Virtuix has made great progress this past month and incorporated design improvements based on your feedback discussed in our previous update. The strut bases now provide sufficient clearance for tall users to walk and run on the Omni, and we optimized the sizing and ergonomics of our harness design based on extensive user testing. Now that Chinese New Year is behind us, we anticipate to have tooling underway this month. We will distribute an accurate production schedule as soon as available. Thank you Community for bearing with us!

When fully assembled, the Omni platform is 55″ / 140cm wide (incl. strut bases), 55″ / 139cm long (incl. the step-up deck), and 35″ / 89cm high (when the ring is in its lowest position).

Samsung Gear VR Demo: Dreadhalls with Analog Speed

Virtuix is attending GDC 2015 this week and will be showcasing the Omni’s analog speed and Bluetooth capability with the Samsung Gear VR. Check out our demo video below in which our game designer Cameron runs for his life in the dungeons of Dreadhalls (and nearly gets a heart attack):

Recommended Omni VR Games List

We often get the question what games work best with the Omni. Besides the usual suspects (Half Life 2, TRAVR), we’ve started putting together a growing list of VR games and demos that we’ve enjoyed the most while using the Omni.

• TRAVR: Shadow Ops
• TRAVR: Training Ops
• Half Life 2
• Dreadhalls
• Vox Machinae
• Loading Human
• Time Rifters
• The Gallery: Six Elements
• New Retro Arcade

We’ll continue to update this list with new and upcoming VR experiences that we recommend you try when you receive your Omni. Please let us know your suggestions for VR games or demos we should experience and add to the list!

Upcoming Events: GDC 2015 and SXSW Panel

Besides showcasing the Omni in use with the Gear VR, we look forward to connecting with developers at GDC this week and promoting the Omni as a great input device for VR that creates a high level of immersion and enables active VR content like first person shooters. If you’re attending GDC, we invite you to stop by our booth #1635 and experience the Omni!

We also invite you to our panel “Suspension of Disbelief in Virtual Reality” at SXSW in Austin on Friday, March 13 at 5pm at the Hyatt Regency (Zilker Ballroom 4). Jan will present together with Amir Rubin (President and CEO of Sixsense), Jason Jerald (Co-Founder and CEO of NextGen Interactions), and Dan Hurd (Studio Design Lead of Playful Corp, Lucky’s Tale).

Online Account Update

Our new online account system is up and running! You should have received an email this past month with instructions on how to set up your account and access your pre-order information online, enabling you to check the status of your order as well as edit your shipping address if necessary. If you have not received this email, please let us know at info@virtuix.com.

VR Industry Developments

HTC and Valve are teaming up to bring to market the Vive, a high-end head mounted display that is the biggest competitive threat to Oculus so far.

A new patent by Apple reveals that the company is working on an iPhone-based virtual reality HMD.

LG and Google just launched their own virtual reality headset: the VR for G3.

Panasonic announced that the company is making its own virtual reality headset, an independent device similar to the Oculus Rift and Sony Morpheus.

Mattel is teaming up with Google on an upcoming virtual reality-based View-Master that is infused with Google Cardboard VR technology.

The NBA announced that they’re to bring a collection of basketball events to VR, giving basketball fans the chance to enjoy courtside seats without even being there.

Top content creators and producers from the entertainment and ad worlds are showing their willingness to invest significantly in virtual reality as a new form of storytelling. 

We continue to make steady progress towards delivering the Omni and cannot express how much we appreciate your valuable feedback, patience and support. As always, please join our Forums for immediate updates and discussions: http://forum.virtuix.com

Best regards,

Jan and the Virtuix team