Freedom Locomotion VR

The only thing that disappoints me about this title is that it's free. THIS FORM OF LOCOMOTION IS 100% IMMERSIVE. It's what I want in every open-world VR game/simulation. I was completely enthralled as I walked/jogged and ran around the scenes available in this app. The ability to customize things like min/max speed, effect that things like head bob, arm swing and jog-in-place had on speed was great. I really felt in control and I got that feeling as I used this natural, immersive form of locomotion that we're on the verge of something special. If an open-world VR-RPG utilized this natural, more interactive form of locomotion, I'd pay $200 for it or more. It really gives you this feeling of, well, freedom! No silly teleporting or sliding around via thumbpad; you use your arms and entire body to simulate movement through virtual space. The dev was very generous by offering this for free and I'm very grateful that he did. I'll be jogging along the mountain track often! Recommended!

This is one of the most exciting proof of concept demos I've seen for VR! Like many players I've been frustrated by the "legless" quality of VR gaming. Much of the immersive potential is lost when upper body interactions are so natural, yet the lower body remains immobile and aphysical methods like teleportation and gliding are used to move around. I've said often that I wish I could walk/run in place for locomotion, and even thought about building a DIY USB controller hack for flatscreen gaming for just that purpose. Then I discovered Freedom Locomotion's CAOTS method, and it's bloody brilliant. It's exactly what I imagined, and it should be the industry standard (are you listening, industry?). It makes "walking" in-game far more immersive *and* solves the problem of limited roomscale, permitting infinite walking distance. It adds a physical activity/exercise component to adventure and exploration games as well as virtual tourism. Truly you have to try it to realise how radical, yet how very sensible and simple, it feels. Tuning the parameters takes a little time. You have to tweak the walking speed (and thresholds between walk, jog, and run) so that it approximates your intuitive expectations for your own pace. It can also be a little challenging to stay truly In Place and not drift while jogging or running; but the demo's virtual fence plus your Guardian perimeter will keep you from running into the furniture :-) It took me about 15-20 minutes of play time and tweaking to get comfortable with CAOTS and then I loved it. Immersion was unprecedented; at times I truly felt I was in the virtual environment. I didn't feel any of the vertigo that "magic carpet" gliding induces; I felt solidly anchored to the game world. In my best of all possible worlds, the CAOTS algorithm is adopted by ALL headset manufacturers and becomes a standard setup option, so that play options are now Seated, Standing, or Walking. Having spent enough time with CAOTS to realise how effective it is, I would always choose Walking wherever larger-than-Guardian traversals are desired... which let's face it, is almost all the time! Alternatively if FLVR could be packaged as an add-on or patch controller configuration, to work with any conroller or game, that would be dandy. However my attempts to use VRocker suggest that trying to be compatible with every game is a hard target. Having game devs adopt FLVR at the SDK level to incorporate into their devel process seems like a better bet. The Room VR, to name just one, would be twice the game it is if it were freely navigable by walking, instead of limited to teleportation to a small set of fixed locations. Vader Immortal, H3VR, Google Earth VR, Sports Bar VR, Nature Treks VR, Walkabout Mini Golf... the list of games/apps that would benefit from "real walking" to move around is very long. Point-and-snap teleportation is just an ugly hack. A more natural method of locomotion could help popularise VR with the general public by reducing "VR seasickness" and making it easier and more intuitive to enter simulated environments (no gamepad-like controls to memorise). This is very fine work. If you are trying out the demo, be patient; I didn't really get it tweaked until I was past the model town and into the "rooftops," and I didn't realise the true joy of the locomotion method until I got to the 'logging road' demo at the very end. That was what wowed me; earlier phases of the demo were impressive, but it wasn't until I got out into a biggish open world with great scenery, long sightlines, and a generous amount of road/trail ahead that I really felt the full awesomeness of this locomotion method. I jogged for many minutes around the frozen lake and was more immersed that I've ever felt in a VR environment. Not having to (unnaturally) use buttons and sticks to move around is more powerful than you can imagine if you have not yet experienced it! Huge props to the dev who is imho a genius and a trailblazer. I wish I knew how to get the industry to adopt this code. It would push VR one big step further towards market saturation for sure! 10 из 10

If you have any VR gear you should definitely try this one. It's nothing else than just a tech demo (yes, yes, yet another f***ing VR tech demo), but it's worth checking out as it is currently (in my opinion) the best locomotion system I've experienced in VR. It needs more refinement and polish, no doubt about that, but that is why I recommend it to everyone: try it out and leave your feedback to the devs. I hope it will become reusable, all VR devs will buy the license for this system and use it as basic locomotion framework. For now, though - it's just a tech demo sadly.

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This is a true game-changer. It's not quite as natural as real walking or running, but after a short learning curve (less than 2 minutes) I found I was able to intuitively navigate the virtual world by walking or jogging in place. Freedom Locomotion isn't really a game in and of itself, it's a proof of concept that you don't need fancy omnidirectional treadmills to translate natural movement into the virtual world. CAOTS needs to be a movement in every VR game out there! Teleportation is OK, but it really ruins the immersion. CAOTS allows for fluid movement that doesn't disorient the player. Although that said, I did find myself drifting as I walked in place, and would gradually approach the edges of my play area. so I would suggest adding an option to the game so your play area wireframe cage is always visible, so you can adjust your position mid-stride and not when you're seconds away from smacking the couch.

When I watched the video I didn't think it would be that great, but after having a 10 minute run through the alps I was in love with it. I agree with what the dev said in the video- its about the most ideal mechanic that's available to us right now. Without an actual omni-directional treadmill there's only so much we can do for locomotion in VR, and this style I feel is about as good as we'll get for now. Pros- -most immersive (for me) because of the actual physical engagement -well designed, easy to change from walk, jog and run by actually changing how you move not just a button or thumbpad placement -fluid movement -it calibrates to your movement style, not just a preset one you have to follow -little hidden toys around the demo maps that are fun to find Cons- None about the actual locomotion system itself. The demo such as climbing mechanics and little things like that are a bit fussy but that doesn't matter at all as they're just there for proof of point about the locomotion system. Overall I'd love to see this implemented/supported by current and future VR games. I'd certainly get this game if you're on the fence about it, if anything the run through the mountain level would be a calming experience. If only I could have a run through Skyrim with this, then I'd be in a little better shape...

Does not work with Windows Mixed Reality controllers (HP Reverb G2). There is no community bindings and there is no guides readily available. I am not in the mood to figure this out on my own.

I enjoyed it, and it's free, so what are you waiting for? ;-)