Virtuix Omni Prototype Unboxing & Technology Overview
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2014-05-07
·
1,638 words · ~8 min read
0:00
This video is brought to you by the Corsair Vengeance K70 and K95. These
0:04
fully mechanical keyboards are designed for performance gaming. Visit
0:08
Corsair.com/vvengeance gaming to learn more. Guys, welcome to our product
0:12
overview of the Omni by Virtuix. So,
0:17
this is the world's first virtual
0:20
reality setup right now. The only way that you can actually use something like
0:25
an Oculus standing up. And not only that, but it enables movement while you
0:30
are in games in a way that's just never been done before. So, I'm going to walk
0:34
you through what you actually need to get this going. Step one is you're going
0:40
to need some kind of motion tracking device. Right now, this is an Xbox 360
0:44
Connect, but as you can imagine, there are other solutions that could enable a
0:48
world of other possibilities, such as, well, the new Xbox One connect, which is
0:53
going to be higher definition, just generally better in every possible way,
0:57
or even things like accelerometers built into the device itself. The future, no
1:02
one knows, but you know, wink wink. Um, also, you are going to need yourself a
1:07
computer. Sorry, console gamers. You guys are going to have to man up and
1:11
actually invest in a gaming computer at this point because let's just face it,
1:14
when it comes to new ways of interacting with our games, PC is still number one.
1:20
Now, we're here doing a product demo, but I actually haven't gotten a chance
1:23
to try it yet. So, I am taking Yan's word for it at this point, but we are
1:27
going to be trying it and blogging about it before we leave this hotel suite. So,
1:31
Yan is modeling for us his brainchild,
1:35
the Omni. So, it starts with you need
1:39
some kind of virtual reality device. In this case, this is an Oculus development
1:43
kit that he is wearing. So, you can see it's attached by a wire to the PC. The
1:48
Oculus is unique in that it uses a single screen and then an optical
1:52
splitter in order to bring images to each eye. Right now, the dev kits aren't
1:56
very high- res, which makes it a little bit less immersive, but by the time the
2:00
Oculus Rift hits us, we're going to be talking about a completely different
2:04
gaming experience. Now, here's the challenge. This is the problem that Jan
2:08
solved here is that you can't use an Oculus standing up because what happens
2:12
is your body orients itself according to what you see. So if you're looking
2:17
around in a game world, you will fall over trying to use an Oculus without
2:22
this device. So let's work our way down. So next we're going to find this is
2:26
relatively unimportant right now, but could be different in the future. This
2:29
is just an off-the-shelf plastic gun you being used as a trigger. This is an Xbox
2:34
controller and right now it is completely unexceptional and totally
2:37
just, you know, whatever. You could be easily holding like, you know, a
2:41
marshmallow that had a button in it and that would work just as well. But in the
2:44
future, we could be talking about separate tracking for the camera and the
2:48
gun. In fact, there's a demo that Valve's got working right now in
2:52
collaboration with Virtuix where you could even do things like run down a
2:56
path down a corridor shooting behind you with your gun because the tracking is
3:00
completely separate. But right now, this demo that we're looking at today doesn't
3:04
have that. All right. Next up, what we've got is the support device. So,
3:08
this is where the Omni really comes into its own. Now, as you can see, this one
3:13
right here is made out of basically
3:16
handwelded steel as well as a couple of
3:20
sort of also handcrafted low friction
3:24
pads. So, there's two here and um Yan,
3:27
if I could just get you to rotate a little bit for the audience. And right here. So, these interface with a low
3:32
friction ring around the support device here, and then it's all held on with a
3:37
supportive belt. Now, what this does is it keeps you from falling, and it also
3:41
keeps you from being uncomfortable or feeling strange while you stand in the
3:46
device. There's two more pieces here down below that make it so that when you
3:50
lean forward, you don't have uh you don't have any kind of a weird pressure
3:53
on you. Now, these are all totally prototypes and the finished design will
3:57
