Universally compatible & affordable VR locomotion system that activates your lower body, granting full physicality of VR interactions.
KAT loco is a foot-based VR locomotion system that gives complete physical control over lower-body actions, allowing you to freely walk, run, and carry out just any other movement in virtual reality.
Regarding virtual reality, a realistic locomotion system holds the key to immersive gameplay. However, despite being approached from many different angles, all traditional VR Locomotion techniques failed to provide an optimal solution capable of integrating high immersion with convenience.
From the first VR Headset to modern solutions, VR industry as a whole has never stopped diving deeper and deeper into virtual world constantly heading towards full physicality of VR interactions. And now it is time for VR Locomotion to follow, bringing your lower body into play! Freeing your hands from controlling body directions, and allowing you to walk with your feet, KAT Loco is the last step to creation of a complete VR system with head control for vision, hand control for manual interactions, and foot control for locomotion. This effectively increases immersion and reduces motion sickness and space limitation.
Using our device grants you access to a unique and comprehensive locomotion system based on high functionality, advanced software, and user-friendly hardware. Being so simplistic in its assumptions and yet so complete, KAT loco offers an all-in-one locomotion solution suitable for dozens of applications. Whether you’re a player, a casual VR fan or just someone who would like to hang out with friends in the virtual world, we’ve got you covered.
During the development of KAT loco, our team placed large focus on introduction of all features necessary to reach the sweet spot between versatility, convenience, and immersion. That means a wide variety of available actions which can be carried out quickly and smoothly. Our system allows you to instantly perform almost any movement you’re capable of.
KAT Loco enables you to move within VR by literally walking or running in place in reality. What’s more, you can enjoy it in the most natural of ways! Implementation of analogue speed together with loco’s low motion latency allows you to achieve instant movement and realistic acceleration through higher frequency of steps in each VR game and simulation that supports it. Immersive, precise, and detailed actions in gaming are finally within your reach!
One of main differences between standard motion in games, and real-life movement is independent control over head and body directions which are not fixed. With introduction of such a function, loco enables you to freely look around, aim, and shoot while continuously moving towards any intended direction in order to achieve better vision and get a strategic advantage in many games. Not to mention increased immersion and deepened realism for which independent H&B directions is a necessity.
KAT Loco allows you to fully integrate your play area into VR experience and interact with your surroundings in a natural way. Use this advantage to carry out just any physical action – even jumping! And all of that without manually switching between different motion modes. Support for Roomscale is an integral part of our system.
Let’s just state the obvious – support for moving backwards is absolutely necessary. Nothing can take you by surprise if you always watch your back! And if you ever find yourself outnumbered or overwhelmed in close combat, you can effortlessly retreat.
Being one of main mechanics of many games especially competitive FPSes in which it allows you to dodge bullets, take cover or just stay in motion, strafing simply couldn’t be absent in our system!
The cruise control function allows you to keep moving in a certain direction at a certain speed without constantly moving your legs. Traversing vast lands through virtual worlds has never been easier!
KAT loco’s sensors are modular what makes the system expandable and applicable to content requiring mocap such as VR Chat.
In order to achieve that goal for the lower body and at the same time keep it wireless, easy to wear and use and operating in low motion latency, three KAT loco’s sensors will completely suffice.
If there is a need for more precise and complex body tracking, KAT loco is developing to be expanded to 4 or even up to 16 modules operating in small wired systems created for each of your limbs.
Application of force-sensitive and magnetic-susceptible deep integration sensors system based fully on wireless solutions allows us to achieve high accuracy and good performance with no significant compromises on convenience.
What’s more, loco’s sensors are integrated with several unique algorithms and technological solutions including:
· Smart Anti-Interference Algorithms capable of recognizing your actual intentions to protect you from random motion in virtual world. Their high accuracy allows you to freely walk when you want to and avoid frustrating inadvertent movement when you don’t, as you continuously use KAT loco’s Roomscale support to carry out other physical actions.
· Information fusion based inertial motion capture and K-KF filtering algorithms system allowing us to achieve enhanced autonomous capture accuracy and low motion latency within 20 ms including motion estimation, data processing, and transmission. All of that to let you just enjoy virtual world and forget about immersion killing movement delays.
· Integration with KAT’s servers and databases that grow every day. Our team will make sure the more people use our devices the more accurate they become!
We believe that in case of a player-dedicated product, such as KAT loco, universal compatibility is a must. After all, one does not purchase a coffee mug to consume the mug but to drink coffee from it. One of the main features of KAT loco is its unparalleled compatibility with all major platforms including: Steam VR, Viveport, PlayStation VR*, Oculus Home (in development).
* For PlayStation VR, you need an additional adapter “PiSystem”, please contact us at global@katvr.com for more information.
What’s more, loco is fully compatible with all major VR Headsets and allows you to play just any virtual reality game with support for Free Locomotion. It is even compatible with Oculus Quest through streaming and we are developing the native support mode.
And our native keyboard and game-pad modes for extended content compatibility are in development!
Prepare for an ultimate VR Locomotion experience with all of your favorite games including various AAA RPGs and FPSes! And there’s more – loco allows you to experience social interactions in virtual world when you can’t meet your friends in the real one. VR Chat, Rec Room, and other multi-player games and simulations give you a great opportunity to join the exclusive community of VR lovers from all over the world. And it only gets better when you can experience it with KAT loco.
