After dazzling gamers nationwide for the last year, Virtuix has finally revealed the ship date for the Omni VR treadmill: this September. The cost is surprisingly cheap, a fair $499 USD, which is also the price of a new Xbox One console. Unfortunately, the Omni pricetag doesn't include the hefty shipping costs, the VR headset, and the PC game controller.
What this package does include is the shoes, the belt, and the tracking hardware and software. Customers can actually snag two Virtuix Omni and three pairs of shoes for a meaty $1,019, and an optional Omni Rack for $79, which can hold a keyboard and mouse, controllers and the Oculus Rift control box.
MORE: Feet-on with the Virtuix Omni: Full Oculus Rift Immersion
For the uninitiated, the Virtuix Omni isn't an actual moving treadmill, but instead provides a grooved, concave, low-friction surface to walk on. Special shoes that ship with the contraption have pegs on the soles that can slide into the grooves. The learning curve may take a while because you're walking slightly uphill on a stationary platform.
However, once mastered, you'll learn that this form factor is better because you can move forward in any direction. We tested the Omni treadmill during E3 2013, which also used the Oculus Rift, a Kinect sensor to track our movements, and Valve Software's Half-Life 2. Walk forward, and you walk forward in the game. Stop and turn around, and the game does the same. Pure immersive awesomeness.
"Walk, run, jump, crouch; the Omni will keep you on your feet and in motion. It's a healthier way to game — working out has never been this much fun. Our software even tracks your distance traveled and calories burned along the way," reads the Kickstarter page.
The Virtuix Omni started out as a Kickstarter project. The company scored $1,109,351 from 3,249 backers, surpassing the original $150,000 goal. Those who made pledges will receive their Virtuix Omni this summer around July. Pre-purchase customers, as previously stated, won't see theirs until September.
Does this mean we may see the Oculus Rift in September too?
