Virtuix’s Omni was not only one of the biggest VR-related Kickstarter campaigns when it launched in June 2013, it was also one of the ten biggest technology crowdfunding campaigns at that time, raising over $1.1 million against a goal of $150,000. Officially described as a “locomotion simulator” for virtual reality games but commonly referred to as a “VR treadmill”, the platform allows users to walk, run, jump and crouch in their favourite games. The Omni features a bowl-shaped treadmillesque surface, with users being required to use special, friction-reducing shoes in order to operate it. It is theoretically possible to use the system in conjunction with any PC title that supports one of the existing virtual reality headsets such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and OSVR, as all of its user input is effectively translated into joystick commands.
The final version of the Omni was presented at the Las Vegas-based CES in January 2015, and the retail version began shipping in November 2016. However, by December last year, the company announced that it would no longer be shipping the $699 product outside of the US, due to the fact that (despite raising an additional $6.6 million in July 2016) it did not have the “resources to deliver and service units in every country”. Still, the system has received much more publicity in 2017, announcing last week that it had become an official hardware partner of HTC, with native Omni support being added to titles including Arizona Sunshine, Quell 4D and The Bellows.
Overcoming the “Locomotion Problem”
“Locomotion simulators” such as the Omni and a similar British-based start-up, the WizDish ROVR, have the obvious benefit of providing users with a more authentic, and thus more immersive, experience of being able to simulate real-life movement in their games, solving the issue with developers having to design their environments to be room-scale, as is the case with room-tracking solutions to the issue such as the Vive’s Lighthouse. Even more importantly though, these “VR Treadmills” also go a long way to solving the “locomotion problem” that has dogged virtual reality technology since its inception. This problem essentially is as follows: moving in virtual reality while your body remains stationary can cause some users to experience a nauseous feeling akin to motion sickness. The problem has undoubtedly prevented VR developers from having the freedom to create the truly immersive experiences players are demanding, and it is for this reason that the Omni and its contenders – hardware that minimises the issue by reducing the stimuli mismatch that occurs – could be one of the most important milestones in the history of virtual reality innovation.
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Source: Play3r