This is called the Maratron, an yes it is just a manual treadmill with a mouse taped to it, thank you very much. I love this idea so much and I wanna get more people to know about it.
Credit where credit is due, the original creators (Clasted Bheeks) video is here and the guy who iterated on it (fer sler) is here, my own iteration of the code is here, and you're welcome to make any improvements, changes, or suggestions though I'm working on it between obligations so there are things I already am trying to do that I can't yet accomplish.
The general overview is this: a mouse is taped to a manual treadmill, and the program (rewasd or the program fer sler wrote or my iteration) translates that into joystick movement.
I have yet to test the controller on any game but Skyrim vr and it works decently well! I think I do need to build a system of straps because right now I'm holding the bars as I walk and it makes it hard to do anything with my hands while moving. It has already gotten me walking half a mile a day even when I have other obligations and that's more than I can say I was doing before.
I'll likely have much more tomorrow when I have a day off to just tinker with it, but I'm generally having a blast with this.
