Known for kickstarting its original Kat Walk VR treadmill in 2015, Kat VR returned to the crowdfunding platform last month to launch the second generation of its ‘Kat Walk C’ VR treadmill, which again promises to appeal to at-home consumers. Having reached its initial funding goal in the first five minutes of launch, Kat VR went on to rack up over $2 million in crowdfunding before close of the campaign.

KatVR recently ended its latest VR treadmill Kickstarter with $2,116,680, garnered from 1,411 backers. The studio says in a recent update that they’re “on the right tracks to begin the shipping according to our original schedule and ship out the first units starting from June of 2022.”

“Due to a large number of supporters, we may not be able to ship out all the units of C2 and C2+ at the same time, but we’ve put very heavy efforts into achieving a high production capacity and can promise to you that everyone who supported us on the Kickstarter will receive the rewards soon,” the studio says in the update.

In the meantime, the company is continuing pre-sale through its own website, pricing units starting at $1,098, which is $100 more than the unlimited tier offered through the Kickstarter before its close last week. The original article follows below:

KatVR has surpassed $1 million, and is now currently boasting $1.2 million garnered with 23 days left in the campaign. At the moment, this puts the new campaign around 72.3 percent of the way to matching the company’s Kat Walk C Kickstarter from 2020, which secured $1.66 million over the course of 30 days. Considering the original Kat Walk C hit the $1 million mark in under 24 hours, this could suggest the new campaign is slightly behind, although not by much.

Now over the $1 million mark, the campaign has also unlocked a few stretch goals, including magnetic cable connections at the $500,000 mark, and now “10+ demo games” that are guaranteed to work with Kat Walk C2. Additionally, Kat VR says in an update its creating an “open developer platform” for the device, which it will publish so devs can add native Kat Walk support to their games.

Kat VR has a reason to celebrate, as the KAT Walk C2 campaign  blasted past its $300,000 goal in the first five minutes of going live on Saturday. At the time of this writing, the campaign has currently garnered around $930,000.

This, Kat VR says in an update, has also unlocked the first stretch goal, which includes magnetic cable connections instead of standard plug-in style cables. Stretch goals unlock at $1 million increments, which illustrates just how high the team’s hopes are that the campaign can continue its meteoric momentum.

Currently only the unlimited $998 tier is available, as early bird pricing has been completely snapped up. You can check out the Kat Walk C2 Kickstarter here to follow along.

Original Article (May 11th, 2022): Like the KAT Walk C, which launched on Kickstarter back in 2020, the so-called Kat Walk C2 lets users walk in place via a low-friction parabola and some slippy footwear. The newer model is said to include the ability to let users to run, jump, crouch, tilt from side-to-side, and lean forward; Kat VR also says it’s improved foot tracking in the C2 model, as well as the quality of its shoes.

There’s a number of early bird pricing tiers for project supporters (see below), however an unlimited tier for latecomers is set at $998. While you might think that’s not exactly a consumer price point, larger enterprise models such as the Virtuix Omni One and the original Kat Walk can retail in the multiple thousands of dollars and weigh at least 226 kg (500 lbs). The Kat Walk C2 series is said to weigh around 54 kg (120 lbs).

Image courtesy KAT VR

Like previous models, the company says users will able able to play free locomotion VR games using PC VR and PSVR, and also Quest via Link or Air Link.

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Here’s a look at the pricing tiers coming to the Kickstarter on May 14th, all of which will be available in limited quantities:

  • C2: Super KATer Extra Early Bird – $698 + Delivery
  • C2: Extra Early-Bird – $798 + Delivery
  • C2: Early-Bird – $898 + Delivery
  • C2: Special Kickstarter Offer – $998 + Delivery

The company is also producing a ‘C2 Plus’ model, which includes haptic feedback integrated into the treadmill’s base and the ability to sit down. That is being sold as an add-on priced at $200 across all tiers above, making the unlimited tier $1,198.

Kat VR says the first units of Kat Walk C 2 are expected to be shipped out as early as in July of 2022.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Jiovanie Velazquez

    Would it kill you to put a link to the Kickstarter in the article?

    • James Cobalt

      The kickstarter hasn’t launched yet. There is no link in existence at time of publishing.

    • KAT VR

      Hi there!
      Thank you for your interest – if you would like to learn more, the KS page will go live 24 – 12 hours before we launch so that everyone could see the product in detail and make a decision before the early-bird tier hunt begins : ) Be sure to check out our social media channels – the link will definitely be shared there

      Team KAT VR

  • VR Peregrine

    This looks really promising. Any other recommended treadmills? From what I can tell, it looks like Kat VR has been providing the best consumer models for the past few years. Makes me want to catch the early bird for this.

