While the advent of virtual reality has been a major boost to the gaming scene over the past few years, the medium often isn’t as accessible as it could be. With most games and applications requiring you to move around various parts of your body, those who don’t have certain functions might find the realm of VR nearly impossible to utilize. Fortunately, a new program is soon set to release that could help change this.
WalkinVR is the name of a new piece of software that might help make the world of virtual reality more accessible to those who are handicapped. First released back in 2017, WalkinVR has since been iterated upon and is set to see a new version of the software arrive later this month on Steam.
Essentially, WalkinVR allows users to finely tune certain aspects of VR experiences. The developers behind the software say that it can “enhance [a] person’s movement and adapt them to play existing Virtual Reality games.” This takes the form of additions that allow easier turning, leaning, and crouching in games to go along with extended movement range when it comes to your hands. The program also can increase the dynamic of hand movements meaning that actions that could be slower in the real world could be seen as faster in the VR realm.
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WalkinVR also lets users opt to use various pads to perform actions in games rather than the native buttons that appear on controllers. Plus, hand tracking via Kinect or Azure has also been implemented to the software so that those who can’t hold controllers can still have their motions followed.
While it might seem daunting to tune all of these qualities yourself, WalkinVR has been developed to be simple to use. The interface for the software is said to be “easy and intuitive” according to the creators. Furthermore, all games and applications that are available via SteamVR are said to be compatible with WalkinVR, too.
Obviously, our aim here at VR Fitness Insider is typically to focus on games and other VR applications that can help you stay in shape by jumping or running about, but we’re proponents of all sorts of activity levels. For those that can’t be active in the real world, hopefully, WalkinVR can allow them to be more active with the universe of VR. Assuming the program works as intended, hopefully, it can open up the world of virtual reality to an entirely new audience that currently cannot easily access games in this space.
For more information on WalkinVR, you can check out the application’s official website right here. You can also see more of how the program works in action over on Steam. According to this listing, WalkinVR should release later this month on June 29 and will be available in a free and premium iteration. It will also be compatible with Valve Index, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality, and HTC Vive headsets.
