Virtual reality is taking on many more areas than just the home and location-based entertainment is one of them.
If Virtuix Omni VR’s growth is any sign of things to come, we could have a healthy, vibrant VR sub-industry on our hands in little to no time.
At least that’s what Virtuix Omni’s team hopes.
Boasting one million plays since launch, Virtuix Omni hopes its treadmill and eSports arena game can growth even further over 2019 and beyond.
The Virtuix Omni platform basically makes it really easy for small venues to enable cool virtual reality experiences without shelling out tons of money on equipment. It is also a development platform that recently released its 20th game called Bull Runner which, as the title would suggest, simulate running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
The system combines gear such as a stationary platform to walk on with HTC Vive headsets to give players a simulation of free-range motion. It’s a pretty cool concept in action and, again, uses relatively inexpensive innovations to achieve a really high level of immersion.
One interesting aspect of Virtuix Omni’s business that probably gives them an edge over their competition is the sheer volume of data that they collect from their retail partners and players using their platform.
The Omniverse system, the platform that, among other things, launches the games and helps vendors track revenue, provides the company with a wealth of information on what works – and what doesn’t.
This means that future games can incorporate successful concepts and the company can better tune its hardware to what works best in VR.
Founder and CEO Jan Goetgeluk is quoted by Forbes as saying of his company, “We’ve learned a lot about the requirements of operating VR in location-based entertainment…Our first foray into the LBE market, a stage-style product with 5 Omnis placed in a small area, had suboptimal throughput, flow, and labor costs. Two years of customer feedback helped us design our new attraction, VR ARENA, with highly-automated user flow, built-in esports, and a selection of the best Omniverse games.”
Looking forward, Virtuix Omni is not only interested in the burgeoning market for LBVR but also wants to expand its presence in the nascent field of VR eSports.
In fact, those in the know consider Virtuix Omni a segment leader in this market.
LBVR consultant Kevin Williams tells Forbes, “One of the most important ingredients in the success of LBVR is an esports offering. There is nothing like it to drive repeat visitation…Everyone pays lip service, but few succeed like Virtuix has.”
For those of us who have spent a long time in tech and playing video games in particular, location-based VR has more than a whiff of the spirit of the arcades about it and that seems intentional looking in from the outside.
Balancing out the kinds of compelling, one-off experiences people often associate with arcades with the need for gameplay that can be mastered and played in the eSports arena is likely a challenge that any VR company will face trying to do LBVR. Nonetheless, it’s good to know that Virtuix Omni is such a good option for vendors and consumers.
