Virtuix Omni Kickstarting June 4th!!!

Post by **colocolo** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:44 am

wow, the pledges are speeding up.
Good that the Kickstarter doesn't rely on other continents.
They will reach their goal anyway.
For the future i hope this can be managed in another way if you think also about the customs duty.

Post by **crespo80** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:47 am

Awesome video, and a clever goal that will be easily achieved and surpassed, making the Omni a great success among VR enthusiasts!
Too bad shipping costs are a deal braker for Europeans like me, 175/225$ to Italy is understandable considering the weight and bulkiness of the product but it' almost the price of the Omni itself

(and some other countries are completely cut out at 600$

)

Post by **Caine** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:51 am

Woke up early to back : ) Good luck!

Post by **colocolo** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:52 am

I bet they will reach their goal this european evening. Its mind blowing how fast it climbs up.

Post by **LordJuanlo** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:58 am

Early backer for the $349 tier. It seems this tier will die in just 1 hour! Awesome!

Post by **mowfax** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:00 am

Yeah I'm from germany and I almost didn't back when I saw the shipping costs...
The only good thing about it is that you get billed next year and that kept me in the ring

I got the $399 with the Shirt and Stuff and added the Omni Rack, so all in all, I'm at $508...

As I already wrote in the kickstarter comments, I guess demoing won't be easy because of the different shoe-sizes.
I don't want to buy additional pairs just for demoing this. I read the FAQ about a shoe-strap-on but I hope they are
thinking again about shipping it in time with the first batch.
Letting people demo the Omni can only be good for them...

Post by **remosito** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:02 am

damn, as an european that's another 300$ for shipping and import taxes for me.

I think I will wait for that spanish dudes indigogo campaign and see how much that one will cost.

Sorry Jan... and Congratulations too. Your KS is taking off REAL nice

Post by **rwurdig** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:05 am

Woot almost 50%

Post by **Syko** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:07 am

rwurdig wrote:Woot almost 50%

when i see your The Gallery signature it would be great if they would test Omni + rift + Hydra + The Gallery ^^

But how does Omni work with all the cables? Would they not wrap around me?

Post by **colocolo** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:39 am

5 NEW VIDEOS Virtuix Youtube channel. Vorpx Battlefield 3, Arma 3,Black Ops 2, and Skyrim + Half Life.

Post by **mattyeatsmatts** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:07 am

holy crap almost funded already, did not think it would be that fast.

Post by **Okta** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:08 am

Shipping to Australia too ridiculous to list

Damn shame but ill have to give it a miss.

Post by **crespo80** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:20 am

Some time ago I thought the Omni could appeal only to few very hardcore VR enthusiasts of mtbs3d or OculusVR forums and barely reach a 100k $ kickstarter goal.
They reached 100k in a matter of hours and they may reach the main goal in less than a day, just like the Rift did!
AWESOME

Post by **mattyeatsmatts** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:27 am

There has just got to be an easier way to do motion tracking, It keeps going thru my head all day every day so I'll wait till i figure it out or someone else does. Plus yeah the shipping to Australia would be criminal.
Or ill use my Kinect and chuck on some rollerskates

Post by **baggyg** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:29 am

Congrats on the campaign Jan. Its gonna be a great success. Unfortunately it is priced well outside of my range.
$399 + $300 shipping + probably another $100 - $200 in import tax and duties.

I really wanted this device but >$900 is way too much.

Once manufacture is up and running do you plan to have European distributors?

Post by **mahler** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:47 am

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/194462 ... rite-game/

Funded: 94% OF GOAL (currently)
Trending: 3780% OF GOAL

Post by **colocolo** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:53 am

mahler wrote:http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/194462 ... rite-game/

Funded: 94% OF GOAL (currently)
Trending: 3780% OF GOAL

wow, but almost impossible. 10,000 OR owners could roughly pledge 5 Million if they all buy one.
But you shouldn't forget the other HMD's.

Post by **Moriarty** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:01 am

Wow, the goal has almost been achieved and still 48 days to go. Congratulations JanVR !

The video is great, and you touched on all the potential applications... +1 for mentioning the historical simulations and walking through ancient worlds. That would be my personal "dream application".

Post by **rhinosix** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:08 am

Crazy! I just saw the Kickstarter page. Only $500 to go! I'm betting by the time I hit "submit" on this post the goal will be reached. Congrats!

I wonder how high it will go?

Post by **remosito** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:12 am

Congratulations Jan!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by **mahler** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:13 am

Congratulations!

$150.000 in only 4 hours

With a day containing 24 hours and almost 48 days to go...
.... the final amount should be around $43.000.000!!!!

Post by **colocolo** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:16 am

The world is becoming VR.
Congratulations, JanVR!!!
Any extra goals?

Post by **mattyeatsmatts** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:22 am

Congrats Jan, looks like you will have a very very busy year.

Post by **everix92** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:29 am

I am really interested in this. I must admit that I am a bit deterred by the cost and not being able to try it before hand though

Post by **mowfax** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:30 am

Please 1. Stretchgoal -> One size-fits-all Footwear or something like that.

Post by **LordJuanlo** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:51 am

Funded in just 3 hours. Congratulations JanVR!!!

Post by **Valez** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:02 am

Congratulations Jan!

The Omni is at the moment with the uncertain shipping and VAT costs a bit to expensive for me,
but I hope it continues to be a huge success.

Post by **blazespinnaker** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:02 am

Well done! Smart selling the platform separately.

Post by **JanVR** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:06 am

Thanks all!

We are getting overwhelmed by requests from Australia, so we just added AUS to our shipping list! Little doubt we can fill a full container to the East Coast.

