Omni treadmill brings us one step closer to true virtual reality

Remember Lawnmower Man? If like me you saw that and began eagerly counting the days to when you too could fly through virtual reality with a pre-James Bond Pierce Brosnin, then you and I were both sorely dissapointed, as here we are over 20 years later and nothing much has happened. Except it's starting to now. We've all seen the Occulus Rift and its impressive head tracking and display combination technology. Imagine combining that with an omni-directional treadmill that tracks your movement, that even fits in your home.

Ok no one's going to argue that the people demoing these look ridiculous. If by ridiculous, you mean ridiculously badass, because I want one of these in my house right now. I'll move the sofa. I don't care, my girl can watch Don't Tell the Bride elsewhere. I have some gaming to do.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpHWJMytx5I#!']

But perhaps you don't want to go running around shooting people with a plastic gun. Maybe you want to stroll through the rolling hills of Skyrim?

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxwknXZ_fR0′]

Or jump around with no game attached at all and look like a weirdo?

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpYJXrDHOBk']

In all fairness, that last one is a demo video designed to showcase the technology and will no doubt be used in the Omni's upcoming Kickstarter campaign. Yes, that's right, these aren't weird homebrew mods that nobody can make. These aren't a futuristic component that no-one will have for years or cost millions to develop. They're coming to Kickstarter, soon, and that means with a few sheckles, we'll be able to own one too.

Combine this with a decent VR headset like the Rift, a nice surround sound setup and you have the VR system of your dreams.

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KitGuru Says: It's here. Virtual reality is right around the corner. How lame is it that the first thing I want to do is go for a run around Far Cry's 3's island with no bad guys around? Ooh, or wander through Dear Esther again. That could be cool. 

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