Sharing Sense of Walking With Locomotion Interfaces

This article proposes a method of enabling users to share the sensation of walking with each other in a virtual environment (VE). Achieving this shared sensation requires physical equipment, with algorithms to control it. As an example of such physical equipment, a new footpad type of locomotion interface (LI), named GaitMaster2, has been developed and physiologically evaluated. An algorithm for the positional control of users’ feet has been proposed, enabling the users to share various aspects of the sensation of walking. As an evaluation, two footpad type LIs were connected via a network. Using the proposed control algorithm, there followed the construction of a master–slave walking environment and a synchronized walking environment. These experiments demonstrated that this method is effective for sharing the sensation of walking in a VE.