MOTORIZED ROTATABLE TREADMILL
 AND SYSTEM FOR CREATING THE
    ILLUSION OF MOVEMENT

                  US Patent # 11,577,177
       “A motorized, rotatable treadmill and a system for creating the illusion of user
 movement while the user is stationary with respect to an environment as the user walks
   or otherwise moves on an endless track of the treadmill. The user can then travel an
 unlimited distance in unlimited directions while remaining stationary in physical location.
  The speed of the treadmill is precisely controlled and/or precisely matched with
  movement of a camera and a real-world speed of movement of the user and the
    distance the user travels on the belt to create the illusion of movement of the
   person being filmed. When the treadmill is provided within an LED virtual film
    set or green screen set, background imagery is added to further supplement
                       the movement in a selected environment.”


     “a system for creating the illusion of movement of a user. The user may be inserted
    into a virtually rendered setting, a liveaction pre-filmed setting, or a combination
        thereof. The system includes a motorized treadmill assembly having an endless
       belt operably supported on a rotatable turntable such that the treadmill assembly
allows for unlimited directional movement of the belt and a controller configured to synch
   the movement of the treadmill with a camera in real-time. The treadmill assembly is
      configured to support the user thereon and wherein the treadmill assembly remains
      stationary, and the user movement is confined to a surface area of the belt, and the
                          illusion of unrestricted movement is created.”


    “camera movement is synched with a real-world speed and distance traveled
      by the belt for creating the illusion of unrestricted movement of the user.”


“One or more audio, visual, or tactile cue sources are provided to the endless track,
 rotatable turntable, user or a combination thereof and actuating one or more audio,
   visual, or tactile cue sources to provide a physical signal to the user on the endless
    track to indicate one or more of a position of the user on the track, an initiation or
        ceasing of movement of the track, an initiation or ceasing of rotation of the
            turntable, or a cue or action related to the scene being filmed.”


    “The rotatable turntable is installable in an LED based virtual film set or green
                                     screen film set.”
    “When creating the illusion of movement of the user on the treadmill, the method
 includes tracking the precise location of the user in real-time and providing physical
     cues to the user to direct the user’s movement to maintain the user on a location
     of the endless belt. If the user deviates from the location on the endless belt,
          adjusting a location of the camera to compensate for the deviation.”


   “The motorized rotatable treadmill assembly can be used in various environments
 for entertainment purposes and/or for creating content including the illusion of a user
  traveling through an environment while never leaving the space in which the motorized
                               rotatable treadmill is located.”


 “the motorized treadmill and rotating turntable are used in combination with a system for
     controlling the treadmill and turntable along and optionally with a camera for
                        creating the illusion of movement of a user”


  “the speed and direction of the treadmill belt as well as the rotational speed and position
    of the turntable may be determined and controlled by data collected from a 3D/virtual
   system and/or real world/GPS positional and rotational data from cameras being used
   for recording and/or rendering a video-based environment in which a user of the
                         treadmill is being virtually inserted into.”


  “the movement of the treadmill belt and/or turn turntable may respond and change with
  each step or change in position of the user. Tracking of the user may be carried out
     with various sensors integrated into the assembly, worn by the user, and/or
                              surrounding the assembly.”


  “the user cue system is configured to provide audio, visual, tactile and/or haptic
 cues to the user for anticipating an assembly start, stop, rotation, speed, speed change
 or other user and/or assembly action(s) that relate to the user movement, location on the
                      belt, and/or corresponding digital environment.”


   “The user may be provided with one or more wearable devices in communication
       with the media server. These devices comprise sensors for monitoring and
  recording user movement and for providing feedback relating to the user movements
   or positioning to the media server or controller. Additional wearable devices may be
configured for providing audio, visual, tactile or other signals or cues to the user from
the media server or other controller. For example, the wearable devices may comprise
  one or more inertial measurement sensors, haptic vibration motors for contacting
    the user’s body, insoles, vibratory or LED components worn on various parts
       of the user’s body among other various devices for communicating remotely
    and discreetly with the user. The user cue system may provide audio cues which
        may be wirelessly transmitted to an in ear listening device worn by the user.”
     “the assembly is configured for use with a digitally rendered environment. An
   animation timeline may be used with one or more cue modes as a system controller for
   the assembly. The animation timeline is configured to establish the user(s) travel
    path and/or a camera path through a virtual or pre-filmed environment that the
                              user(s) is/are inserted into.”


