When considering the implementation of VR locomotion, there are two main obstacles to overcome: tracking movement and constraint of physical space.

To properly track movement, I feel that a system using cameras and predictive movements can be employed. We’ve had the Kinect and Wii for decades now, and detection of a player’s movements without the excessive use of wearables should be more than possible with today’s technology. Multiple cameras can be set up across a room to detect a player’s movements within a three-dimensional space. However, there still may be issues with over-detection or a disconnect between the player’s physical movements and that of the avatar. Sometimes a player may just be adjusting themselves slightly, but their movement may prompt the avatar to move forward as well. To reduce such issues, or to prevent ‘unnatural’ feeling movements, predictive analytics can be adapted to predict the player’s movements.

A larger issue with seamless VR locomotion would be the constraint of physical space. While the virtual environment can be as large as the developer wants, the player will be constrained by the size of the physical space they are in. I feel that VR treadmills are a good way to overcome this limitation. Though they may get in the way of how ‘realistic’ movement feels, keeping the player physically in the same spot may be the only way to overcome physical space constraints.

That being said, these are very niche and expensive ways of employing VR locomotion and it may need years of research and development before it can be accessible to the everyday consumer.