Traveling through the virtual reality worlds of your favorite games at home is becoming a reality as Virtuix (https://www.virtuix.com) launches Omni One, a unique omni-directional treadmill that enables players to walk or run in any direction through video games and other virtual environments.
Seeking to take home entertainment to the next level, Austin-based Virtuix started shipping Omni One units to their investor community as an intriguing prelude to a planned consumer launch later this year. The company currently has a waitlist for Omni One of more than 35,000 subscribers who have signed up online.
(Photo : Conservaco/ The Ignite Agency)
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Omni One is a complete entertainment system that currently ships with a Pico Neo 3 Pro headset and works straight out of the box without needing a PC or other peripherals, providing a seamless user experience. Virtuix has worked closely with Pico to customize the headset system for Omni One. The Neo 3 Pro headset, which has the same processor and resolution as Meta's popular Quest 2 but offers a wider field of view, comes with Omni One's operating software, including social features and a proprietary game store targeting 30 titles at launch.
Inspired by the popular Omni Pro, a commercial version of the Omni available at more than 500 entertainment venues in 45 countries, Omni One is designed to fit tastefully inside a living room or other place in your home. Compared to Omni Pro, Omni One is lighter, more compact (4-foot diameter), easy to fold up or move around, and allows players unmatched freedom of movement, including crouching, kneeling, and jumping.
"We're thrilled about Omni One," said Jan Goetgeluk, founder and CEO of Virtuix. "After a long and challenging development process, spanning Covid-19 and supply chain shortages, Omni One has turned out to be an awesome product that delivers on our company's original vision of an active VR entertainment system for the home. Our commercial products have hosted over 3 million plays at entertainment venues worldwide, and we've built a fanatical player community of over 300,000 registered players. We can't wait to bring our popular gaming experience to the homes of our many players and fans."
Omni One's introductory price is $2,595 plus shipping, or as low as $65/month on a payment plan. Omni One's pricing includes both the treadmill and the high-end Pico headset (market value $699).
Omni One's top benefits include:
- It lets you walk or run in video games or other virtual worlds, in any direction and at any speed, while occupying only a small amount of floor space.
- It allows unrestricted, full-body movements including crouching, kneeling, and jumping. Safety features keep you from falling or hitting walls or other people.
- It's a complete entertainment system that comes with everything you need, including a cable-free, standalone VR headset (no PC needed).
- It's compact (4-foot diameter), fits easily inside a living room or other place at home, and is simple to fold up or move around.
"Omni One isn't just a next-level gaming device," Goetgeluk added. "It also keeps you in shape by burning calories while gaming! Think of Omni One as an exercise bike for gamers, or for parents who want to get their kids off the couch."
Omni One is 4 feet wide (120 cm), 5 feet long (150 cm), and has a minimum height of 4 feet (120 cm). The complete system with all accessories weighs about 150 pounds (70 kg). It accommodates users from 4 feet, 4 inches to 6 feet, 4 inches in height (132 to 192 cm), and up to 250 pounds (113 kg).
Goetgeluk explained the motivation behind Omni One: "The thrill of walking around inside videogames has blown the minds of players at our commercial venues around the world, and our players kept asking us, 'When can I get this for my home? Where can I buy this?' This pent-up demand from our fans is what prompted us to launch a home product. Given our success in the out-of-home market, we're uniquely positioned to bring our popular full-body VR experience to millions of homes around the world."
Virtuix's first Omni One customer, Dale Western, described what drives consumers like him to buy Omni One: "I decided to purchase Omni One because I was looking for a more immersive VR experience as opposed to sitting on a couch and pretending to be in virtual reality. I wanted to physically feel it. It's everything I hoped it would be. The ability to move around really makes you feel like you're in the game. And I'm going to lose some weight with Omni One. That's awesome."
Western added, "I absolutely recommend Omni One to anyone who wants to feel like they are in virtual reality. This is the system that will give you that experience."
Watch Western take delivery of his Omni One here: https://youtu.be/K8IcYrm2bRo.
Investors also share this enthusiasm for Omni One. Goetgeluk said more than 900 of Virtuix's equity crowdfunding investors have applied to buy beta units, and the company is extending the beta program until late 2023. Goetgeluk added that quantities available to beta customers will start small and gradually increase as the program proceeds.
Backed by major investors, Virtuix has raised $35 million to date and has shipped over $16 million worth of products, including over 4,000 Omni Pro systems in 45 countries and more than 70 Omni Arena systems (selling price of $174,000) to U.S. entertainment venues such as Dave & Buster's. Virtuix's commercial content platform, Omniverse, has hosted more than 3 million plays.
Before bringing Omni One to the mass market, Virtuix is expanding awareness of Omni One among consumers, gamers, and the investment community by running a Reg CF campaign as part of its Series B funding round (https://invest.virtuix.com). Investors get to skip the line to order Omni One ahead of the general public, and they can qualify for investor discounts on Omni One of 30% (worth $780) or more.
To see Omni One in action, check out Virtuix's latest video here: https://youtu.be/E71k67dQ1ao.
Goetgeluk, who holds Bachelor's and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ghent in Belgium, and an MBA degree from Rice University in Houston, came to the United States to pursue the American Dream. While working as an investment banking associate at JPMorgan Chase, he became convinced that virtual reality was set to make a comeback after Microsoft launched the Kinect in 2010. Goetgeluk began developing the Omni in his spare time, often laboring until the early morning hours. He was looking to create a gaming experience of a new kind: one that enables players to walk naturally in VR instead of pushing buttons on a gamepad or keyboard while seated.
In 2013, after two years spent researching, experimenting, and prototyping, Goetgeluk left his finance job and founded Virtuix to bring his "Omni" concept to market. Today, led by a management team and advisory board with more than 100 combined years of gaming and hardware industry experience, Virtuix has built an IP portfolio of 19 issued patents and eight pending patents covering Omni's mechanical design, motion tracking, and game integration.
Goetgeluk added, "Moving around virtual worlds by pushing buttons on a controller feels unnatural, static, and limiting. You can't experience true virtual reality while sitting down or standing in place. You need to walk around virtual worlds as you do in real life - by using your own feet. With Omni One, everyone can experience the thrill of walking around inside their favorite games."
Virtuix has an expanding and devoted player base of more than 300,000 registered Omni players at commercial venues. This large player community, together with an install base of thousands of commercial Omni Pro systems globally, provides a direct and low-cost sales channel for Omni One.
Virtuix's mission is to bring its popular gaming experience to millions of homes around the world.
"Other VR treadmills on the market merely act like accessories for players who already own a VR headset and gaming PC," Goetgeluk said. "Omni One is a complete system suitable for the mass consumer market, not just for VR enthusiasts and PC gamers."
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