A VR treadmill turned Skyrim into a full-body quest when gaming YouTuber Liam Shaw decided to test immersion the hard way.
He strapped into a Catwalk C2 Core treadmill, and committed to exploring Skyrim VR using real steps instead of a controller or keyboard.
His plan: spend a full week inside the game to see whether the pricey setup could transform virtual adventure into something physical.
What he got was perhaps more than he signed up for.
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Adjusting to the VR treadmill took some effort
The experiment did not start gracefully.
Shaw compared his first attempts at walking on the device to ‘Bambi on ice,’ wobbling through a tight dungeon while trying to stay upright.
YouTube/Liam Shaw
The treadmill relies on a controlled sliding motion rather than natural walking, which made small actions like looting or turning in narrow spaces feel awkward.
After two and a half hours of assembly and staring at the machine’s huge footprint in his VR room, his first impression was mixed.
The turning point was when he stepped into Skyrim’s open world.
Shaw banned fast travel, forcing himself to physically walk or jog everywhere.
YouTube/Liam Shaw
Quests suddenly felt like real expeditions rather than quick errands.
The treadmill tricked his brain just enough that he naturally broke into a jog, even sprinting away from enemies.
By day three, though, his calves were on fire.
Even with the low-friction surface, he had to constantly drag his feet back, and his real-world stamina ran out before his in-game stamina did.
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Exercising has never been this fun
As the days went on, Shaw dialed in the tech.
He enabled automatic sprint detection, so running faster triggered in-game sprinting.
Gesture controls let him summon a wolf with an arm raise, and voice mods meant he could speak dialogue instead of pressing buttons.
Dressed in wizard robes, moving, fighting, and talking without a controller made him feel like he was actually inside Skyrim.
YouTube/Liam Shaw
Of course, there were drawbacks.
The VR treadmill was loud, took up serious space, and left the arches of his feet sore enough to need a rest day.
However, the fitness side impressed him.
In one intense session fighting giants, he hit a high heart rate zone and burned over 200 calories.
YouTube/Liam Shaw
After a week, he had logged hours of play and thousands of steps, while finishing only a few quests, because he was savoring the journey.
If you’re hoping to unwind after a long day of work, gaming on a VR windmill might not be your thing.
However, if you want a bit of immersion and gamified fitness, this might be perfect.
And if you want to check out his full experience, you can do so below:
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