August was another great month for VR, with the Gamescom, Unite, and SIGGRAPH conferences strongly focused on virtual reality while startups Noitom and Cyberith are on their way to successful Kickstarter campaigns. As the summer starts to wind down, we are entering the final stretch to our finish line. Exciting times!
Production Update
Virtuix production remains on target to start in Q4 of this year, with the exact date depending on our tooling progress. Part of our team was in China last week to meet with our manufacturing design team and confirm that all is on track. Our pre-order customers are on target to receive their Omni in Q1 of 2015.
The Gallery: Six Elements + Omni
We produced an exciting demo this past month: The Gallery – Six Elements played with the Omni. The Gallery, developed by Cloudhead Games, is the world’s first commercial VR game made for the Oculus Rift that focuses on exploration and a profound sense of presence. Its pace and scenic beauty are a great fit for the Omni. Check out the video below of one of our best VR experiences to date:
SXSW Panel Voting
Virtuix has submitted an exciting VR panel proposal for SXSW Interactive in Austin on March 13-17, 2015. Our panel, if chosen, will discuss “Suspension of Disbelief in Virtual Reality” and includes our own CEO Jan Goetgeluk, Amir Rubin (CEO of Sixense), Paul Bettner (creator of Words With Friends and developer of VR game Lucky’s Tale), and Jason Jerald (Founder and CEO of Nextgen Interactions). Now we need your help to vote for our panel and ensure that our VR topic gets a spot at SXSW! Support our cause by registering and voting here: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/32098
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Virtual Reality Forecast
Virtual reality is emerging faster than we might expect. KZero recently released a study that predicts HMD sales of almost 3 million units in 2015, 15 million units in 2016 and a cumulative 83 million units by 2018. These are impressive numbers that should make VR appealing for large, AAA game developers as soon as next year. See the full study here: http://www.kzero.co.uk/blog/vr-headset-sales-forecasts-and-market-penetration-2014-2018/
While virtual reality continues its fast, upward march in the gaming and entertainment industries, we are thrilled to offer a “Full VR” mode that unleashes the full potential of virtual reality gaming. Virtuix recently raised an additional $1 million in funding and are in pole position to bring this incredible Full VR experience to both VR enthusiasts and a mass-market audience. Thank you for your continuing support – we can’t wait to show you our final Omni design and transport your mind and body into the game.
As always, please join our Forums for immediate updates and discussions: http://forum.virtuix.com
Best regards,
Jan and the Virtuix team