Steppingstone’s electromagnetic floor lets VR users walk real miles in their own rooms
One of the biggest problems with VR is that if you want to walk from A to Z you soon hit the walls of your living room, but now you can walk forever without ever leaving your room.
Key takeaways
- The company has been working on a motion platform that uses electromagnetic propulsion to physically move players around as they stand or sit on a platform.
- The sensations of physically moving that the player feels should help to combat sickness in games with smooth locomotion such as Skyrim VR.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2019) 'Steppingstone’s electromagnetic floor lets VR users walk real miles in their own rooms', 311 Institute, 21 August. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/steppingstones-electromagnetic-floor-lets-vr-users-walk-real-miles-in-their-own-rooms/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
Virtual Reality (VR) is great, provided that is you’re happy lying, sitting, or standing in one place. And while the development of new haptic VR jackets and full body suits mean you can now also feel and interact with everything in your VR world as well as see it, from the buildings and plants, to the punches and kicks, Steppingstone VR thinks its new approach to helping people move around naturally in VR, in the same way they would in the real world by, for example walking or running around, is a winner.
The company has been working on a motion platform that uses electromagnetic propulsion to physically move players around as they stand or sit on a platform. You can see it in the early prototype video below, the platform gets its power supply from a specialized floor, a little like bumper cars, allowing it to quickly adapt and move in response to the player’s input in VR. The sensations of physically moving that the player feels should help to combat sickness in games with smooth locomotion such as Skyrim VR.
But this is just the first step for the company, and CEO Samy Bensmida says the consumer version of its product “aims to include multiple moving platforms that users will be able to step onto.”
That, in my eyes at least could be much more interesting and useful. The Tiles, as Bensmida calles them, will move backward as you step onto them, in theory allowing you to physically walk around a massive game world, like Minecraft, without ever leaving the center of a space.
You can see a concept in the video below, though Bensmida explains that this early system uses wheels, whereas future versions will use electromagnetic propulsion that will give the platform and the user much more autonomy.
“You will walk all day long in Skyrim with your legs, no harness, and get all the congruent inertial cues that go along with it,” says Bensmida.
And, yes, as expensive as it looks, Bensmida says the product is “100% consumer” with the aim of streamlining it to be viable for homes. Based on the prototype though there’s obviously a lot of work to be done to get Steppingstone anywhere near something we’d consider making space for at home or in the office, and many people would likely still be concerned about the safety of walking or running around virtual worlds when essentially blindfolded in VR.
Still, Bensmida seems confident the team will pull it off, and is preparing a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign to help it get there. So, if he can pull it off can you see yourself putting down electromagnetic flooring instead of carpet in your home or office if it meant complete and utter VR immersion? If not today then who knows, maybe in the future…
What this means for your organisation
Room size is VR's hidden limit.
Most VR still works best when users sit, lie or stand in one place, because the walls get in the way. Steppingstone VR wants to fix this with platforms that move under the user, powered by a specialised floor. Any VR plan that assumes free movement should be checked against the space people actually have.
This is still an early prototype.
The current concept uses wheels. Electromagnetic propulsion is planned for later versions. The source notes a lot of work remains before it suits a home or office, and that safety worries about moving around while blind to the room are real. Treat it as a watch item until the Kickstarter campaign shows something firmer.
Movement, touch and training connect.
Virtual Reality is a mature technology, and Haptics already adds a sense of touch. Natural walking could add the missing piece of movement. For firms using VR to train staff in safety, soft skills and complex tasks, that could make practice feel closer to real work. Our data puts VR training at wide use around 2030.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
- Which of our VR plans quietly assume users have more floor space than they do?
- What safety checks would we need before staff walk around while wearing a headset?
- What evidence would move this from a watch item to a pilot?
The trends and technologies behind this story
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s article and 311 data. First published on Fanatical Futurist.
FAQ
Why does this matter?
One of the biggest problems with VR is that if you want to walk from A to Z you soon hit the walls of your living room, but now you can walk forever without ever leaving your room.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, President and Futurist, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
Read full bio
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 17-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder, President and Futurist of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity programme, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
What future do you need to see?
Choose one to get started on virtual worlds and the future of your organisation.
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 21 August 2019. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2019). Steppingstone’s electromagnetic floor lets VR users walk real miles in their own rooms. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/steppingstones-electromagnetic-floor-lets-vr-users-walk-real-miles-in-their-own-rooms/
You are welcome to quote this article with credit and a link to the original.