VR developer gives player full body with Vive controllers at feet

Virtual reality game developer CloudGate has managed to create a graphical representation of a player that very accurately reproduces movements from real life. By attaching two Vive controllers to a player’s feet, both arms and legs can be faithfully reproduced.

A demonstration video posted by CloudGate late last week shows that the modified setup allows studio head Steve Bowler to bend, dance, take steps, kick objects and touch his toes with his hands. He also demonstrates things like touching the head, shoulders and chest with the hands, but this was already possible.

The CloudGate developer can place a full avatar of the player in the virtual space thanks to the two additional Vive controllers attached to his feet. This means that a second Vive is also used in this setup. Exactly how CloudGate made this setup is not clear.

Because there are five different ‘anchor points’, the computer can estimate in what position the player is, so that this can be mirrored in vr. According to Bowler, only bending is still ‘guessing’ for the computer, because the hip hinge point is too far away from the other points.

The developer says he sees opportunities to use this addition to enrich social and multiplayer environments. CloudGate is currently working on the virtual reality game Island 359, which is in Early Access on Steam. It’s unlikely the studio will incorporate this change into this or any other game any time soon, as it requires two VR headsets.