- August 11, 2013 04:23pm EST
Don't worry. If you don't think you have enough floor space to plop a gaming treadmill down in your living room or home office, you have a number of months to get your living situation organized for a new addition to your collection of crazy gaming gear.Yes, we said "gaming treadmill."
If you haven't heard of Virtuix's Omni treadmill — er, "virtual reality interface" — then you've really missed out on a fairly intriguing way to blend one's love for shooting digital things with a little in-home P90X. The device is scheduled for release in March of next year, and the company is now officially accepting preorders for the $499 "single" or $1,019 "dual" iterations of the treadmill device.
The Omni looks a little bit like those stands one might enter into for some 1990s-era virtual reality gaming sessions. There's a big, 48-inch-diameter platform (at least, on the Omni's prototype edition) that has two arms extending upward to create a 20-inch-diameter ring in the Omni's center. Said ring works to hold your torso in place – in other words, it keeps you from flying off the treadmill, for the platform that you're standing on isn't static. It moves.
In fact, the Omni's multidirectional treadmill moves in every direction that you'd want to walk or run. The treadmill can also detect more game-specific actions like jumping and crouching, as well as strafing – a boon for most first-person-shooter gamers.
The perfect complement to the Omni treadmill is the oft-discussed Oculus Rift virtual reality headset from Oculus VR — the same company that just pulled in gaming legend John Carmack as the company's chief technology officer. However, the Omni doesn't come with one bundled as part of its pricy packages. The "single" $499 model gets you just that: An Omni treadmill, a support harness (sized to your specifications), and a single pair of Omni-only shoes that "have a low friction sole with an intricate sole configuration that stabilizes the foot, allowing for a steady gait rather than having the foot slide from left to right," as spelled out by Virtuix's online FAQ.
The only difference between that and the "dual" package – aside from the obvious inclusion of a second treadmill and harness – is a bump up to three total pairs of Omni-friendly shoes. Presumably, it's designed for fairly wealthy gamers who have considerably large living rooms and standing invitations to their friends for more realistic fragging sessions.
One bummer, however: Expect to plunk down an additional $60 to $90 for shipping when purchasing the "single" iteration of the Omni treadmill (North American gamers only; shipping costs increase for international purchasers). Virtuix also teases that it might try to offer a way for eager gamers to pick up the treadmills at local distribution centers or specialized "pick-up events," for those looking to save a little bit of cash.
