Omni competitor Cyberith demos its omnidirectional treadmill with Skyrim
Virtualizer lets you jump and doesn't require special shoes.
German tech company Cyberith has released a video demonstrating how its omnidirectional treadmill, the Virtualizer, works when combined with the Oculus Rift, two Wii remotes, and Skyrim.
The general setup will no doubt remind you of Virtuix's Omni treadmill that likewise locks the player's hips in place while their legs do the, um, legwork. Cyberith's Virtualizer operates similarly, but comes with a few noteworthy enhancements.
Chief among these is the ability to duck and jump due to the safety ring around the user's hip being able to slide vertically. "The Virtualizer not only supports simple forward-faced movements like walking or running, but also walking backwards, crouching, jumping and even sitting," Cyberith noted on its official site. This also means it's more easily adjustable for people of different heights - an issue I ran into when demoing the Omni treadmill last year.
Furthermore, the Virtualizer doesn't require any special shoes like the Omni. Instead you merely slip around the flat metal surface in your socks. This makes it both cheaper and more accessible as you won't need to buy extra shoes for everyone with different sized feet to use it, plus it makes running it (literally) much quieter.
When asked about its release plans, Cyberith CEO and founder Tuncay Cakmak told Eurogamer that it's preparing for a crowdfunding campaign soon. Regarding its price, he noted, "we cannot tell an exact price now but we can tell that everybody who can afford a gaming PC, can afford the Virtualizer."
"The third prototype is going to be kickass," he added. "More natural movements, extremely silent, bigger base plate, better software and sensoric [sic] and an elegant design. We also have some awesome gadgets for the third prototype which will be released at the campaign."