The VR community has been rattling its cage for intuitive input devices for quite a while now, and because nobody really knows exactly what that means yet, we’re entertaining anything and everything until we do. Here we take a look at two Kickstarter campaigns currently in progress addressing just that: ‘Stompz’ and ‘Ground Control’, two small form factor input solutions designed to be used with those dangly useless things hiding under your desk right now (your feet).
In wake of Valve’s recently announced Lighthouse positional tracking system for use with HTC Vive, the VR community has been set ablaze with the thought of ‘room scale’ interactions, a term describing SteamVR’s 15×15 ft area intended for positional tracking of headsets and controllers alike. But for many apartment dwellers, the dream of creating a ‘room scale’ holodeck is likely going to be closer to a holodesk in size more than anything. This is where clever peripherals come in, devices that you can store in a cabinet, or hide away in a shoebox for later use.
Ground Control
Ground Control wants to pry you from the WASD keyboard control scheme, because their pedals are like a pair of 4-axis analog joysticks for your feet that you use to traverse through a game. The experience is still seated, but if there isn’t a cordoned off VR room in your near future, a compact pair of devices like Ground Control might just fit the bill.
‘Ground Control’ Kickstarter Campaign
If Ground Control manages to reach its funding goal of $250,000 CAD ($198,000 USD), the number of VR and non-VR games that can be used with these foot controllers will be nearly limitless, as the device is recognized by Windows as a standard gamepad. Early bird backer tiers are still available at $210 CAD ($170 USD), with estimated shipping in January 2016, a time frame that will supposedly also see the release of the consumer version of HTC Vive headset.
Stompz
‘Stompz’ is another solution that’s telling us to “forget the keyboard,” billing itself as a universally connective foot tracker for both games and low-intensity fitness—and by that they mean jogging in a stationary position to simulate forward movement.
The makers of the device originally wanted to build an omni-directional treadmill like Virtuix Omni, or Cyberith Virtualizer, but then decided to ditch the heavy hardware for something more lightweight. The device in its present form is essentially a pair of wearable, programmable 9-axis IMUs that you strap to your feet, which can communicate wirelessly using the ever so ubiquitous 2.4 Ghz radio frequency.
‘Stompz’ Kickstarter Campaign
Stompz’ basestation plugs into any VR headset with a USB port that can accept input devices, which include Oculus DK2, Razer OSVR, and Android/jailbroken iOS phones via micro USB dongle. With no obvious reason why you would actually want to plug the KitKat sized wireless USB device into a tethered VR headset, the basestation of course works by plugging directly in to Windows, Mac, and Linux-based computers.
Stompz is asking for $100,000 for their project, and are going at $115 USD each (early bird special) for two trackers, required straps, and USB-stick basestation.
Even in the face of Valve’s ‘room scale experience’, pint-sized peripherals that let you stay seated, or require minimal floor space for operation are coming, motorized chairs included. And until the major VR headset providers can support a standard device for near-stationary locomotion, city folk, dorm room tenants, and anyone else living with restricted space requirements, will be on the look out for the device that can hit that sweet spot.