  • VR5

    This is really cool. I don’t have the space to put one of these, unfortunately, but a lot of people do and while threadmills for fitness aren’t quite mainstream they’re not uncommon either. I think VR is getting big enough it can support this playstyle as a subset of the medium, especially with prices going down for the threadmills.

    Also perfect for VR arcades.

    • RogerTheEmancipator

      Technically I have the space for one of these while doing VR, but not to be set up permanently. If it somehow quickly disassembled so it could fit in a closet I might consider it, but otherwise I just have no place to keep the thing.

      • VR5

        It definitely is not and having to set up first is too much friction. Some people have regular treadmills or other fitness devices in a dedicated room. For such people, admittedly a niche, a VR treadmill would make sense as well.

      • MountainK1ng

        In some ways it reduces the space you need for VR, since you end up standing in the same place, don’t have to worry about setting up a big enough guardian or hitting walls or televisions. I would want a room where I could leave it set up also though.

        • GmailIsDown

          Not quite. This only works for PC VR games where you use the stick on your touch controller to move smoothly. For room scale games where you move in real space, it does not work.

          This definitely makes those smooth locomotion games more immersive. However it is not a replacement for lack of physical space.

  • Ookami

    I don’t know if I’ll ever own one of these, it’s still cool nonetheless. Thrill’s vids on the Katwalk C sold me on the idea of these being a legitimate way to play. The Katwalk C2 looks twice as amazing.

  • Daniel R.

    looks really amazing, especially the part where you got more mobility, can you provide us with the measurements of this unit? maybe I overlooked it,. thank you

  • Collin Drennen

    I’m confident these types of questions will be answered, but what is going through my mind right now after watching the video (with no audio)
    What are the recommended/maximum body dimensions for this thing (e.g., height, weight , length of stride when walking/running)?
    How does the device interface with the PC/headset? What are the power requirements?
    How does a game work with it (e.g., does the game take care of it? is it a separate software program with ‘approved’ games?
    Is there a clip available for tethered cabled headsets?

    It’s tough not to get excited about it. It is also tough to imagine ‘joe average’ owning one when considering the upfront cost for a headset and VR capable PC. This has solid potential for more space-conservative VR arcades.

    • Arno van Wingerde

      Your last point is the major flaw for most expensive accessories: because of the price, most VR users will never own one. because of that, most games won’t support it, making them less interesting.
      It is the same problem that is still bothering VR as a whole: too few users to be attractive to developers of AAA games.
      For these things: it is a niche of a niche. First thing would be inclusion in the standard APKs, so it works for most games automatically, without the designers having to put in extra effort.

      • Ciaran Stones

        The Kat Walk treadmills work by simply emulating joystick input on games with full locomotion – there’s no need for games to ‘support’ it (by contrast with haptic vests etc. that do require programmed support).

        On ‘Is there a clip available for tethered cabled headsets?’, my KWC came with a pulley and a hook (I already had a pulley system, but goes to show that yeah pulleys are a must for using it with wired headsets).

        Hopefully that addresses the Qs and concerns above.

      • Ciranarama

        The Kat Walk treadmills work by simply emulating joystick input on games with full locomotion – there’s no need for games to ‘support’ it (by contrast with haptic vests etc. that do require programmed support).

        On ‘Is there a clip available for tethered cabled headsets?’, my KWC came with a pulley and a hook (I already had a pulley system, but goes to show that yeah pulleys are a must for using it with wired headsets).

        Hopefully that addresses the Qs and concerns above.

        • Arno van Wingerde

          Thanks: that makes the system much more useful! But does that always work “perfectly” out of the box? Is it not a problem that for instance in some games you have to run a mile to get anywhere and for other games every little movement gets you all over the place? And for the haptic feedback of the plus model, you need support anyway.

          • Ciranarama

            Running a mile’s kind of the point of owning it for me :) I love going for good long rambles in Skyrim or No Man’s Sky VR, exploring VR Chat worlds etc.: running on the thing is comfy and moreish, and if I’m having fun with the game I don’t get tired. Not so good with precision movement games: every step taking you all over the place etc. Windlands is a good example of both extremes, with it being a fun way to play, except when it starts throwing tiny platforms at you.

