Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Virtuix Omni is a Step Toward True Virtual Reality Gaming (Video)

Posted by Roblimo on from the let's-meet-on-the-holodeck-at-2100 dept.

The Virtuix Omni "is an omnidirectional treadmill video game peripheral for virtual reality games currently in development by Virtuix," says Wikipedia. With this device and an Oculus Rift, Razer Hydra or a similar "immersive" headset, you can play games equipped to use these devices with your whole body moving in any direction you choose. If you think you saw this product on the Shark Tank TV show or a pitch for it at Kickstarter.com, you're right. You did. The Virtuix Omni people have been pushing their product hard, everywhere they can. Tim ran into their product manager, Colton Jacobs, at the recent AppsWorld conference in London. This video is Tim's record of their conversation.

20 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  2. Re:Slashdot by PaddyM · · Score: 4, Funny

    "A deja vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something."

  3. Exercise... eh by stewsters · · Score: 4, Funny

    And you thought Skyrim was big before...

  4. Yeah... by mythosaz · · Score: 3

    It's not that it's dumb, it's that we're all way, way, way too lazy.

    Dance Dance Revolution died out a while ago. The Wii was amusing for a while, but we just sit and flick now. The Kinect is pretty awesome, but we mostly just want to yell "GRENADE!" at it while slumping and playing shoot-'em-ups. The kids still jump around, but the novelty wears off them quickly too.

    These would be cool in the party bus that entertains kids birthday parties, but that's about it.

    1. Re:Yeah... by jeffmflanagan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You speak only for the stereotypical overweight gamer. Some of us keep fit and look for opportunities to be active while gaming.

      Going for a serious hike while playing a PC game would be an excellent next step beyond what the Wii and 360+Kinect offer. You miss out on how great it can feel to simply be alive and healthy if you let your body go like so many foolish people do.

    2. Re:Yeah... by Tom · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You speak only for the stereotypical overweight gamer. Some of us keep fit and look for opportunities to be active while gaming.

      Or, you know, just want to have fun.

      I still play tennis on my Wii with full-motion swings, because it's a lot more fun that way. And I play for fun, not to win (winning is fun, so it's a secondary path, but not the primary goal).

      I would absolutely love to run through Skyrim. Maybe not every morning, but just for the cool factor. Also, I do own a Unity 3D engine. Being able to build your own environment to run around in and stuff? Wow.

      And then... when I go really crazy, I'm imagining playing pen & paper roleplaying games and having something prepared for this for the hacker who goes into the matrix, or the shaman who goes on a dream journey or whatever...

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    3. Re:Yeah... by mythosaz · · Score: 2

      There's interactive workout machines at the gym. There's a whole interactive world out there. It's neat. I've been there (once or twice).

      I'd love for the next-gen Tour de France machine at the gym to include some sort of Oculus setup, but this slippery-not-a-treadmill is destined to become junk in a living room.

      [As a side note, I have already realized my lifelong goal of having as my Tour de France victories as Lance Armstrong.]

    4. Re:Yeah... by Immerman · · Score: 2

      Speak for yourself. I play Wii games with as much physicality as possible - that's kind of the whole point. If I just wanted to sit and mash buttons I'd be on the PC.

      And I think you're missing one of the big points here - people are lazy in large part because for a few generations now we've been discouraging children from actually going outside and playing, especially within cities. Couple that with the rise in popularity of TV and video games that make some of the most short-term compelling experiences sedentary and you get many people grow up without ever learning to appreciate the pleasure of physical exertion, instead associating it only with that nasty four-letter word "work". Not to mention that exertion is one of those things that makes your physical health really obvious - if you've let your health slide because you so rarely do anything that benefits from it you'll find leisurely running a few miles to be a rather horrid experience instead of just something that gets the heart rate up.

      So, fast forward a few years to where kids grow up running around in VR games instead of button-mashing on the couch, and you've potentially had a dramatic effect on our culture - for one they'll be healthier because they're actually getting exercise on a regular basis, and they'll have built a happier association with the physical responses to exertion. Still not as healthy as actually getting outside and playing, but at this point I don't expect that to catch on again in less than a few generations, because Germs! Pedophiles! Things beyond Mom's control!

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    5. Re:Yeah... by jeffmflanagan · · Score: 2

      Many of us have no desire to pay for and go to a gym, prefering solitary workouts, so something like this at home is much better for us than something at a gym.

      Who says it goes in the living room? I have a space at the back of my home-theater that would be perfect for a VR area. Obviously this isn't for everyone, and I don't expect anything like this to catch on with console gaming any time soon, but it's something that many of us have been waiting for.

  5. Re:dumbest thing i've ever seen by weilawei · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Notice how little force they need and how easily their feet slip. This is a good thing. The problem with a treadmill is that you need to move this bulky rubber band around underneath you. It weighs a lot, as well. If you power a treadmill and use sensors to avoid using human power to move it, your power budget just went through the roof. Not to mention the need to spin the treadmill so the player doesn't walk off of it. Additionally, you're looking at moving parts subject to high wear and tear, versus this, which is mostly solid-state. I'd say this is a pretty inventive way of tackling the problem domain.

  6. Re:Transcript is where? by i+kan+reed · · Score: 2

    No, it's that I can't retroactively change my actions to comply with my principals. That's a very different thing.

  7. hur hur hur by Immerman · · Score: 2

    The whole point of this thing is to let you get off the couch and moving while gaming, drawing in game motion from real-world treadmill running rather than button mashing from on the couch.

    Smart ass remark score: 0

    --
    --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  8. Re:Slashdot by ArcadeMan · · Score: 4, Funny

    "A déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something."

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  9. Uh didn't we see this about 10 years ago? by Otaku-GenX · · Score: 2

    Wasn't this basically the same as the VR systems they had 10 or so years ago. The large head mounted displays, the circular "area". Think 'Hackers", or this : http://weburbanist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Virtual-Reality.gif

    --
    I am me, I am the anomaly in the machine.
    1. Re:Uh didn't we see this about 10 years ago? by jeffmflanagan · · Score: 2

      Yes, but the technology is just now catching up to the dream so we can have 1080p large field-of-view head-mounted-displays without excessive motion lag.

  10. Crouch and Prone? by Bodhammer · · Score: 2

    Most of the games they are aimed at have crouch and prone as integral movements. The lack of this in the Omni seems like a deal killer for me. Am I missing something?
    From the FAQ:
    "What movements can you perform on the Omni?

    Besides walking, the Omni allows for running, jumping, and strafing (sideways stepping) in 360 degrees. The Omni software provides gesture recognition that translates movements to mouse and key strokes that steer the avatar in the virtual environment."

    --
    "I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
    1. Re:Crouch and Prone? by RevWaldo · · Score: 2

      In the TED demo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1niFHFIbD0M) the founder specifically mentions crouching as one of the motions. But yeah, nothing about lying down.
      I was more curious of simulating uphill/downhill motion, like climbing stairs.

      .

      --
      Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
  11. Re: Oculus rift could very well make people myopic by a4r6 · · Score: 2

    http://m.scmp.com/news/world/article/1334213/scientists-blame-surging-asian-myopia-rates-too-much-time-spent-indoors The relationship is believed to be causal in the direction I implied.

  12. Re:dumbest thing i've ever seen by MrBigInThePants · · Score: 2

    "I'm dumb. very dumb. i said dumb. i did."

    FTFY

  13. Note to wife: by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

    Honey, I decided what I want for Christmas...

    Well, you said I should get more exercise, and it'll fit great in your "sewing room" that you haven't used since 1998.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.