Virtuix, developer of the “Omni One,” an omni-directional treadmill that lets players run and walk through virtual worlds, has announced that their SeedInvest campaign has surpassed over $11MM in funding from more than 4,000 investors.
Back in 2018, I began writing about Virtuix’s Omni treadmill and then later covered Omniverse esports events as well as the wonderful Omni Arena multiplayer attraction at location-based entertainment venues. The technology is exciting and Omni One it to the consumer in their own homes.
“We’re both thrilled and humbled by this outpouring of investor support for Omni One,” said Jan Goetgeluk, founder and CEO of Virtuix. “Given that many of our new investors are also eager customers who plan to buy Omni One for their homes, our success on SeedInvest signals strong market demand for Omni One.”
Ben Drakes, a 37-year-old gamer who first tried the Omni back in 2013, has seen the technology develop from a “wooden prototype with motion tracking handled by Microsoft Kinect” to the “Omni One, a low-latency beast that can handle sprinting, crouching, jumping, and kneeling.”
The Omni One is designed without the support ring you find in commercial versions of the treadmill. This allows for more freedom of movement so you can enjoy freedom of movement when playing one of the many titles available on through Virtuix or any VR game when hooked to your own PC gaming system.
“The new, open design makes it ideal for fast paced first-person shooters,” Drakes adds. “There is nothing to prevent you from aiming at a target above or below you, and you can easily reach for ammunition or pick up dropped items. You can even walk backwards and strafe! It’s truly a breakthrough in VR treadmill design.”
Omni One’s 360-degree experience enables players to walk or run in any direction, delivering an even more immersive feeling of physically moving in VR. Aside from the obvious benefit of added realism, this consumer version of the Omni treadmill is also likely to appeal to parents or fitness enthusiasts interested in getting the most out of their gaming time or VR workouts and those two areas are quickly becoming one and the same.
VR gamers have never been couch potatoes, but technology such as the Omni One will be appealing to people who enjoy connected fitness experiences such as the NordicTrack, CLMBR, or The Mirror. It’s also something that can be enjoyed by the whole family as parents can do their workout and then let the kids to enjoy VR games that will keep their cardio up as well. (As a side note, I played one of the Omni Arena games on the commercial Omni a few times in 2019 and after about 40 minutes I was totally worn out!)
Invest in Your Own Omni One
You can join investors during Virtuix’s campaign to back Omni One with an aim to raise $15MM by Friday, April 2, 2021.
Backed by billionaire entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban, as well as other major investors, Virtuix raised over $30MM in seed and series A funding and has shipped over $10MM worth of commercial Omni systems to entertainment venues in 45 countries.
“We’re both thrilled and humbled by this outpouring of investor support for Omni One,” said Jan Goetgeluk, founder and CEO of Virtuix. “Given that many of our new investors are also eager customers who plan to buy Omni One for their homes, our success on SeedInvest signals strong market demand for Omni One.”
SeedInvest is a platform that allows qualified private companies to sell shares to the public. Virtuix’s Reg A campaign allows anyone to invest in Virtuix and receive shares in the company with a minimum investment of $1,000. Reg A investors will receive a 20% discount (worth $400) as a perk when buying Omni One.
For the complete Omni One entertainment system, Virtuix plans to charge $1,995 (or $55 a month on a monthly payment plan), putting it in line with a mid-tier gaming PC or fitness systems such as the Peloton bike. Omni One will feature its own game store with 30 titles at launch.
For $995, Virtuix will offer a “dev kit” package that comes without a VR headset. Developers and VR enthusiasts can pair the Omni One with their own PC and headset for development or to play PC-based VR games.
About Virtuix
Driven by a desire to enable 360-degree movement and walk naturally in virtual environments, Virtuix Founder and CEO Jan Goetgeluk began working on the Omni motion platform in 2011. The company was founded in April 2013 and they have a product line that currently consists of Omni Pro, a commercial version, and Omni Arena, a multi-player attraction comprising four Omni Pro units. Omni One, the consumer version of the Omni described in this article for the home market, will launch in 2021.