be completely different. Um, I mean, it'll still support you. It won't be
4:00
different in that it's like a hen and lays eggs. It'll be different in that
4:05
it's shaped differently. So, let's move on to the actual Omni itself. This
4:11
supportive ring right now is made of wood. You know, the old Well, it's a
4:15
prototype. Is it made from wood screws? Then the answer is yes. And the finished
4:18
one will actually use a steel endoskeleton inside the entire thing and
4:22
be made of molded plastic. So, it'll be much less heavy and it'll also be a lot
4:27
more sleek looking. But this ring right here is what keeps you from falling. It
4:32
is also what supports your belt as you move forward because the Omni actually
4:38
allows you to not only use virtual reality standing up, but also walk in
4:43
games or even run in games, which we've had demoed for us already. You can even
4:47
alter your movement speed. This is going to change the way that you interface
4:50
with games. So, the old way was the the
4:53
only way to keep a crosshair on someone was to strafe around. They no one
4:57
actually moves like that. This is going to change the immersion because all of a
5:01
sudden, you'll be able to look around a corner, boom, boom, boom, look back, and
5:05
you won't have to rely on weird cheap tricks like, you know, quicktime events
5:08
to actually move around and do the things that you need to do. So, these
5:13
arms are going to be changed right now. Again, they're made of wood and this
5:17
height adjustment thing right here. So, for those of you who don't happen to be exactly the same height as Yan, um, you
5:22
know, he didn't invent the thing just for himself. You'll be able to change
5:25
this around, but it'll be more like exercise equipment where a pin drops out
5:28
and you can adjust the height depending on what you need to do. The platform
5:32
down here is where things start to get really, really interesting because a lot
5:36
of design went into the curvature here, the materials being used. So, this is
5:41
the same low friction material that we saw up at the top of the device. And
5:45
then the shoes are really where some of the magic starts to happen. So, I'm
5:49
going to get Yan to turn around for us. So, you can see there's a gentle curve
5:53
to the Omni itself. And then there is a
5:56
specially designed shoe that right now looks like a handmade moccasin. Don't
5:59
worry, the real one will be different. That uses three contact points with a
6:03
low friction material here and a higher friction toe. So, Yan, can you show us
6:09
how you walk on the Omni? And I'm just going to walk them through the mechanics
6:12
of it here. So you can see right here, you want low friction when you're on the
6:17
curved surface. But what would happen if you had a high friction toe on the shoe?
6:23
Show us what would happen, Yan. If you had high friction toes on the
6:27
shoe, That's right. Your feet would slip out from under you. So this is how um
6:32
Okay. Sorry. Oh, he's running now. You can't see. We're not pointed at you
6:35
anymore. Um, but this is how it keeps
6:38
the feeling of walking from feeling maybe not quite like walking on even
6:43
ground, but maybe more like a treadmill. Now, speaking of treadmills, the
6:46
application of this given that the price point is projected to be somewhere in
6:49
the I've I've seen 400 to 600, although this guy's given me the neither will
6:54
confirm nor deny answer. Thanks a lot for that. Um, so depending on what
6:57
pricing looks like, we could be looking at something that is a viable
7:02
alternative for exercise gear for gamers
7:06
where not only do you get a more immersive gaming experience, but because
7:10
of the way that the software works, so there's special software that is
7:13
interpreting this as game movements and as game actions, because of the way that
7:17
it works, we could be looking at a situation where you can play games and get exercise and not have the games be
7:22
just an exercise in sort of waggling a stick around or be limited to things
7:27
like uh you know follow along with the dancer type connect games. We could be
7:31
talking hardcore games that you can also get a workout while doing. I mean you
7:36
can clearly see that Yan is a very fit individual himself and uh I'm not sure
7:41
how comfortable he felt modeling this for us but either way I hope you guys
7:45
have enjoyed this showcase of the Omni
7:48
by Virtuix. Don't forget to subscribe to L's Tech Tips for more unboxings,
7:51
reviews, and other computer