  “in one or more embodiments, the animation timeline is a custom animation timeline that
   with a cue sequencing system provides a programmer the ability to add an animated
                 virtual user, or an avatar (“AV”) into the environment.”


   “The AV may be a digital twin of the user by means of a multi-camera photogrammetry
rig capturing an image of the user from multiple different points of view/locations at the
                                     exact same time.”


      “A 3D-AV may be represented in the system as a 3D modeled character that is
   inserted into the 3D virtual space via the real-time render engine or the media server 3D
  space. The 3D-AV may then be affected by things like lighting, shadows, and object
     occlusion that are part of the 3D scene. The system may also provide the ability to
       overlay a 2D rendered composite image of the 3D-AV character which will match
                                 orientation, position, and scale.”


      “the animation timeline in combination with cue modes, hereinafter referred to as the
  system controller, may be a source of all control, movement, functionality, and/or operation
of the motorized rotatable treadmill assembly as well as one or more cameras for capturing
     user movement on the assembly. This system allows for isolating user(s) from a
   background to be digitally inserted into a rendered 3D virtual scene or a prefilmed
     real-world environment for the purpose of being filmed as the user is able to travel
    through the environment along the 2d ground plane an infinite distance in any direction”


  “In embodiments where the motorized treadmill is used to render or generate content for
    a digital scene, a corresponding camera(s) movement through the scene can be
   precisely synched with the user’s real-world speed and distance as they travel on
                                    the endless belt.”


 “The device and systems described herein allow a user and film camera to remain static
   relative to their real-world position while creating the illusion that both are able to
                     move freely through a video-based environment.”


   “the illusion of orbiting the film camera around the focal point of the shot, which
   would be the user, may be created by instead rotating the person being filmed in
 synch with the orbital rotation speed and angle of the camera responsible for filming
           or rendering the video environment the user is being inserted into.”
       “An artificial intelligence (AI) system and/or existing software may be
used to acquire the data needed to control the system, where the AI and/or existing
software is able to analyze a video and determine very accurately the path, rotation,
and/or 3D positional data of the camera that recorded the video. Currently available
software and technology in the field of photogrammetry is rapidly expanding. Such
 software and related technology may also be incorporated into a control system
     for calculating the position of a video camera relative to the physical and
                  real-world environment in an analyzed video clip.”


   “The motorized rotatable treadmill assembly according to one or more embodiments
   herein may be remotely controlled. The electric components in communication with
    a controller and/or software control system for remote operation and control of the
  operation of the motorized rotatable treadmill assembly. That is, control of the speed
and direction of the treadmill belt, speed and direction of the rotation of the turntable,
 angle of the travel deck, control of fans, and combinations thereof can be remotely
          controlled and synched to various equipment and environments.”
Claims
1. A system for creating the illusion of movement of a user, for use in virtually rendered
settings, the system comprising:

a motorized treadmill base having an endless belt operably supported on a rotatable
turntable such that the treadmill allows for unlimited directional movement of the belt;
and

a controller configured to synch the movement of the treadmill with a camera in
real-time, and

wherein the treadmill base is configured to support the user thereon and wherein the
treadmill base remains stationary, and the user movement is confined to a surface area
of the belt, and the illusion of unrestricted movement is created.


2. The system of claim 1, wherein the camera and the user rotate inversely to one
another.


3. The system of claim 2, wherein the camera movement is synched with a real-world
speed and distance traveled by the belt for creating the illusion of unrestricted
movement of the user.


4. A method of creating the illusion of movement comprising:
providing an endless track on a rotatable turntable and a camera spaced apart from the
turntable and wherein the camera is moveable around the turntable about an axis
centered on the endless track;

controlling the speed of the endless track;

controlling the direction of the endless track by rotating the turntable;

synching movement of the camera with a real-world speed of the endless track and a
distance traveled by the track;

providing one or more audio, visual, or tactile cue sources to the endless track, rotatable
turntable, user or a combination thereof; and

actuating one or more audio, visual, or tactile cue sources to provide a physical signal to
the user on the endless track indicating one or more of a position of the user on the
track, an initiation or ceasing of movement of the track, and an initiation or ceasing of
rotation of the turntable, or a cue related to the scene being filmed.


5. The method of claim 4 and further comprising installing the rotatable turntable in an
LED based virtual film set or green screen film set.



6. The method of claim 4 and further comprising:
tracking the precise location of the user;

providing physical cues to the user through to direct the user's movement to maintain
the user on a location of the endless belt; and

if the user deviates from the location on the endless belt, adjusting a location of the
camera and environment to compensate for the deviation.
