Virtuix starts Kickstarter campaign for virtual reality treadmill Omni

We had earlier seen a great step forward in virtual reality with the Omni VR Omni-directional treadmill. The project is now a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of $150,000, and within hours of starting, the campaign reached its goal. At the time of writing, with 47 days to go, the Omni treadmill Kickstarter campaign sits on $486,099 with 1,267 backers.

The treadmill we had seen back in April was a prototype of the Omni. It allows you to step, walk or run in any direction you want. It plugs into a computer so that your movements are fed into the game. This essentially means that you can control your character’s movements by moving yourself. While it does allow you to control movement with your own feet, jumping seems to be a tricky proposition.

The Omni is an interesting take at motion controls

One of the main features of the Omni is that it is ready to play out of the box with any game or app that uses keyboard input. The Omni is compatible with the Oculus Rift and Razer Hydra or other game controllers.

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The Omni can also be disassembled and stored. The top is removable and the Omni can be stowed away like exercise equipment. The ring height and belt size are adjustable. It comes with Omni shoes, a support belt and tracking hardware and software.

The current Omni design has an outer diameter of 48" (122cm) and weighs 110lbs (50kg). The support ring height is adjustable to best accommodate a user height ranging from 4'8" to 6'5" (142cm - 195cm).

“The action feels like real running,” Virtuix boss Jan Goetgeluk told Road to VR. “The immersion is intense. I had a former Marine try HL2 yesterday, and he was slightly shaking.”