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overview of the Omni by Virtuix. So,
this is the world's first virtual
reality setup right now. The only way that you can actually use something like
an Oculus standing up. And not only that, but it enables movement while you
are in games in a way that's just never been done before. So, I'm going to walk
you through what you actually need to get this going. Step one is you're going
to need some kind of motion tracking device. Right now, this is an Xbox 360
Connect, but as you can imagine, there are other solutions that could enable a
world of other possibilities, such as, well, the new Xbox One connect, which is
going to be higher definition, just generally better in every possible way,
or even things like accelerometers built into the device itself. The future, no
one knows, but you know, wink wink. Um, also, you are going to need yourself a
computer. Sorry, console gamers. You guys are going to have to man up and
actually invest in a gaming computer at this point because let's just face it,
when it comes to new ways of interacting with our games, PC is still number one.
Now, we're here doing a product demo, but I actually haven't gotten a chance
to try it yet. So, I am taking Yan's word for it at this point, but we are
going to be trying it and blogging about it before we leave this hotel suite. So,
Yan is modeling for us his brainchild,
the Omni. So, it starts with you need
some kind of virtual reality device. In this case, this is an Oculus development
kit that he is wearing. So, you can see it's attached by a wire to the PC. The
Oculus is unique in that it uses a single screen and then an optical
splitter in order to bring images to each eye. Right now, the dev kits aren't
very high- res, which makes it a little bit less immersive, but by the time the
Oculus Rift hits us, we're going to be talking about a completely different
gaming experience. Now, here's the challenge. This is the problem that Jan
solved here is that you can't use an Oculus standing up because what happens
is your body orients itself according to what you see. So if you're looking
around in a game world, you will fall over trying to use an Oculus without
this device. So let's work our way down. So next we're going to find this is
relatively unimportant right now, but could be different in the future. This
is just an off-the-shelf plastic gun you being used as a trigger. This is an Xbox
controller and right now it is completely unexceptional and totally
just, you know, whatever. You could be easily holding like, you know, a
marshmallow that had a button in it and that would work just as well. But in the
future, we could be talking about separate tracking for the camera and the
gun. In fact, there's a demo that Valve's got working right now in
collaboration with Virtuix where you could even do things like run down a
path down a corridor shooting behind you with your gun because the tracking is
completely separate. But right now, this demo that we're looking at today doesn't
have that. All right. Next up, what we've got is the support device. So,
this is where the Omni really comes into its own. Now, as you can see, this one
right here is made out of basically
handwelded steel as well as a couple of
sort of also handcrafted low friction
pads. So, there's two here and um Yan,
if I could just get you to rotate a little bit for the audience. And right here. So, these interface with a low
friction ring around the support device here, and then it's all held on with a
supportive belt. Now, what this does is it keeps you from falling, and it also
keeps you from being uncomfortable or feeling strange while you stand in the
device. There's two more pieces here down below that make it so that when you
lean forward, you don't have uh you don't have any kind of a weird pressure
on you. Now, these are all totally prototypes and the finished design will
be completely different. Um, I mean, it'll still support you. It won't be
different in that it's like a hen and lays eggs. It'll be different in that
it's shaped differently. So, let's move on to the actual Omni itself. This
supportive ring right now is made of wood. You know, the old Well, it's a
prototype. Is it made from wood screws? Then the answer is yes. And the finished
one will actually use a steel endoskeleton inside the entire thing and
be made of molded plastic. So, it'll be much less heavy and it'll also be a lot
more sleek looking. But this ring right here is what keeps you from falling. It
is also what supports your belt as you move forward because the Omni actually
allows you to not only use virtual reality standing up, but also walk in
games or even run in games, which we've had demoed for us already. You can even
alter your movement speed. This is going to change the way that you interface
with games. So, the old way was the the
only way to keep a crosshair on someone was to strafe around. They no one
actually moves like that. This is going to change the immersion because all of a
sudden, you'll be able to look around a corner, boom, boom, boom, look back, and
you won't have to rely on weird cheap tricks like, you know, quicktime events
to actually move around and do the things that you need to do. So, these
arms are going to be changed right now. Again, they're made of wood and this
height adjustment thing right here. So, for those of you who don't happen to be exactly the same height as Yan, um, you
know, he didn't invent the thing just for himself. You'll be able to change
this around, but it'll be more like exercise equipment where a pin drops out
and you can adjust the height depending on what you need to do. The platform
down here is where things start to get really, really interesting because a lot
of design went into the curvature here, the materials being used. So, this is
the same low friction material that we saw up at the top of the device. And
then the shoes are really where some of the magic starts to happen. So, I'm
going to get Yan to turn around for us. So, you can see there's a gentle curve
to the Omni itself. And then there is a
specially designed shoe that right now looks like a handmade moccasin. Don't
worry, the real one will be different. That uses three contact points with a
low friction material here and a higher friction toe. So, Yan, can you show us
how you walk on the Omni? And I'm just going to walk them through the mechanics
of it here. So you can see right here, you want low friction when you're on the
curved surface. But what would happen if you had a high friction toe on the shoe?
Show us what would happen, Yan. If you had high friction toes on the
shoe, That's right. Your feet would slip out from under you. So this is how um
Okay. Sorry. Oh, he's running now. You can't see. We're not pointed at you
anymore. Um, but this is how it keeps
the feeling of walking from feeling maybe not quite like walking on even
ground, but maybe more like a treadmill. Now, speaking of treadmills, the
application of this given that the price point is projected to be somewhere in
the I've I've seen 400 to 600, although this guy's given me the neither will
confirm nor deny answer. Thanks a lot for that. Um, so depending on what
pricing looks like, we could be looking at something that is a viable
alternative for exercise gear for gamers
where not only do you get a more immersive gaming experience, but because
of the way that the software works, so there's special software that is
interpreting this as game movements and as game actions, because of the way that
it works, we could be looking at a situation where you can play games and get exercise and not have the games be
just an exercise in sort of waggling a stick around or be limited to things
like uh you know follow along with the dancer type connect games. We could be
talking hardcore games that you can also get a workout while doing. I mean you
can clearly see that Yan is a very fit individual himself and uh I'm not sure
how comfortable he felt modeling this for us but either way I hope you guys
have enjoyed this showcase of the Omni
by Virtuix. Don't forget to subscribe to L's Tech Tips for more unboxings,
reviews, and other computer