Post by **rhinosix** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:33 am

ss248 wrote:People behind virtuix are very bad at marketing.
After all this embarrassing videos, like tf2 on low framerate or recent hf2 with shaking hands, I cannot take them serious anymore.
I don't think they kickstarter will succeed.

Reddit · Post by **nateight** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:40 am

Congratulations on the near-instant funding, Virtuix! I had my doubts about this thing, but you managed to find what appears to be the perfect price point, and you structured your Kickstarter very sensibly. Good work! There are many more challenges ahead for you guys, but I'm hopeful you'll meet and exceed all of them, also. Looks like I need to start saving up a few hundred bucks!

Post by **alekki** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:49 am

Congratulations on reaching the goal so fast!

The shipping costs are damn high. The shipping and tax doubles the cost for me, which is a real killer. I guess it was to be expected though.

My biggest concern with the device is that, at least with the current tracker, you only seem to be able to walk forward, and strafe in an unnatural way. I'm afraid that most retrofitted games will be borderline unplayable if you can only walk where you're looking. I think you'd need some kind of analog movement (perhaps by emulating gamepad input, taking the looking direction into account) to be able to really play anything. Though I'm sure that even if the Omni tracking hardware and software won't allow this, the community will come up with a solution.

Post by **brantlew** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:01 am

alekki wrote:Congratulations on reaching the goal so fast!

The shipping costs are damn high. The shipping and tax doubles the cost for me, which is a real killer. I guess it was to be expected though.

My biggest concern with the device is that, at least with the current tracker, you only seem to be able to walk forward, and strafe in an unnatural way. I'm afraid that most retrofitted games will be borderline unplayable if you can only walk where you're looking. I think you'd need some kind of analog movement (perhaps by emulating gamepad input, taking the looking direction into account) to be able to really play anything. Though I'm sure that even if the Omni tracking hardware and software won't allow this, the community will come up with a solution.

Some of those problems can be alleviated with good sensor and software support. A fairly good approximation of independent head and torso aiming can be accomplished with WASD keys and a couple of good gyro sensors. That supports practically all games in a rudimentary way. A few games can be interfaced through the gamepad interface and then an even better, analog separation of head and torso can be implemented.
http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.p ... =80#p80944

The best method however would be a standardized API interface that would allow true independent control of head and torso direction, but that's an uphill battle getting game developer support. But these days with all the Rift frenzy, it's hopefully not as hard of a battle as it used to be.

Post by **usb247** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:11 am

nice kickstarter video. I like how you can easily take it apart. almost makes me want to get one even though I didn't think I had room for it.

Post by **Bleppe** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:13 am

Holy poop that was fast. Congrats Janvr on a successful Kickstarter campaign!
I have a question for you aswell. Are there any plans to develop it even further so it would allow the gamer to actually crouch within a game?
I know most games other than fps games usually have that ability but I think it would be a nice addition since most of the games ppl will you use VR for will be fps-type games.

Post by **Mystify** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:43 am

I am seriously impressed by that kickstarter. That is not a small goal, and to meet it that quickly, bravo.
I have backed it as well.

Any plans for stretch goals?

Post by **geekmaster** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:50 am

Any guesses how long it will take for the Omni to pass the $2.5M for the Rift kickstarter, and how long a delay that extra "unexpected" demand will add to the delivery dates?

I am going to have to do some "serious" letting go of some of my techno-toys to make room for that thing "somewhere" in my house. A shipping delay would allow me a little more time to figure out where I can put it...

Post by **Jalaman** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:53 am

Setting the campaign time for 48 days seems really unnecessary.

Post by **geekmaster** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:55 am

Jalaman wrote:Setting the campaign time for 48 days seems really unnecessary.

48 hours would have been plenty, eh? But then it would have little opportunity to surpass the Rift!

Post by **blazespinnaker** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:55 am

brantlew wrote:
alekki wrote:Congratulations on reaching the goal so fast!

The shipping costs are damn high. The shipping and tax doubles the cost for me, which is a real killer. I guess it was to be expected though.

My biggest concern with the device is that, at least with the current tracker, you only seem to be able to walk forward, and strafe in an unnatural way. I'm afraid that most retrofitted games will be borderline unplayable if you can only walk where you're looking. I think you'd need some kind of analog movement (perhaps by emulating gamepad input, taking the looking direction into account) to be able to really play anything. Though I'm sure that even if the Omni tracking hardware and software won't allow this, the community will come up with a solution.

Some of those problems can be alleviated with good sensor and software support. A fairly good approximation of independent head and torso aiming can be accomplished with WASD keys and a couple of good gyro sensors. That supports practically all games in a rudimentary way. A few games can be interfaced through the gamepad interface and then an even better, analog separation of head and torso can be implemented.
http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.p ... =80#p80944

The best method however would be a standardized API interface that would allow true independent control of head and torso direction, but that's an uphill battle getting game developer support. But these days with all the Rift frenzy, it's hopefully not as hard of a battle as it used to be.

I am currently working on a solution to this. I have strapped my iPod touch to a shin and wrote a quick app which takes the UIAccelometer and sends UDP data to a server (using awt Robot for cross platform) on your PC which injects keystrokes into the OS input queue.

It works very well. The UIAccelometer/CMMotionManager can get acceleration data in x/y/z coords. Need a bit of work on baselining it, but I'll have something up on github soon. Will nag a friend of mine to use his distribution cert to push something up to the app store (or anyone can do this).

Anyways, I'll start a new thread for all this. Don't want to horn in on Jan's project here.