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I quite literally ran around a virtual arena and loved it
We've been watching the development of Virtuix's Omni VR treadmill since 2013. The company debuted a fully-functional production model at CES 2016 and I was lucky enough to take the $700 device for a test drive -- or rather test run.
Virtuix Omni pre-orders open, time to clear some space in the living room
Good news for everyone who's been eagerly awaiting an opportunity to run in place. A fortnight after closing the door on a successful Kickstarter campaign, Virtuix is ready to open up Omni pre-orders. $500 will get you the massive Oculus Rift add-on, a price that includes the treadmill, a harness, those special shoes and the necessary tracking hardware and software. That price, however, doesn't include a Rift, shipping or Gatorade. Still, for a limited time, entering the "VR50" coupon code at checkout will get you $50 off.
NASA JPL takes a VR tour of Mars with Oculus Rift and Virtuix Omni (video)
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory likes to dip its feet in cutting edge consumer hardware from time to time, as evidenced by its trial use of the Leap Motion to remotely control a Mars rover. Well, you can't get much more cutting edge than virtual reality, which is why the team was so intrigued by the Oculus Rift when they first saw it at PAX last year. They signed up for a dev kit as soon as they could, cobbled the Rift together with a stereoscopic 360-degree panorama of Mars obtained from Curiosity, strapped on the VR goggles and found themselves magically transported to the Red planet. According to our interview with Human Interfaces Engineer Victor Luo, they then added terrain imagery captured from satellites so users could actually "walk" on Mars' rocky surface using an Xbox controller -- "with up to 25 centimeters per pixel." "However, we thought it'd be great if we could literally 'walk' on the terrain," said Luo. With that in mind, they contacted the people behind the Virtuix Omni treadmill. It so happens they were in the area for E3, so they brought the contraption up to JPL headquarters, hooked it up, and sure enough, they were able to "wander around" the surface of Mars with their own two feet. Join us after the break for more on our interview with Luo, plus a video clip of the aforementioned virtual Mars tour.
Virtuix Omni VR treadmill demoed with Minecraft in multiplayer mode (video)
Remember that gaming treadmill that we sweated all over during E3 last month? Virtuix's Kickstarted Omni is still firmly in the prototype stage, but that's not stopping the company from putting the gigantic peripheral through its special-shoe-requiring paces. CEO Jan Goetgeluk headed to the machine shop where the first Omni was built to demo some multiplayer gaming. And what better title to try things out than with a little Minecraft? If the below video is any indication, things went relatively smoothly. Says the exec, "even though the Minecraft graphics seem unsuited for VR, the game is actually a blast with Rift and Omni." Who needs the gym?
Virtuix Omni VR treadmill shows up at E3, we go feet-on (video)
I'm a little nauseous and a bit sweaty. This was my first time using the Oculus Rift. It's the sort of thing you've got to ease into, really -- sitting stationary, letting your brain adjust to the whole experience. Or you could just pop the thing on and run in place on a treadmill in a downtown Los Angeles hotel suite. Your call, really. Just don't come crying to me when you're having a bit of trouble standing up straight, as you attempt to step down from the slippery surface at the end of your session. Have I seen the future? Hard to say, of course, but whatever it was that just happened was neat -- and if you were one of the 2,000 or so folks who got in on Virtuix's Kickstarter, it'll be heading your way in January. The company's CEO, Jan Goetgeluk took me through the paces of the system, a stationary design he settled on after toying around with a more traditional treadmill model. The Omni is really quite a simple thing at its heart, a concave, slick surface attached to two bars that converge in a circle. The company's designed special soles, as well -- plastic pieces raised at the heel and ball of the foot, with a fabric friction surface on the toe. Walk around and your feet slip. That's about it, really. Of course, it takes some getting used to, and Goetgeluk stood aside as I learned to walk again: lean forward, step down on the heel and let the rest of your foot slide with it. It took a few minutes, and I'm still not exactly an expert %Gallery-191176%
