Bluetooth LE enables VR treadmill
KATVR launched its latest VR treadmill in July 2022. The omni-directional VR gaming treadmill comes with custom shoes that connect to the VR headset via Bluetooth.
The shoes contain foot sensors mounted on the bottom to track a player’s feet to determine in-game direction. I spotted a position sensor AS5600 in the foot sensor teardown. The foot sensors use Texas instruments CC2640 SOC for Bluetooth connectivity.
The foot sensor is powered by 3.7V 370 mAh LiPo battery. You can charge these shoes via USB in about one hour. A charge can last up to seven hours.
Powered by TI CC26240
The CC2640 device contains a 32-bit Arm Cortex-M3 running at 48 MHz. The IC has 128 KB Flash and 20 KB RAM. The device employs Arm Cortex-M0 and ROM for Bluetooth connectivity.
Other VR treadmills on the market
The Chinese firm KATVR successfully funded KAT Walk C2 product development through Kickstarter. Other popular VR treadmills on the market are Virtuix Omni, Cyberith Virtualizer etcetera.