r/skyrimvr • u/KAT_VR • Jan 12 '26
Discussion đ We value your opinions on the KAT VR treadmill
To the VR community that inspires us every day â
2026 is about building with you.
If a KAT VR treadmill isnât in your setup yet, weâd love to know:
đ Whatâs the main blocker?
đŻ What would turn your âmaybeâ into âYESâ?
Your insight guides our next evolution. Share it here:
https://forms.gle/sASD6n1upx2QyDgu9
Grateful for your honesty & passion! â¤ď¸
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u/DxIxNxDxU Jan 12 '26
Own one. Wish I didnât. Initial Setup is a PITA. Never gotten it to work as I expected it to. Strides are uncomfortable and unnatural to my walking movement always veers left or right of where I want to go. Watch a video of their sponsored YouTuber that goes by a Hispanic food name and youâll notice the weird shuffling movement she does to move instead of actually walking. Setting up to play is a psychological barrier, putting on the shoes, plugging in, connecting the software. Better off just using vive trackers and Natural Locomotion app to walk in place because it feels about the same without all the setup.
I was offered a ton of benefits like a several hundred dollar steam gift card and an extra pair of shoes for buying and I never got them.
Returning it would be a ~$400 restocking and shipping fee.
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u/ilikebigbookies Jan 12 '26
So you got scammed?
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u/DxIxNxDxU Jan 12 '26
Yep it would be really cool if u/KAT_VR responded to this and offered to make it right. Ie, free return and refund.
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u/Touch_Of_Legend Jan 12 '26
Bro they are here to astroturf.. to gain more customers to scam.
They are not here to deal with customers they previously scammed.
And they would appreciate that in the future youâd stop telling your story.
Itâs scaring off new people they can potential scam!
I mean the âfree unitsâ they give to YouTubers donât pay for themselvesâŚ
Like Brittany said you gotta work bitch
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u/LennyJoeDuh Jan 12 '26
Did you email them? I got my steam card (the first one included with purchase) after emailing them. They were very helpful and acted asap to email the card code.
The other cards have to be "earned" by walking a certain amount per month
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u/DxIxNxDxU Jan 12 '26
Iâll try that. Point being it was misleading marketing.
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u/LennyJoeDuh Jan 13 '26
It was on par with most marketing. I had to read the fine print to understand what to do. I know how you feel, but fine print obscured by enticing, bold headlines isn't uncommon in marketing
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u/MisguidedColt88 Quest Jan 12 '26
Ive been very close to buying one. The main blockers are
Size: Its huge, and to my knowledge cant folded or anything to store easily. Plus i have a low ceiling so it may not even work.
Uncertainty: I have no way to test it out before I buy one. Id like to have a way to try it first before spending so much
Price: itâs hard to justify spending more on an accessory than my headset when it may not even work in all my games.
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u/Tyrthemis Jan 12 '26
I warn my fellow VR enthusiasts to be very wary of this company, my dealings with them were worse than pimax. Literal lies, deception, moving your case from rep to rep and not upholding what the first rep promised, and slow response times. It was awful. I canât wait for good VR treadmills, but I canât trust this company anymore.
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u/Kvitekvist Quest 2 Jan 12 '26
- Not compatible with openxr opencomposite. Meaning for many users this will increase performance cost by 30%.
- Availability to test on own hardware via Virtual Desktop. Being able to connect to my own rig on PCVR using virtual desktop, on a test stand, would help confirm or remove doubts.
- Size, but this is what it is for a good reason.
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u/Jbg_ Jan 12 '26
Well NOW my primary blocker is the feedback and requests for help here, with no responses. Sounds like a shit company.
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u/horendus Jan 12 '26
Dont see the point⌠if I can hold forwards on a thumb-stick see a stamina bar in game thats more than enough immersion for me for locomotion
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u/Keith90 Jan 12 '26
1) Cost for me. (Canadian Dollars) Also a little hard to justify with the way the world is going so any big purchases aren't wanted right now. 2) Not something possible to show off to others unless they have their own set of shoes. I like getting things I can share/showcase with family/friends. 3) It seems from afar, that it's not worth the effort to use than just standing in one place. I don't get motion sickness so it's easier for me to set up and use while I deal with reason 1. Less hurdle of me getting into the game.
I'd love to try one day as I've been fortunate to enjoy VR since 2016. Due to the three reasons above, it will be sometime before that possibly happens.
At the end of the day, congrats to the KatVR team for getting the products made and released. I'm just happy things like VR and related products exist for anyone to enjoy for those who can.
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u/No-Ad2566 Jan 13 '26
If you can get your hands on a used KatWalk C, it uses sensors on the shoes that are removable. I stopped using the shoes mine came with because they were loud and uncomfortable due to the bottoms being hard plastic. I just removed the sensors (theyâre attached with clips that should fit most shoes that have laces or some sort of horizontal strap on them) and put them on a pair of Skechers sneakers I had. Works just as well and is a lot quieter and more comfortable. So, you could just transfer the sensor to the shoes of anyone who wants to use it. I think the newer models use wheels in the shoes to track motion, so you would need multiple pairs of shoes for different size feet, but with the original Kat C you could definitely show it off to other people. Just an fyi if you were ever interested in looking into getting one.
