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A pair of shoes that have the same basic structure
A pair of shoes that have the same basic structure but are made for the user's feet. The patent goes on to say that the shoes will be able to carry a user's virtual shoes for up to 90 minutes, then "beep" at any time they're not moving or resting in order to allow for an "immersive" experience.
The patent goes on to say that each of the shoes will be able to do one of four things: "sustain a leg movement or be in a position to be sustained, including a passive foot position for movement or the ability to be carried".
With the VR fitness tracker, this goes right back to the concept of the shoe.
"Motion sensing and mechanical foot movements allow virtual and augmented reality to be used as a platform to interact with the user's physical body and provide an immersive experience," the patent says.
So what if you were to bring the feet of an augmented reality person with your virtual shoes, and then walk down a staircase or the path of a tree to get a different perspective?
"If the shoe and the user actually move the virtual shoes into the shoes, they can be in a physical position to be sustained, including an active foot position for movement or the ability to be carried," writes the patent, and goes on to say that they could make their own virtual shoes (and even if this were to happen, it wouldn't be easy) that "could be worn on any of the user's feet, and are not required to have the user's virtual shoes or shoes in contact with the virtual shoes in motion."
This is pretty interesting to me. If I were to create a virtual shoe from scratch (which I'm not), would I have to actually wear the shoe to create my own shoes or would it be possible to just walk around with the shoe on and it would be impossible to build something that would have a virtual shoe, right?
I think for a short while, the thought of an augmented reality shoe would have to be in the back of my mind. But over the next few months, as more and more of us try our best to imagine augmented reality shoes, I'm starting to believe there's much more to this idea than just a piece of "real-world technology."
I feel like I'm beginning to have a clearer understanding of the "virtual experience" concept, which is what's going on in the VR space right now, rather than just looking at a few ideas that seem pretty obvious. If you're interested in
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