KAT Walk C VR treadmill fully funded after only three minutes on Kickstarter
The KAT Walk C is an upcoming VR treadmill that recently launched on Kickstarter, where it was fully funded just three minutes after being posted.
Described as a "Ready Player One VR treadmill," the KAT Walk C's original Kickstarter goal was approximately $100,000 — it has already brought in over 10 times that amount, despite having a whopping 39 days left in its funding campaign.
You can check out some footage of the KAT Walk C in the video embedded below, which shows how integrating a functional treadmill into a VR system actually works.
"KAT Walk C is the world’s first gamer-dedicated, personal VR Omni-Directional Treadmill (ODT)," reads the Kickstarter description. "A new generation mechanical device that allows for 360 degrees of human motion, creating infinite movement area in VR on minimum physical space in reality."
The description is pretty lengthy, and describes all of the features and functionality of the treadmill in intensive detail. Apparently the hardware accommodates for recognition of real-world walking, running, crouching, spinning, leaning over, and more, and is designed with a support frame for your back in order to facilitate safety and comfort.
It's also mentioned that for anyone curious, gameplay from a variety of titles is set to be made available pretty soon — including Half-Life: Alyx.
"Traverse the streets of City 17 in Half Life: Alyx and utilize the capabilities of your KAT Walk C to show the interdimensional invaders who’s the new sheriff in town," reads the post. "Pssst: If you meet an entire Combine’s squad, it is still strongly recommended to turn tail – luckily enough KAT Walk C lets you run really fast!"
There are also a range of extra features due to be developed after reaching certain Kickstarter goals, including a PSVR adapter. The last goal, which is attached to a hefty figure of $1.5 million, hopes to introduce haptic feedback to the platform base.
Three rounds of Early Bird rewards have already sold out, each one increasing in price by an increment of $100. With the cheaper pre-orders being exhausted, the KAT Walk C is now $999 plus shipping. Its expected release date is currently October 2020.
In related news, Half-Life Alyx recently implemented something called a booze shader, which has inspired devs to create their own versions.
Here's our list of the best VR games to play.