cyberith-virtualizer-with-yei-technology-priovrCyberith is powering ahead toward their $250,000 Kickstarter goal to bring the Virtualizer VR treadmill to market. A new video from the company shows the unit combined with the PrioVR motion tracking suit for some truly awesome full body VR gameplay.

The Cyberith Virtualizer is an omnidirectional VR treadmill which allows players to navigate infinitely large virtual spaces without leaving the device. With a low friction base and a ring around the waist, players are free to run in place in any direction; they can also crouch and jump. The company is running a Kickstarter campaign in which it has reached 87% of its $250,000 goal in just one week.

PrioVR is an affordable full-body motion capture suit from YEI Technology that completed a successful Kickstarter back in March. The suit places IMUs at strategic points around the body to capture movement of the head, torso limbs, hands, and feet. The resulting skeletal data can be utilized for real time input into a game, allowing players to have their entire body inside of virtual reality.

See Also: Hands-on With the First PrioVR Prototype and YEI’s 3-Space Sensors (video)

Today, Cyberith released a video (above) of the Virtualizer being used in conjunction with PrioVR for a full body VR experience which uses YEI Technology’s forthcoming zombie demo level. In the video, the user is able to run around the map and use their entire body to interact with the game world. Tuncay Cakmak, founder of Cyberith describes the ability to look in one direction, move in another direction and shoot in yet another direction as “..the most experience I’ve ever had”. It does look incredibly cool we must admit.

SEE ALSO
Apple Reportedly Expands Vision Pro Production Capacity Following Successful US Launch

While the Virtualizer alone uses optical sensors in the base to track the movement of your feet, it can’t account for the rest of your body without additional input devices. Adding PrioVR to the mix offers a much more immersive experience than a single gun prop.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • sponge101

    Very immersive but how well will the dk2’s camera integrate in that whole setup? Hopefully someone will post a vid. PrioVR’s zombie demo was always my favorite — to bad the Virtualizer and Omni prevent you from kicking those blood-suckers. Zombie-football anyone?

    • sponge101

      $1.1 mil, that was Omni total kickstarter amount. Greater than that means greater investors’ interest and the opposite is true if it comes below.

    • Michael

      there is no need for dk2’s camera in this setup. The PrioVR does full body tracking, including head. Probably faster then with visual tracking too. It’d be better just to unplug the camera and let Prio do the work. I am interested to see how well the dk2 camera captures 360 movements as well though.

  • Wmerr21

    I’m suprised the Virtuix omni haven’t done this yet with an early version of the STEM system. Nevertheless, i’m very happy the Cyberith team have done this, as It gives people a good idea of how immersive VR can be with the right equipment.

    • Kemic

      Not sure how you can call it “immersive” when they guy is walking around firing a full-auto machine gun with just one hand and maintaining accuracy… lol.

      • Psuedonymous

        Immersion /= realism. And with current computer hardware, chasing realism will likely reduce immersion, through violation of Suspension of Disbelief (i.e. it’s easier to immerse yourself in a world where everything behaves abnormally than one in which some things behave as you would expect real-world objects to and most others don’t).

        The main barreir being physics simulation: even the most advanced game physics engine pales in comparison to the sorts of physical simulation engines used in haptic research, and those engines can only handle a few objects at a time without needing to back it with a computing cluster.

  • sponge101

    It just passed the kickstarter target — congrats.

  • Layneways

    GAME REVOLUTION
    Cons: Not all games e.g. MMORPG and limited movement speeds are designed for Virtualizer.

    FLAT BASE PLATE
    Cons: Subjective, some people are comfortable with it within seconds whereas some others needs several minutes to walk smoothly.

    NO SHOES NEEDED
    Cons: Virtualizer HT tend to be unsteady and discomfortable with slippery socks, why do you backed without tried and tested? Try putting some screws and smartphone on the same ride on a skateboard.

    STRONG MATERIALS
    Cons: Does not protect from excessive dust, dirt and water spill, may cause damage or fries the hardware components.

    SMART SENSORS
    Cons: Need to manually re-calibrate the sensors very often

    PSSST … NO NOISE
    Cons: It clearly shows these annoying balls bearing in the 3-posts are noisy

    AFFORDABLE HIGH-TECH HARDWARE, MADE IN EUROPE
    Cons: 699/749/999USD is not cheap for a motion controller peripheral

    BECOME A GAMING PIONEER!
    For the 500+ early backers compared to Oculus Rift with whopping 60,000+ DK2 testers
    While 400+ backers are not exactly game developers, you must be daydreaming to be pioneer.

    FULL USB COMPATIBILITY
    Cons: Not compatible with USB3.0, speaking on the durability for USB 2.0 port is unknown, can they lasts 5-10 years?

    Virtualizer Arm that holds your messy cables is shaky, for another 79USD to Virtualizer

    Go get it if can live with the cons or noting that further improvements is needed in Virtualizer before running a proper fund-raising but I appreciate why some backers want to back Cyberith campaign.

    • ziphnor

      @Layneways:
      Quite the sceptic aren’t you? :)

      I think you are being unnecessarily harsh here. For example, it is true that the *prototype* had some problems with USB 3.0 and recalibration, but to conclude based on this that the final version won’t support USB 3.0 or will have the same need for recalibration is misleading.

      Complaining about dirt and water spills makes no sense to me, most electronics dislike submerged in water :)

      Complaints about game support doesn’t make much sense, considering that the same applies to any other piece of VR hardware. In fact the virtualizer has a better chance of being useful with unsupported games than many other accessories.

  • Saturday

    Nai dis G bra for days

  • Saturday

    But like how many games be usin dees thangs