Microsoft ‘DreamWalker’ lets users walk real and virtual worlds at once

A new virtual reality system developed by Microsoft called ‘DreamWalker’ allows users to walk through the real world while being fully immersed in a virtual one. Developed by Microsoft researchers Eyal Ofek, Andy Wison and Christian Holz, along with Stanford University PhD scholar Jackie Yang, Dreamwalker allows the user to detect obstacles and adapt to the digital scene to the surrounding environment as they go, with the help of a mobile VR headset and an array of sensors. This research prototype, which will be presented in New Orleans this week at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) 2019 is the latest example of the company’s long standing work in virtual and augmented reality applications.

In order to keep the user from clashing with objects and people in the real-world, DreamWalker’s tracking system fuses GPS locations, inside-out tracking, and RGBD frames to 1) continuously and accurately position the user in the real world, 2) sense walkable paths and obstacles in real-time, and 3) represent paths through a dynamically changing scene in VR to redirect the user towards the chosen destination. The system’s versatility was demonstrated as it enabled 8 participants to walk three paths across the large Microsoft campus while enjoying pre-authored VR worlds, supplemented with a variety of obstacle avoidance and redirection techniques. The users were able to experience a virtual Manhattan that was full of animated cars, people and other objects during this 15-minute walk.

News and Image Source: https://www.geekwire.com/2019/microsoft-dreamwalker-vr-system-lets-users-traverse-real-world-immersed-virtual-reality/

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=41&v=dJ_aMyT1Ffw