KAT VR
| KAT VR | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Type | Private |
| Industry | Virtual Reality |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Founder | Kaye Pang |
| Headquarters | Hangzhou, China |
| Notable Personnel | Kaye Pang (CEO) |
| Products | Omnidirectional VR treadmills, wearable locomotion sensors |
| Website | https://www.kat-vr.com |
KAT VR (stylized KATVR, legally Hangzhou Virtual And Reality Technology Co., Ltd.) is a Chinese hardware and software company that designs locomotion devices for virtual reality, best known for its omnidirectional treadmill systems. The company was established in 2013 and is based in Hangzhou, China, with its chief executive being Kaye Pang.[1][2] Its products are meant to solve the problem of locomotion in VR, letting a user physically walk, run, and crouch in place while a head-mounted display tracks their position, so that movement in the game does not rely on a thumbstick.[2]
KAT VR describes its main treadmill as the world's first non-restrictive omnidirectional treadmill, meaning the wearer is held by a harness rather than enclosed in a support ring, which leaves the arms and legs free to move.[1][3] The company holds more than 20 patents covering VR interaction, ergonomic design, and motion capture, and sells both consumer products and enterprise systems used for training in fields such as construction safety, fire safety, and military and police simulation.[1] Along with the United States firm Virtuix, KAT VR is one of the two best-known makers of consumer-facing omnidirectional treadmills.[1]
History
KAT VR was formed in 2013 in China as a research and development company focused on VR locomotion.[1][3] Its first product, the KAT WALK, was a large omnidirectional treadmill in which the user stood inside an open overhead frame, wore a harness, and walked across the surface in special wheeled shoes.[3] The KAT WALK ran a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter in 2015 with a goal of 100,000 US dollars; it finished in August 2015 having raised 149,278 US dollars from 231 backers, at a pre-order price of 799 US dollars for the harness, sensors, and shoes.[3][4]
In its early years the company concentrated on commercial customers. By late 2016 it was selling a roughly 9,000 US dollar version of the KAT WALK to VR arcades in China, a setup explicitly described as too large and too expensive for the home but already in commercial use, while the company said it intended to develop a consumer version in the future.[5] A smaller commercial model, the KAT Walk Mini, followed in the 2018 era.[2]
The company reached a much wider audience with the KAT Walk C, announced on Kickstarter in June 2020 and pitched as the first personal, gamer-focused omnidirectional treadmill sized for a living room.[2][6] The campaign opened with a 100,000 US dollar goal, passed 1.2 million US dollars with more than a month to spare, and finished at roughly 1.67 million US dollars from about 1,397 backers, which KAT VR has cited as a crowdfunding record for a VR peripheral.[6][1] Early-bird pledges ran from about 699 to 899 US dollars, with the standard price set at 999 US dollars, and units were due to ship to backers in October 2020.[6]
In November 2020 KAT VR introduced the KAT Loco S, an updated wearable locomotion system, and the company has continued to release new hardware since, including the KAT Walk C2 line and the KAT Nexus integration product.[7][1] In October 2024 the KAT Walk C2 received an iF Design Award, the German industrial-design prize.[1]
Technology
KAT VR's omnidirectional treadmills work by combining a purpose-built walking surface with a body harness and motion sensors. The user steps onto the surface, wears special shoes laden with sensors, and is held upright by a harness while the headset reads their movement.[3][5] Unlike the slick, low-friction dishes used by some rival treadmills, the original KAT WALK used a high-friction surface paired with wheeled shoes, a combination the company said was meant to feel more like walking on real ground than sliding in place.[3] Because the frame supports the user from an overhead harness rather than enclosing them in a waist ring, the arms and legs stay free, which is the basis for the company's "non-restrictive" claim.[3][1] The treadmill presents itself to the computer as a standard input device, so games that support free-locomotion movement can be played without special integration.[2][6]
A second approach the company takes is sensor-based locomotion that needs no treadmill. The KAT Loco, first released in 2019, and its successor the KAT Loco S use a small set of wearable trackers, typically one on each foot or leg plus one at the waist, that let a user walk in place to move in VR; the cadence of the steps controls the in-game walking speed.[7] The KAT Loco S sold for 229 US dollars and was designed to work with most major headsets, including PC VR systems and standalone headsets such as the Meta Quest line.[7] The company's KAT Nexus product, introduced in 2023, is aimed at letting these locomotion devices work directly with standalone headsets running free-locomotion games.[1]
Products
KAT VR's catalog spans full omnidirectional treadmills for both home and commercial use, lighter wearable sensor kits, and supporting accessories and software.
| Product | Year | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| KAT WALK | 2015 (Kickstarter) | Omnidirectional treadmill | First product; open overhead harness frame, high-friction surface and wheeled shoes; raised 149,278 US dollars from 231 backers on Kickstarter[3][4] |
| KAT Walk Mini | 2018 (era) | Commercial omnidirectional treadmill | Smaller treadmill aimed largely at commercial and arcade use[2] |
| KAT Walk C | 2020 | Personal omnidirectional treadmill | Living-room-sized consumer treadmill; ~1.67 million US dollars raised on Kickstarter; 999 US dollars retail[2][6] |
| KAT Loco | 2019 | Wearable locomotion sensors | Foot and waist sensor set for walking in place; launched at 199 US dollars[7] |
| KAT Loco S | 2020 | Wearable locomotion sensors | Second-generation sensors with improved tracking and magnetic-interference resistance; 229 US dollars[7] |
| KAT Walk C2 | 2024 (era) | Personal omnidirectional treadmill | Updated consumer treadmill; won an iF Design Award in 2024[1] |
| KAT Nexus | 2023 | Standalone integration device | Connects KAT locomotion hardware to standalone VR headsets for free-locomotion games[1] |
Market position
KAT VR is one of a small number of companies that have brought omnidirectional treadmills to consumers, a category long considered impractical because of size, cost, and complexity. Its closest comparison is Virtuix, maker of the Omni and Omni One, and the two are often described together as the leading makers of consumer VR treadmills.[1] KAT VR's strategy has been to move from large, expensive arcade hardware toward smaller, cheaper home units: the company went from a roughly 9,000 US dollar arcade rig in 2016 to the 999 US dollar KAT Walk C in 2020, while also offering far cheaper wearable sensor kits for users who do not want a full treadmill.[5][6][7] Alongside its consumer business, the company sells enterprise systems for simulation and training and says its products are distributed across markets including the United States, several European countries, Australia, Canada, the Middle East, and parts of East Asia.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 "About KAT VR". https://www.kat-vr.com/pages/kat-vr-learn-more.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Kat VR Announces Kickstarter for At-home VR Treadmill 'KAT WALK C'". 2020-06-28. https://www.roadtovr.com/katvr-kickstarter-kat-walk-c/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "KAT Walk VR Treadmill Kickstarter Raises Over $149,000". 2015-08-24. https://www.roadtovr.com/kat-walk-vr-treadmill-kickstarter-raises-150000/.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "KAT WALK". https://vrarwiki.com/wiki/KAT_WALK.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Watch this $9K VR walking rig really put players into the game". 2016-11-24. https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/24/watch-this-9k-vr-walking-rig-really-put-players-into-the-game/.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "Kat Walk C VR Treadmill Reaches Over $1.2 Million On Kickstarter". 2020-06-30. https://www.uploadvr.com/kat-walk-c-kickstarter/.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 "Kat VR Updates Wearable Locomotion System With KAT Loco S". 2020-11-20. https://www.uploadvr.com/kat-loco-s/.