Virtuix Omni
Company | Virtuix |
---|---|
URL | Official site |
Virtuix Omni is an omnidirectional treadmill video game peripheral for virtual reality games currently in development by Virtuix. It was featured on "Shark Tank".
The Omni uses a slippery platform used to simulate the motion of walking.[1] The platform requires special shoes that reduce friction.[1] The player is fully enclosed within a ring that works as a safety harness to absorb the player's weight.[1] It was originally scheduled for release in January 2014,[2] but is now tentatively scheduled for June 2015.[3]
Description
The omnidirectional treadmill works as a game controller to let gamers walk within game environments.[4] The Omni has a "bowl-shaped, low-friction surface" and works with special shoes.[4]
The Omni is designed to be used with a head-mounted virtual reality display, such as the Oculus Rift.[4]
History
Virtuix was founded by Jan Goetgeluk.[5] The Virtuix Omni team spent two years developing the product before bringing it to Kickstarter for crowdfunding its manufacture.[5] The company also sought to give every virtual reality gaming enthusiast the opportunity to use the Omni with haste.[5] The team experimented with the Oculus Rift in conjunction with the Omni in games such as Team Fortress 2.[5]
The Virtuix Omni launched its Kickstarter page on June 4, 2013. Its kickstarter page was successful, overshot the amounts that they had predicted it to reach.[2] Oculus Rift founder Palmer Luckey promised a product endorsement in advance.[4] It reached its set fundraising goal of $150,000 almost immediately.[2] The company has said that the Kickstarter prices will be "significantly" lower than the retail price.[5] The crowdsourced money is planned to be spent on converting the Omni prototype into a mass consumer product.[2]
Omni production was set to begin in December 2013.[2] The tentative shipping date for early units was January 2014,[2] but was delayed several months.[6] Virtuix planned to publicly ship the Omni in early 2014.[1] As of April 2014, the final version had not been released, though Virtuix announced that they had sold 3,000 Omnis.[7] The Omni was expected for release to its Kickstarter backers in Q4 2014, and other customers thereafter.[8]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Miller, Paul (June 11, 2013). "Testing the Virtuix Omni: a walk on the virtual side". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 11, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Mallory, Jordan (June 4, 2013). "Virtuix Omni VR treadmill Kickstarter goes live, fully funded almost immediately". Joystiq. AOL Tech. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
- ↑ "Products". Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Tweedie, Steven (June 3, 2013). "This Virtual Reality Treadmill Could Be The 'Holy Grail' Of Video Game Controllers". Business Insider. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Phillips, Tom (June 4, 2013). "Virtual reality omnidirectional treadmill funded on Kickstarter in a matter of hours". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
- ↑ "Omni: Production and Shipping, Tracking and SDK, Events". November 3, 2013. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
- ↑ Kuchera, Ben (March 21, 2014). "The evolution of the virtual soldier: Hands-on with the latest version of the Virtuix Omni". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on April 4, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
- ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions". Virtuix Omni. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
External links
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