KAT loco comes with our new multi-functional software designed specifically for home use – KAT Gateway. Our team decided to combine simplicity of its control panel with adjustability of parameters to ensure you can easily turn your own loco into a perfect VR input device for your needs.
Thanks to KAT Gateway you can get quick access to loco’s control panel both from a computer desktop and directly from your VR headset. You’ll be able to easily check all basic parameters such as connection status or battery status in only a matter of seconds! Moreover, the control panel will send you a discrete warning if you ever get too close or too far in order to ensure your maximum safety at all time.
Parameters such as foot tracking sensitivity or cruise control settings can be adjusted at any time to provide you with a more enjoyable experience and properly address all requirements of specific content. After all, competitive FPSes should be played in a completely different way than story-driven adventure games or open-world RPGs.
KAT Gateway also integrates all functions of our highly acclaimed inSteam technology that allows you to play just any free locomotion VR game. And that’s not all! Thanks to application of our newest enhancement – inSteam Turbo, each compatible game no matter if opened directly through steam, shortcuts or even with the loco’s control panel turned off, will be automatically launched with an optimal settings configuration. And its interface will be available for use by just anyone! Whether a game is officially supported or not, you can quickly adapt KAT loco to control any VR content available in your SteamVR library at any time.
One of main ideas behind KAT loco is to allow you to adapt almost any environment to VR gaming. Its lightweight, wireless sensors can be set up in no time, and don’t require any complicated maintenance. Their simplicity makes them also immune to most of technical problems.
You don’t have to be a VR pro to properly set up and calibrate KAT Loco. Its installation procedure is simple and intuitive, and our sensors are easy to wear and use by just anyone.
Besides the universal compatibility, we offer a wide variety of titles additionally adapted to our solutions with use of our native Software Development Kit in order to provide an even deeper and more immersive VR experience. Our SDK is simple and easy to use by just any developer. With Unity and Unreal engine plugins, full video tutorials and support from our in-house dev team, the whole process of integration can be completed in a matter of hours. We are on hand for any testing or trouble-shooting but we can also provide a unit of KAT Loco for you to test out in your office. Visit the developer center at www.katvr.com or contact us at developer@katvr.com to find out more details. Feel invited to join the KAT VR family!
As an early backer and true KAT supporter, you get to join our exclusive community and receive early exclusive updates about our development progress. And what’s more, all early backers will get to vote on, suggest and request features and design modifications. All pledges in this campaign are priced to be lower than the final retail version, the goal of this campaign is to take our supporters input and suggestions for the final retail version.
We are thrilled to announce that our adventure with KAT loco starts with its release on Kickstarter on June 10th, 2019! Gamers and VR enthusiasts from all around the globe, please feel invited to join us and let’s bring our common dream to life together!
Remember – safe, realistic, and deeply immersive locomotion in virtual reality is our mission! KAT VR will never cease to chase perfection, bring innovations and explore new possibilities. VR is our passion, and we believe it holds infinite possibilities that start with countless ways to experience it. We believed in it when we were working on our first omni-directional treadmills, and we believe in now introducing a different, yet equally fascinating way to enter and experience the digital world.
What’s more, Free Locomotion makes infinite movement in virtual reality possible in so many different ways that it leaves us with plenty of space for its development to our & your liking in the future. In the end, all roads lead to Rome – Whether it’s an Omni-Directional Treadmill like KAT Walk mini or a completely new idea such as KAT loco, our mission remains unchanged – KAT VR shall provide diverse Free Locomotion Solutions to VR enthusiasts all around the globe!
Feel welcome to learn more about our project, and share your feedback. Each single opinion means the world to us. This project is dedicated to all of you, and we need your help!
Join us & Unlock Infinite Motion with KAT loco – The new standard of VR locomotion
KAT VR is an independent company dedicated to the research, development, and sales of VR Locomotion products and solutions. Founded in 2013, we have quickly grown to become one of the world’s leading professional suppliers of VR games’ & simulations’ equipment including KAT Walk series’ Omni-Directional Treadmills, our new VR gaming arena – VRMIS, and others.
Through close cooperation between our scientists, developers and engineers, and inspired by deep passion for technology and a belief in VR, we are ready to offer the world a complete, realistic, and deeply immersive Virtual Reality Experience based on our Free Locomotion solutions.
Also special thanks to all of the “KATers” from our previous Kickstarter campaign – without your love and support, KATVR would not be here today. We know how hard it is to put your trust and pledge to a startup company, and we will not fail you. After all the support and feedback from you, we are back again to bring true locomotion to your home, and give everyone the VR experience they deserve!
We will be constantly posting updates on our social media. Follow us to never miss an update. Our official accounts:
Blog – Facebook – Twitter – Reddit – YouTube – Instagram
Thank you for supporting us.
-Sincerely, the KATVR Team.
Risks and challenges
We’ve learned a lot from our previous campaign, and have been working effortlessly to minimize the risks and chances of any unforeseeable events. Our experienced manufacturing and supply chain teams are working closely with our long-term manufacturing partners to ensure a smooth production line once we are ready to begin producing the Loco. However, as with all new products, there is always a low chance of unforeseeable events coming up which may in turn affect our expected production timeline. We will be posting constant updates about the status of the KAT Loco and notify you if any unforeseeable events occur. At the same time, please keep in mind that the delivery package with your rewards is a subject to your local laws and regulations. Should any new import tarrifs be levied on electronics, they might result in unforeseeable costs upon the parcel arrival to your country, and KAT VR will not be held responsible for them.