Virtuix’s VR Treadmill Now Shipping to Beta Users
After years in development, Virtuix’s VR treadmill Omni One is finally shipping to early supporters. The product targets users seeking a more immersive ‘arcade-quality’ virtual reality experience inside their homes. Earlier on, the virtual reality treadmill was mostly funded via crowdfunding campaigns.
Four weeks ago, the product began shipping to backers. In the meantime, Virtuix has kickstarted another funding round that will parlay the treadmill’s release for sale to the general public scheduled for later in the year.
The Omni treadmill was launched on Kickstarter in 2013 and received backing within 24 hours. The new Omni One VR treadmill has been modeled on the company’s Omni Pro, a bigger version of the treadmill that is widely used in arcade and other entertainment venues across the globe.
The Omni One Treadmill
Omni directional treadmill is round and is four feet wide and five feet long. The treadmill weighs 250 pounds. For safety, there is a vertical var that holding the shoulder and waist strap. The waist strap features a controller positioned on either side. The treadmill allows users to perform various activities virtually including running, walking, kneeling and jumping in a video game. You can easily fold away the Omni One treadmill when you are not using it.
The new Omni One treadmill is less mechanical and looks more less like a standard treadmill. It has a more of a concave design, resembling slip-on shoe covers. The effect is that of a foot slipping which simulates movement in virtual reality. However, both of Virtuix’s treadmills leverage tether to stabilize users.
The Omni One treadmill offers some upgrades over the original model such as its new tethering arm. Overall, the product remains the same. A major point of diversion is that while was compatible with HTC headsets, the Omni One is comes bundled only with a customized Pico Neo 3 headset.
Virtuix says that although the Omni One ships are a complete system, it is not necessarily closed. Users can still connect it to their PCs and use it on their PC-based virtual reality headset. However, it is shipping it with the customized headset to provide a better user experience. However, the system does not support the Meta Quest headset which Virtuix says has a “closed system”.
Prices for the Omni One treadmill begin from $2,595 in addition for to the shipping costs for the treadmill plus a Pico Neo 2 Virtual Reality headset. The Pico headset has been specifically customized for the treadmill. The Omni One will cost more than the price initially projected by Virtuix 0 $1,995. Investors in the VR treadmill will get a 30% discount.
Virtuix has stated that the treadmill will have compatibility with other virtual reality games down the line. However, the company will be providing its own first-party games in its store. At launch, the Virtuix store will have 30 titles. In a Facebook post, Virtuix announced that it had also shortlisted around 200 games that could have compatibility with its treadmill.
The Omni One treadmill is shipping to the general public later in the year. However, it isn’t apparent how many models of the device the company will produce. Virtuix announced that 900 investors had applied to purchase beta units of the device and there is a total of 35,000 general subscribing in its waiting list.
Virtuix relied on Kickstarter early on although the company went on to raise $35 million over the pas decade. One of its investors was Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban. Unlike other players in the industry, most of Virtuix’s funding hasn’t come from equity crowdfunding.
Virtuix delivered a few hundred units of the Virtuix treadmill to its early backers although it eventually hit a brick wall with its international pledges and had to refund Kickstarter backers. Because the home VR market was still a nascent one, Virtuix had to pivot to the commercial clients such as arcades and arcade-adjacent venues. The company has sold about 70 of the Omni Arena models to arcades in the U.S.
In late March, Virtuix announced that it was now ready to begin the shipments for the home version of the treadmill, finally fulfilling the promise it made a decade ago.
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