Standing around in an awkward set of motion tracking video goggles while tethered a computer makes virtual reality feel anything but real. You need to be able to move around to really get the virtual experience, which this bizarre sliding platform lets you do — kind of.
Calling the Wizdisk a treadmill is a bit of misnomer since it’s completely lacking a moving tread — but the experience is similar. Users instead stand on a slick concave desk which minimizes friction under foot so you can shuffle along in place, pretending to walk around.
It sounds awkward, and all the videos demonstrating its use make it look awkward too. But it’s one of those ‘better than nothing’ things because it allows someone in a virtual world to easily pivot and move about more freely. It still requires a heck of a lot of imagination and suspension of disbelief, but if you still think virtual reality has a chance of catching on, you’re probably already used to relying on your imagination. [Wizdish via DamnGeeky]