A virtual shoe that enables its owner to roam around the world without leaving his room

One of the unexpected problems with VR headsets was user safety. Being too immersed in the game and the imaginary reality makes many users jump or make a sudden movement that leads to injury.

Ekto VR believes it has found a solution to this problem with its new EKTO ONE shoes, according to a report by YankoDesign.

The company's new technology allows users to walk in place to traverse a virtual space.

Walking on the moon

The shoes feature a set of motorized wheels on their sole, which rotate in the opposite direction to the wearer's forward movement.

This allows the user to walk in place as if on a treadmill, giving them the feeling that they are moving forward.

Of course, the technology is used in conjunction with a VR headset, which means that the entire environment setup will essentially trick the user into thinking they are navigating virtual space on their feet.

The project is still in its early stage of development, which means it will likely not hit the market for a while.

It is undeniable that the device has the potential to help improve people's interaction with virtual reality, which currently relies mostly on the joystick in the wearer's hand.

Improving the Metaverse immersion experience for everyone

The problem of "infinite walking" has been around since the advent of virtual reality in the 1980s.

Essentially, it's a problem that made users reasonably traverse virtual space using a technology that is all about immersion in this reality but without movement.

Virtuix has chosen a different solution to the problem.

The company is building an omnidirectional treadmill for virtual reality users, similar to the one seen in Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One."

If ECTOVR and other similar projects live up to their promises, the technology could be critical to the development of the new metaverse world, which will rely heavily on this immersion factor to succeed.

Other projects aim to improve immersion in these virtual spaces, including virtual reality gloves with haptic feedback from a company called Teslasuit.

The technology is designed to allow users to "feel" their surroundings through vibrations, using haptic feedback technology used in video games, which has recently been adapted to help visually impaired perceive their surroundings using vibrations.

Sure, virtual reality has been slow to develop in recent years, but these new projects can help greatly by enhancing the invisible side of things, making this technology more comprehensive and attractive.