            I never really use the haptic module – it didn’t exist when the original KWC was made and shipped. When the company developed it later, they sent it to all the contributors for free which was nice, but it really is just a motor that clips onto the bottom of the treadmill that can be set to vibrate at the same time your hand controllers are vibrating, so it’s nothing nearly as specialised as you’d get with a haptic vest – at most, it adds a little extra immersion with jetpacks. With the integrated haptics on the new one and the sitting module I could see it being a fun feature for VR vehicle driving like they’re promoting especially if it actually is a positional system this time and different parts of the rig vibrate when accelerating, crashing from different angles, some saddle vibrations on the seat when riding a horse and so on. Hopefully that’s a thing and gets some support, but not really relevant for the running experience since you’re already getting vibrations from your physical footsteps :P

        • Max-Dmg

          Can we come to yours to play it? We will bring beers!

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  • Lhorkan

    Pretty shameless of them to have all their photos with the cables not plugged into the headsets.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      But the video is with a quest or woth a wired headset.

      • Lhorkan
        • Lhorkan

          The entire sequence where the “gameplay” is shown is with an Index that’s not plugged in, meaning the whole thing is reenacted. Sounds very fraudulent to me.

          https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/855844918beaac63abcc8e9a9dcfad2ad4ff57d3402d3bebcf2ec2ce67f0d8f7.png

          • Andrew Jakobs

            Why is it false advertisement? the headset itself doesn’t have anything to do with the walker. Replace the headset with a vive wireless, quest 2, Pico Neo3 or a Vive focus 3 and you wouldn’t know the difference. I don’t think you really believe the washingpowder commercials do you? they’ve been saying for decades it washes better than before, so white should be completely blinding after being washed these days. Or how about axe deoderant, you don’t see a group of women chasing you after you sprayed yourself with it.
            The video shows exactly what the reality is what the device itself does.

          • Lhorkan

            It’s false advertisement if the recording of the guy in the treadmill is fully separate of the gameplay recording. Since it’s (potentially) not connected, the whole thing is reenacted. So the treadmill could be fully non functional. Hence, false advertisement.

          • Arno van Wingerde

            Oh, you are dead wrong about the Axe though… I had to stop using it after ending up in hospital…

    • brandon9271

      If the unnatural motion of sliding around in a dish and looking like a complete tool doesn’t dissuade people from buying this contraption I doubt a headset wire will.

      • Ossi Hurme

        Why do you care if you look goofy in your own house?

  • Fernando Setien Dodero

    I tried one of those (old one) and it sucks, do any one have had a good experience?
    May be I expected too much. Well I expected to walk naturally.

    • brandon9271

      They’re ridiculous.. Just buy a piece of linoleum, wool socks and a baby walker.. You can get a wedgy and look like a FOOL for a lot less money. lol

  • brandon9271

    I can’t believe how many people spend millions on these ridiculous contraptions..

    • MountainK1ng

      Most people only spend the $899 it costs. I agree spending millions for this would be ridiculous.

      • brandon9271

        $900 is ridiculous.. you know what they say about a fool and his money.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          Why is it ridiculous? People spend $1000+ on a freaking GPU. If you can find a device like this for less please do tell us. I’m not spending any money on things like this though, but I can imagine people wanting to have some more ‘walking’ exerienced in VR,and at the moment devices like these is what gets you that experience.

  • MountainK1ng

    I do wish the height limits were wider. I’m 6’1″ and my girlfriend is 5′ so we couldn’t use the same one. Sort of makes it a no buy for me.

    I’m waiting on PSVR2 as my next headset anyway, it will probably have the best games, despite the wire (hoping it will be detachable and they’ll offer a wireless module that just plugs in the USB-C port in the future.) I figure another year or two down the road, once this supply shortage has run its course I’ll look at PCVR or a wireless standalone, if PS hasn’t released a wireless kit yet.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      I think Sony hurts itself by having the PSVR2 wired as with prices of headsets like the Quest 2 and Pico neo3 it shows having a wifichip onboard shouldn’t bring the price up that much.

  • Brian

    There has to be a more elegant solution to vr locomotion then this crazy and expensive contraption…

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Yeah, even much more expensive contraptions. If you know a better way of ‘really’ walking and still stay in one spot, please enlighten us, as you’ve got something revolutionairy.

  • david vincent

    I’m baffled that those fake threadmills are still selling…

    • Andrew Jakobs

      What’s fake about them? They do what ‘s advertised.

  • Max-Dmg

    Can you please send me a free one? I have been a very good boy this year.

  • Mike EY

    If that’s a slip floor, this product is terrible. Immersion & sneaking in VR relies on foot tactile feel.

  • Ossi Hurme

    I would have backed, but 400$ for shipping plus taxes almost doubles the price.