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jan
Up and Coming
April 9, 2013

Virtuix Omni - Omni treadmill for use with the Rift

Hi all,

Wanted to introduce our Omni project to the game developers and Rift enthusiasts on this forum. With the advent of the Rift, it becomes apparent that a traditional keyboard / mouse / game pad is not conducive to great VR. Especially with the Rift, you no longer want to just sit down. At the very least, you want to be standing up. What if, instead of using a game pad to move around (with the possibility of getting motion sick while doing so), you could walk naturally and freely in the virtual world?

We have been working on the Omni for more than a year now. The Omni is the first omni treadmill focused on consumer use: affordable, compact, and enabling a user to move naturally in virtual environments such as games. Feel free to check out our website and Skyrim demo below: (note: this demo is with our old and clunky prototype :) )

http://www.virtuix.com




I believe there is a huge opportunity for game developers to create fascinating VR content. VR is a new medium that needs dedicated content, and the “killer game” that makes VR a “must-have” for a large audience. Good news: the canvas is vast and empty. I can’t wait to see what developers come up with!

We want to learn as much as possible from the input and creativity of this community, so please let us know your feedback! Let us know what you would like to change, have implemented, what questions you may have, etc.!

Best regards,

Jan

    77 replies

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    Anonymous
    May 1, 2013
    Definitely looking forward to this kickstarter.
    JOHIsaac
    Up and Coming
    May 1, 2013
    I will most likely back it up but as you said

    With a killer app, full VR with Omni + Rift (+ Hydra) will become a must-have for a large audience.


    First you have to have a killer app. There is none rigt now. If you want to play TF2 with it you always want to slide left and right or go backwards. You will be exhausted after playing it for an hour or more. You have to have the room to place it near the computer. What about the cables after turning a couple of times....

    On the other hand, assume games like Dear Esther or Horror Games like Amnesia would have full Omni and Rift support, it would be great. But they don't have.

    So I think it will be a niche product for enthusiasts.
    DieKatzchen
    Up and Coming
    May 1, 2013
    For now. They need to get more support from games being specifically designed for VR. If the API is simple enough maybe The Gallery could support it. That's a nice, slow-paced game that doesn't (I think) involve a lot of running, jumping, or crouching. As long as people are already having to make new custom content for the Rift, it's not that hard to get the Omni in there.
    Palmer on the openness of the Rift: http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/21cy9n/the_future_of_vr/cgc06b2?context=3 All of Palmer's Reddit posts: http://www.reddit.com/user/palmerluckey
    janAuthor
    Up and Coming
    May 2, 2013
    That's right. VR is a new medium that needs dedicated content. Such content can be absolutely impressive. VR is a game changer in many areas, and too exciting to stay just a niche product.

    Craigotron, not sure about sweating with the Rift on. My guess is that it is probably not ideal, but not that big of an issue (wasn't a problem for me or other testers so far). Ski goggles are different, since the low outside temperature when skiing causes fogging. I'd hope that your living room temperature is less extreme :).

    Crespo, we are preparing something for E3. To be announced later this month.
    Anonymous
    May 2, 2013
    Heh, thinking about it, a TF2 tournament with Rifts and Omni's at quakecon come August would be amazing.
    kingtut
    Up and Coming
    May 3, 2013
    "Felix12g" wrote:
    Heh, thinking about it, a TF2 tournament with Rifts and Omni's at quakecon come August would be amazing.


    I see whole teams collapsing, vomiting, having issues breathing, and sweating like pigs. It'd be hilarious :)

    (note: I would likely also be one of them - I'm looking forward to the Omni to aid in getting in shape - a long session of ARMA 3 will be waaay more interesting than a session at the gym!)
    simlrh
    New Participant
    May 3, 2013
    Hi Jan,

    The Omni looks great! I notice in the Rift + Omni video, your move/aim mode is set to move in the direction you're aiming. Does it also work well with look direction controlled by the Rift and walking direction controlled by the Omni? (vr_moveaim_mode 1, I think)

    I'm working on my own walking-on-the-spot body movement tracking, and the issue I'm foreseeing is that game developers won't include an option for separate move/aim controls, as it doesn't seem to be a popular control scheme in TF2. But I think it will be very important in order for "full body" VR to feel immersive!

    If a game doesn't support it, we could correct for it by tracking the HMD's movement ourselves and sending corrected movement controls (ie, if the user looks right and walks forward, we actually send a command to strafe left). But if I understand the SDK correctly, two programs (the game and the driver) can't both read data from the Rift at once.

    Do you have any thoughts on how this should be solved? Hopefully either games will be designed to support body movement, or the SDK will evolve to allow device sharing!
    janAuthor
    Up and Coming
    May 4, 2013
    Good points. I believe that games in the future will support independent movement input, since that is what VR requires (and it's too impressive to ignore). Until game developers adopt separate motion input, our software generates key strokes that every game already accepts (or analog input, for that matter). You can still de-couple viewing/walking with key strokes, per the method you described (however, with keyboard input, you would only have 8 discrete directions). Let me know if I am missing anything?
    jimbo2go
    Participant
    May 4, 2013
    "kingtut" wrote:
    "Felix12g" wrote:
    Heh, thinking about it, a TF2 tournament with Rifts and Omni's at quakecon come August would be amazing.


    I see whole teams collapsing, vomiting, having issues breathing, and sweating like pigs. It'd be hilarious :)

    (note: I would likely also be one of them - I'm looking forward to the Omni to aid in getting in shape - a long session of ARMA 3 will be waaay more interesting than a session at the gym!)


    Seriously! A nice 30 minute round of TF2 could replace the old morning exercise routine. That can totally be a thing. I'm 100% going to do that - every morning. Not even kidding.
    James Iliff, Project Holodeck | @jimbo2go | http://www.projectholodeck.com
    Anonymous
    May 22, 2013
    Are you guys still planning on doing a Kickstarter?
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