The VR treadmill, funded successfully on Kickstarter last year, has attracted more investment to help bring the peripheral to market.
The Omni VR treadmill peripheral works with VR headsets to let players move around in game environments by walking, running, jumping, or crouching on the treadmill. Developer Virtuix ran a successful funding campaign for the Omni on Kickstarter last year, raising over $1 million dollars to develop the peripheral’s hardware and software. Virtuix announced today that it has completed a $3 million round of seed investment that will be used toward completing and selling the Omni. The investors leading the round of seed funding are Tekton Ventures and Maveron, with additional investments from Scentan Ventures, Radical Investments, Scout Ventures, StartCaps Ventures, and private investors.
“The funds will enable us to grow our team and expand our mass production and distribution network as we get ready for our commercial launch this summer, ensuring that we can deliver a great virtual reality platform to you as well as to new markets and audiences that are emerging every day. Where our Kickstarter funds were aimed at developing the Omni and bringing the product to market, this latest round is designed to broaden our distribution and meet global demand as virtual reality becomes a mass market, new medium,” says Virtuix in an update on the Kickstarter project. Tekton founder Jai Choi says, “We believe Virtuix’s virtual reality technology will not only disrupt the immersive gaming landscape but will enable even more useful, personal and entertaining experiences in areas beyond gaming: training and simulation, fitness, medical, military.”
The Omni is compatible with the Oculus Rift, Razer Hydra, and other game controllers. Virtuix has more than 3,000 pre-orders for the Omni, and expects to begin shipping to customers this summer. The Virtuix Omni is currently available for pre-order for $499 USD. The Escapist’s own Andrea Rene checked out the Omni at CES 2014.
Source: Omni Kickstarter Update #21 via GamesIndustry.biz
