Anybody who has seen or read Ready Player One will feel slightly disappointed at the lack of advancement made by modern virtual reality. The technology has been around for decades, and modern headsets provide a highly immersive experience.

But, the omnidirectional Infinadeck treadmill has yet to hit the mainstream, and for many people, the virtual reality experience has yet to live up to the hype. But, as well as more comfortable headsets offering more immersive experiences, VR companies are evolving the technology.

Virtual reality invites users to step into immersive virtual universes. Experiences can include tours of far-off lands, a look back at historical episodes, virtual AAA gaming experiences, and they offer another place where to find casinos not on Betstop.

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However you use virtual reality, the ultimate aim is to enjoy a completely immersive experience. Whether you’re hurtling down the world’s fastest rollercoaster, or are taking on armed insurgents, you want to feel like you’re really experiencing it. VR has the upper hand over traditional gaming.

Headset wearers are not constrained by screen size and can use head movement and even eye movement to change their field of vision. Most modern headsets use joysticks, but some use sensors to determine hand and foot movement, so the user can realistically move around and take part in the action.

Haptic feedback is nothing new to gamers. Controllers and even mobile phone screens vibrate to offer a degree of haptic feedback. But, for a more immersive experience, this feedback can do more. Sensors on fingers and palms can react to the action taking place in a VR universe and give the user the experience of holding, striking, or otherwise touching objects. And the feedback doesn’t necessarily have to be reserved for the hands. Sensors and monitors could potentially be placed across the whole body and around the head. There may come a stage where the feeling is overwhelming, but it would make it a lot more realistic.

Currently, movement in VR is controlled by joystick movement or awkward walking on the spot. Too much movement can lead to collisions with furniture or spectators, and even setting up a mesh area isn’t necessarily enough to prevent these collisions. Ready Player One has the Infinadeck, which is an omnidirectional treadmill, and while we shouldn’t really be hoping to enter Oasis, the treadmill is a desirable piece of VR kit.

Users can walk in any direction, and the VR system recognizes the direction, speed, and type of movement. While you could always get a standard treadmill of your own and use this, it wouldn’t allow for change in movement speed or direction, and it wouldn’t control the action in the VR headset. Omni VR treadmills have been launched, but none quite match up to the promise of the Infinadeck. Yet.

Audio is vital to immersive experiences. In VR, you want audio to sound as though it is emanating from a specific area or direction. Headsets have the advantage of being worn on the head, covering the ears, and by employing some clever stereo audio technology, it is possible to make sounds seem as though they are coming from behind or to the side of the user. Makers will continue to make improvements in audio, including discreet and ambient noises, effectively filling the world with believable sounds.

Other forms of feedback that we have yet to really see in VR include olfactory and gustatory feedback. Olfactory feedback is the creation of smells. These can be very specific to certain items, or, for example, to give the smell of a fresh field or a major city.

One that might be more difficult to create is gustatory feedback, or the stimulation of taste. Because these are virtual realities, the smells and tastes need to be created without actually using the original smells and tastes. Digital lollipop prototypes do exist already, so the technology has potential.