Holotile Floor is a multidirectional treadmill inspired by HoloDeck and designed to revolutionise interaction in virtual reality. The floor consists of rotating tiles that react to the user’s movements and allow them to move in any direction without leaving the surface. The technology aims to solve mobility problems and enable collaboration in virtual environments.

• Holotile Floor by Disney is a multidirectional treadmill inspired by HoloDeck.
• HoloTile consists of rotating tiles that respond to the user’s movements in a virtual reality environment.
• The floor of the treadmill is stretchable and modular, allowing the user to run in any direction without leaving the surface.
• The technology aims to create a stronger connection between body movement and VR reality.
• The HoloTile floor can be extended to enable collaborative movement in rooms or on theatre platforms.
• The technology is still in development and a Disney researcher, Lanny Smoot, is using the Quest Pro headset to walk in virtual reality.

There is no doubt that augmented reality and virtual reality will set the tone for this decade. Your visual senses are stimulated as you move your avatar around in larger-than-life environments, but you quickly realise you are in a virtual world when you are sitting or standing.

Although Virtuix Omni was a good attempt at enhancing the multidimensional experience in the Metaverse, it was unfortunately not very successful due to hardware and software limitations. However, thanks to more than 100 patented ideas from Disney legend Lanny Smoot, something is now coming to market that will delight even the most discerning tech fans.

The design of an omnidirectional treadmill inspired by HoloDeck could revolutionise the way people interact with virtual reality. The invention, called HoloTile, consists of individual spinning tiles that respond to the user’s movements in a virtual reality environment. The flexible and modular treadmill floor allows the user to move freely in any direction without leaving the surface. This innovative technology was developed by Lanny, a current Disney researcher, to create a stronger connection between body movement and virtual reality.

If more people decide to use the treadmill without the risk of falling, it can be developed even further. According to Smoot, a good example of this would be allowing multiple people in a room to “be somewhere else, collaborate and move, observe and explore”. Other potential applications include theatre platforms where multiple performers could work together virtually to create a spectacular performance.

The video shows the promising potential of the HoloTile floor, although work on it is still ongoing. Smoot uses the Quest Pro headset to navigate in virtual reality as if he were on real tarmac. The aim of the technology is to solve the problems of locomotion so that users do not collide with objects or feel awkward when walking on surfaces.