"Omni" Treadmill Lets You Burn Calories While Gaming

Steven Bogos

The Taco Man
Jan 17, 2013
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"Omni" Treadmill Lets You Burn Calories While Gaming

Next time someone tells you to "get off the PC and exercise," you can retort, "But I am exercising!"

Sitting on the couch, or in front of your computer, for hours on end playing Skyrim and wolfing down cheetos is bad for your health. This is something that we, as gamers, have simply had to accept. Just like smokers or drinkers, our habit is slowly killing us. Until now. Virtuix has designed an omni-directional treadmill called the Omni, which allows users to walk in virtual environments such as Skyrim. The treadmill hooks up to a game system and converts movement from the player into keystrokes.

The video to the right demonstrates the Omni being used in Skyrim. You can see that the player's movements in real-life are directly translated to his actions on screen. An Xbox Kinect is used to track the player's head movements. In a game like Skyrim which features copious amounts of running from area to area, I'd imagine you would get quite a workout.

Another video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AmukXVHW6F4] shows the game being used in conjunction with Crysis: Warhead. As Crysis: Warhead was a PC-exclusive, we can assume that the device will be limited to the PC, at least initially. Virtuix CEO Jan Goetgeluk says that the Omni will fit in your living room, be affordable for your average consumer, and will allow users to walk effortlessly in a VR environment thanks to its special low-friction surface.

"The Omni's strongest part is that it has no electronics and no moving parts, which keeps the cost down," says Goetgeluk. "It has a low-friction surface with grooves, and comes with a pair of low-friction shoes that have a plunger pin at the bottom that fit in the surface grooves. As such, your foot is stabilized when walking, instead of sliding left and right as if you were walking on ice. The gait feels natural and effortless," he tells us.

Goetgeluk says that the Omni is still in an early prototype stage, and at this point the company is working on refining the design so the device can be folded up and packed away when not in use. He says that the Omni in its current form doesn't need an SDK, as it simply emulates keystrokes, but Virtuix is looking in to the possibly of de-coupling the user's looking direction from their walking direction and even gun aiming direction. "Then you have true virtual reality," Goetgeluk says.

Source: BabySoft MurderHands [http://babysoftmurderhands.com/2013/03/vr-interview-with-the-creator-of-the-virtuix-omni/]

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SnowyGamester

Tech Head
Oct 18, 2009
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Bought damn time. Now make it so the supports can contract and extend for crouching and jumping, add a VR helmet, some motion controls, and a not unsubstantial list of supported games, then you've got a sale.
 

Nantucket_v1legacy

acting on my best behaviour
Mar 6, 2012
1,064
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If I played Skyrim on this machine then I EXPECT to be at least a size 10 by the time I reach level 80.
 

CardinalPiggles

New member
Jun 24, 2010
3,226
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Fuck that, I do enough walking at work.

Game time is relax time.

Call me old fashioned but I thought down time wasn't supposed to be proactive.
 

Kuratius

New member
May 23, 2012
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If people actually use this, gamers will become superhuman in terms of stamina.
I, for one, welcome our new gamer overlords!
 

IndomitableSam

New member
Sep 6, 2011
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Yes please. I would so buy this, we try and walk in place while playing but it gets really awkward easily, so this would make me very very happy.
 

carpathic

New member
Oct 5, 2009
1,287
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ORRRRR you could do what I do and just play Skyrim with your controller while you are on your treadmill in the basement. Might explain why I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with my bow and arrow.

But, it has helped me lose nearly 30 lbs so far, because I can only game while on the treadmill!
 

Your Gaffer

New member
Oct 10, 2012
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I get tired playing Wii games for more than 10 minutes, I don't want to have to run on a freaking treadmill to play a game.
 

Fayathon

Professional Lurker
Nov 18, 2009
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Zombie_Moogle said:
I can't be the only one who's immediate thought is to use this with the Oculus Rift
I was thinking of the Hlaf-Life 2 Rift demo that they used the Cabella's gun with for a full motion experience, that would be a whole lot of fun I think.
 

BrionJames

New member
Jul 8, 2009
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awesome simply awesome...now add some force feedback and woo hoo! I would consider buying this.
 

Yopaz

Sarcastic overlord
Jun 3, 2009
6,092
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Honestly this doesn't look practical or fun. Seems like a way to make your gaming less fun and not really be that much of an exercise.

I walk a lot, but I doubt that burns off a lot of calories. If this works for someone then great, but it seems like a waste of money. Kinda like most exercise machines I see advertised on TV.