the omnidirectional treadmill may be used alone or in conjunction with a computer generated 360 degree interactive virtual reality environment this virtual environment responds in real time to the participant 39 s foot movement on the omnidirectional treadmill the electronic virtual reality environment may be delivered to the participant via virtual reality glasses or on a surrounding projection screen with audio support there are basically five components which are strategically assembled in order to create a functional omnidirectional moving surface a spindle or walking platform a series of ball bearings a bladder an omnidirectional base or platform and a trackball sensor 0024 fig1 illustrates a side view of the spindle 101 the spindle 101 may be approximately eight to ten inches high five feet in diameter and may weigh from thirty to forty pounds the spindle 101 may be made of a very robust yet very lightweight polymer plastic or nylon material and should be symmetrical in all dimensions i e top side front see for example fig2 for a top view the top locomotion surface 103 of the spindle 101 is convex this particular design dynamic promotes a focused center of gravity the convex nature of the walking running surface brings the user back to the center of the pad via gravity the top surface 103 may have a low coefficient of friction 0027 fig3 illustrates a number of ball bearings 301 forming a ring around the spindle 101 there maybe approximately 10 to 15 lightweight hollow hard plastic ball bearings forming a complete ring around the spindle 101 partially within.