Omni, Next-Gen Virtual Reality Treadmill Coming January, 2014

You won't have to pledge any money to this bad boy because it's already been funded. Yep, with a $150,000 goal on Kickstarter, the Omni from Virtuix Studios managed to rack up $344,000 after going live on Kickstarter earlier today, with 48 days to go. We're looking at another OUYA on our hands here people.

As reported on Forbes, the Omni is a next-generation virtual reality treadmill or movement pad (I think it fits the latter description better). It allows users to move in 360 rotational directions thanks to the indented pad that makes use of special shoe soles and allows you to walk, run and jump. It's a neat looking device and based on the Kickstarter video it actually appears to work.

What's more is that the Omni works in conjunction with other motion-devices, including the highly awaited Oculus Rift and Microsoft's infamous Xbox Kinect. This could also make for a great way to motion-capture movement using something like Kinect and iPi Soft without having to use a large studio for movement capture.

The possibilities for this thing are almost endless and it certainly opens up a large opportunity for the future of interactivity. As showcased in the video, could you imagine playing DayZ: Standalone with the Oculus Rift and the Omni? How crazy would that be? Trying to run for an hour away from zombies would be insane. Heck, they even mention in the video that this could work well as an exercise device.

I'm glad this thing was Kickstarted so quickly as it's the true next generation of video game interactivity. The Omni is scheduled to release next winter in January, 2014. You can learn more by paying a kind visit to the project's official Kickstarter page.