles for a more comfy feel. A larger size without an inner-sole could indeed probably just be used over normal shoes.

[deleted]

Re: Omni: The "Oculus Rift" of 3D Treadmills

#58

Post by lee94josh » Mon, Jul 01, 2013, 4:03 AM UTC

tseabrooks wrote: post #46

Watch the first couple of videos.. It's pretty clever and cool. Doesn't look like it'll be fat friendly. All that aside, let's pretend like we're responsible adults for a second. The video, especially the end of the first, sort've makes me think this might be the "line". People have talked about violence in video games, and realism, and for the most part I don't think there is any real issue today, it's all malarkey.…

I think this is an interesting thought, but I would probably say no. I don't think that just because the Omni makes violent gaming more realistic that it changes its effect on players.

Re: Omni: The "Oculus Rift" of 3D Treadmills

#59

Post by zw123456 » Mon, Jul 01, 2013, 4:10 AM UTC

I think there may also be a market for it in health clubs as well, they are constantly looking for new gizmos to entice new members in. Also, I see people at the gym try to do lateral movement on the treadmill by going sideways on it so I think people are looking for more than the boring 1D experience of a simple treadmill.

Re: Omni: The "Oculus Rift" of 3D Treadmills

#60

Post by Whitespace » Mon, Jul 01, 2013, 4:13 AM UTC

[deleted] wrote: post #57

snogglethorpe wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As it's going to be used only in controlled circumstances, they don't really need to be actual shoes, something like a sandal would be enough, and those should have fewer fitting issues... and it could also accept standard inner-soles for a more comfy feel. A larger size without an inner-sole could indeed probably just be used over normal shoes.

[deleted]

The parent wasn't "spreading nonsense about serious medical problems [they] know nothing about," they were talking about the shoes in video and how they could perhaps be modified to be more comfortable or applicable to other shoe designs.

Your medical issues sound serious and I'm sorry they cause you excruciating pain, but please don't assume people know of and/or were referencing your particular issues before you specified what those issues were.