Virtual reality treadmill pre-orders open at $499

The Omni treadmill, an omnidirectional treadmill intended to work with the Oculus Rift for natural movement when playing VR games, has opened its pre-orders at $499.

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Oculus Rift is cool and all, but you're largely staying stationary while you play, leading to some disconnect between what your eyes see and what your body feels. There's a treadmill catered to solve just that problem, and it will be available for a cool $499.

The Omni Natural Motion Interface treadmill (via GameSpot) is expected to ship in March 2014. It includes the treadmill, shoes, belt, tracking hardware, and SDK. It's intended to work in tandem with the Oculus Rift, letting you turn naturally and walk or run through game environments since it's omnidirectional. Big-spenders could go for the $1019 package, which includes two treadmills and throws in a third pair of the socks. These prices don't include shipping, which will be calculated when it's ready to roll out.

The device's Kickstarter ran in June, raising $1.1 million--far above its $150,000 funding goal.

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  • reply
    August 12, 2013 12:00 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Virtual reality treadmill pre-orders open at $499.

    The Omni treadmill, an omnidirectional treadmill intended to work with the Oculus Rift for natural movement when playing VR games, has opened its pre-orders at $499.

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      August 12, 2013 12:05 PM

      I wonder what shipping would be on one of those bad boys. What's games support like for it anyway?

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        August 12, 2013 12:10 PM

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          August 12, 2013 12:13 PM

          Oh, very exciting! I need to factor this thing into any moves I make in future.

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        August 12, 2013 12:12 PM

        It replicates keyboard input so any game.

        Can the Omni be played with any game?

        Yes, the Omni can be used with any game out-of-the-box that used keyboard input (as long as the Rift or other HMD is supported). The Omni works best with first-person perspective games that allow you to walk around and enjoy the scenery around you (such as Skyrim or Minecraft), or first person shooters.


        Domestic shipping:

        Depending on how far you live from either the West or East Coast, domestic shipping costs will be in the $60-$90 range for doorstep delivery of the standard Omni. Additional shoes, belts and rack will increase the shipping costs.

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      August 12, 2013 12:09 PM

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      August 12, 2013 12:10 PM

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      August 12, 2013 12:29 PM

      holodeck here we come!!!

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      August 12, 2013 12:36 PM

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      August 12, 2013 12:42 PM

      what about Strafing? Crouching? Jumping?

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        August 12, 2013 12:49 PM

        I used to jump off the pad in that one old Olympics pad during the long jump. I wonder if you can cheat the new thing by holding yourself off it to do long jumps.

        Would be nice if speed and jump distance can be 1:1, so if you're more fit you'd play better.

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        August 12, 2013 1:08 PM

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      August 12, 2013 12:54 PM

      fuck yes!!!

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      August 12, 2013 12:55 PM

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      August 12, 2013 12:56 PM

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      August 12, 2013 12:57 PM

      Has anyone tried it? Does it actually emulate walking step by step or does it just feel like you are moving your legs to activate a throttle?

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      August 12, 2013 1:05 PM

      Theres gonna be plenty of youtube videos of people busting their ass on this.

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      August 12, 2013 1:08 PM

      this ranks somewhere around a real-doll in terms of well-adjusted, practical purchases.

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      August 12, 2013 1:12 PM

      Weird, it doesn't come with some kind of cover. I would hate for people to see me using that thing.

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      August 12, 2013 4:09 PM

      This rift is going to be great, this ... not so much.

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      August 12, 2013 4:09 PM

      Durability is going to be a big issue. I can see a lot of problems with 350lb people trying to use this thing. Or overenthusiastic kids jumping up and down on it.

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        August 12, 2013 5:54 PM

        Its an American product so its probably rated for 500lbs and has various holders for twinkies/liquid lard/guns

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      August 12, 2013 6:51 PM

      Gyms should get this kind of stuff with a Rift. That would bring in the lard boys.

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      August 14, 2013 9:47 AM

      It kind of reminds me of the thing they used in red dwarf, so finally the future is here

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