The Glade 4.0

I don't remember whether I've mentioned it here before, but the Virtuix Omni, an omni-directional treadmill for VR, showed up at CES with its final hardware that's now shipping for $699, and it's made quite a splash there.

Pretty neat to see Engadget, Digital Trends, and Tom's all falling over themselves with excitement at the end result of something I backed on Kickstarter (Like the Rift, I tossed money into the ring to see what happened with the tech rather than pledge high enough to get one upon release. But I've got the t-shirt, heheh.) and have been following via the Kickstarter updates for years, now.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I feel like we mentioned it in the gaming forum, maybe not tech. Regardless, it's definitely cool, and could lead to a new generation of super-in-shape gamers.

I can't see something at that level becoming mainstream due to both price and space considerations, but hopefully the tech continues to enable more and more immersion.

You mention price and space considerations, but I have a feeling both are less than the HTC Vive will end up being. I've been seeing some educated speculation that the Vive's final price might be upwards of a grand (one Taiwanese financial outlet even had their tech experts suggesting $1500!), and it asks you for as much as 15'x15' of clear space for it to track you in. The Omni isn't nearly as big, and can be bought along with a Rift for $1300.

So it might actually be price competitive and more compact than the horse that Valve is backing to achieve a similar experience. Granted, that 15'x15' space is open space when you're not gaming, rather than taking up the 5'x5' space or whatever the Omni's dimensions are whether you're gaming or not. But I feel like the Omni is most likely the more feasible option for an urban VR enthusiast than the Vive.

_________________
"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Ah, that is true, however honestly while the Vive takes up to 15x15 (assuming you're not playing a game where you're stationary, I.E. Elite Dangerous), I see that as more of a kinect device where people can clear their furniture, play, then put it back, whereas the Omni is more like workout equipment. Buy it, and it's never going to take up any less space.

Still, I'm probably in the early adopter camp, and if it manages to garner some good dev/VR support, I'm sure I'll have one one of these days. I'll just be surprised if it really goes mainstream. Of course, at these prices, I'll be surprised if the Oculus or Vive go mainstream either, they are firmly in niche territory right now (assuming Vive goes as expensive as we all expect). I also thought people wouldn't buy a 150$ xbox controller, but it seems like MS can't even make them fast enough, so maybe that's why I'm not in the hardware development market.