At the Univeristy of Tsukuba, Professor Hiroo Iwata has developed a technology he calls 'Robot Tiles'. This design enables an "infinite walking surface" as each tile acts as a stepping stone for the walker, and the tiles work as a set to realign themselves to respond to the user's walking pattern and continue the path.
The robotic tiles are constructed with a specicially formulated textile which is touch-sensitive, and as such, able to determine the position of the walker's next step according to their foot pressure and position.
At the time of development, this technology had no applications, but the creator did suggest it could be used for creating walking platforms for virtual reality programs and applications. In the context of 'Walking in the City', new considerations for this design could emerge. One of these may include the robot tiles being developed to work faster so that unique paths could be created for a walker as they move within the city.
Video and information obtained from: http://www.infoniac.com/hi-tech/latest-invention-robot-tiles-that-create-infinite-walking-surface.html
That is so cool! It reminds me of the moving platforms in Zelda games.
ReplyDeleteI can see an application for the Japanese market. Say you've just laced up your shoes in the genkan (entrance hall) but forgotten you've left your keys on the kitchen. Bummer! Now what? You can't wear your outside shoes on your nice, clean, polished floor (at least not in Japan anyway) and untying and retying your shoes will waste precious seconds. Calling on 'Robot Tiles'! Now you can traverse the distance and retrieve your keys without getting a speck of dirt on the clean carpet, or a dirty look from your Okasan (mother).