CES 2016: Virtuix Omni Impressions

It's been a few years since I demoed the Virtuix Omni and back then, the unit was in a prototype state. Here at CES, the final consumer version was on display and I was able to step into one with an HTC Vive.

Before that, I talked with Jan Goetgeluk a little bit on how far he's come from Kickstarter to production. He learned how hard to produce a product of this magnitude and the time it took to really get it going. Two to three years isn't out of the norm, but at least they are now in full blown production on the Omni.

The community for the Omni is great and it's really nice that Virtuix has listening to some of their ideas and  implemented them in the final product. The quality is a lot better and the design changes looks like its paid off from two years ago. The bowl shape doesn't seem to be as deep as past units, and Jan said they might have leveled it out a little more since the prototype. From my point of view, that does seem to be the case.

I've been wanting to get one as a backer for fitness reasons and Jan told me that an FPS game played for an hour on the Omni, on average, burns 350 calories and has the person travel about 3.5 miles. On paper, that sounds like a great workout and you can have a fun time doing it.

So after a brief talk with Jan, I stepped into the Omni. I chose the one with the HTC Vive and participated in a co-op session with another person using an Oculus Rift in defending a point and shooting at enemies in a simplistic FPS.

Getting into the Omni still takes a little practice as the shoes are incredibly slippery. The unit is definitely a lot more polished than then the last time I saw it up close. A few straps tightened, IMUs strapped into the shoes, and the Vive headset put on, I was ready to go.

It didn't take me too long to get comfortable running forward. Whereas the first time I was slipping around for a lot of the demo, I was running pretty well after a minute or two. I still had to concentrate a little bit to make sure I had good form and not fighting the ring, but I was able to for the majority of the time.

I tried small movements and large strides and found that it was still more accurate when doing long, running strides. Jan told me that part of the reason the Omni wasn't as accurate was that there was some issues with the Vive. He assured me that the ones with the Rift were a lot better. That said, moving in the Omni was pretty damn good even when it wasn't entirely accurate. Backing up worked well, but strafing was tough. You also had to stand on the balls off your feet a little more to pivot around, but I was able to get used to that pretty quickly. Compared to my past experience though, the Omni performed a ton better and the IMUs on the shoes really helped in that.

The game I played didn't have decoupled movement so where I looked was where I was going. The reason that was done here was it was easier for the public to get used to, but Jan said that they have decoupled aiming and movement done and implemented without any problems.

I will say that playing with someone else in the Omni was pretty slick. I was able to keep my form walking around until the action became intense. Then I was not concentrating  on doing the proper steps so I wasn't as effective moving around. Now, with practice should come being able to move in the Omni without thinking about it, and for the most part, movement in the Omni felt pretty fluid. You just have to get used to trusting the setup and when you do, it's pretty fun.

Even with my short time with the Omni, I exerted a lot of energy running around. I can see this really being a good way to exercise and play games. Jan said they're working really hard to get the units out to backers and hope to have it all out in the next six months to folks to use.

It won't be much longer before those that have ordered are finally getting their hands on one. We're seeing the beginnings of VR coming to the masses and the Omni is certainly a great product in that genre and one that offers a unique and fun experience.