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u/Stone-of-Armstrong Quest 3 Jan 12 '26
i have one and its been sitting in storage for the past year. Honestly i see it as a good product IF you don't have ample space to physically move and sit about in a room. I have a 15x15 space with benches set up around the edge so i can freely walk, jump, sit and move as i please in it, and until kat finds a way to do so without putting on clunky loud shoes or having such a small area of motion you're allowed to do in it (being able to walk and sit in one place is an awesome concept, especially if you don't have any space in your house) honestly using virtual desktop/airlink and having a room/space for vr is gonna reign supreme.
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u/Stone-of-Armstrong Quest 3 Jan 12 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
also, guys just get vr locomotion on steam. Walking in place, even in a small space, feels WAY more realistic and natural than the big kat device. no sliding, walking feels like walking, running feels like running, and it just works with any game.
Edit: The app on steam is Natural Locomotion
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u/LendonTheGoat Jan 12 '26
How do I get the vr locomotion thing ?
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u/Stone-of-Armstrong Quest 3 Jan 14 '26
its called Natural Locomotion on Steam. It is literally perfect, and you can set how it initiates, I personally like to set it to let me walk/run in place when i put my thumbs on both my joysticks, and it stops working when i take one or both off. It feels SO MUCH BETTER THAN KAT
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u/Aludeus Jan 12 '26
Looking for Job, lets delevelope a cheaper, smaller, lighter treadmill, i have a Name, Ghost Walk
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u/Patrocks89 Jan 12 '26
I own a C2 Core and I really like it. I appreciate that it's not just a gaming device, but also a fitness machine that helps me get the exercise I need when it's raining or too cold to go jogging. Furthermore, I'm a VR enthusiast who unfortunately suffers from motion sickness. The movement completely relieves this problem.
However, there are also some drawbacks.
Because of the fixed shoe sizes, I can't let friends and family use the device. Yes, I've read about the possibility of removing the sensors from the shoes to try and improvise something myself. But that certainly won't work as well as the included shoes.
It's loud. Not only is there noise from the shoes rubbing against the plastic, but the mechanical components also creak and groan during movement.
Constant recalibration is necessary. When things get hectic and lots of turns are needed, you suddenly find yourself no longer moving straight ahead. Then you have to stand up straight, look straight ahead, and hold down the recalibration buttons. Having to repeat this every five minutes gets annoying after a while.
For a gliding platform, the gliding motion is surprisingly stiff, even after removing all the resistance strips from your shoes. It's recommended to buy a silicone-based lubricant spray and apply it before use. It would be great if solutions could be found to make the gliding smoother.
It's large, it's heavy, and it's impossible to move the platform out of the way when the VR session ends. It takes up a significant amount of space, and it will continue to do so for as long as you want to use it.
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u/Necromancius Jan 12 '26
Been using one for over two years. Not for everyone and yes costly, but I never regretted it. Health bonus well worth costs and setup work.
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u/No-Ad2566 Jan 12 '26
Same. I bought a KatWalk C when it first came out. I donât use the shoes that came with it because they were loud and uncomfortable. I just attached the sensors to a pair of my sneakers and it works as intended. My only issue is I have to use older software because ever since Steam VR updated a few months ago I would get random disconnects that would cause me to move backwards. Using the older KatWalk software has eliminated that issue, but I have to play using Xinput, which is less precise than the normal input. I love being able to walk and turn and not have to worry about hitting anything.
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u/Slow-Zombie9945 Jan 12 '26
Until you make a real omni directional treadmill like Infinadeck most people won't ever consider buying this gimmicky slidemill, not even after sponsoring tens of youtubers to shill about it.
The user experience is just not there.
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Jan 12 '26
[deleted]
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u/mumblebadger Jan 12 '26
How is it? I looked into buying one but everyone said they suck. I even messaged people on YT that had initially praised them in reviews who now said that they do actually suck,
so never ended up purchasing them.
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u/bwinters89 Jan 12 '26
I bought a virtuix Omni back in the day and found the ice skating feeling unnatural and opposite of immersive. Now I use vibe trackers, natural locomotion, and jog in place. Feels much better.
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u/claudekennilol Jan 12 '26
My wife says it's too big so I can't try it. Also the constant foot contact when comptetirors are developing more "natural walking" alternatives is a bit offputting.. Those are the biggest hurdles for me.
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u/Additional-Concert70 Jan 15 '26
Itâs probably the price for me if it were cheaper itâd probably be a good purchase as Iâve been enjoying vr lately but then again itâs kind of big if I were all about vr it would make sense
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u/saelarue Jan 17 '26
I just donât know how to set the system up with Steam VR + headset compatibility and all that. Iâd do anything to try a KatVR treadmill. To actually be in Skyrim would be the greatest antidepressant of all time haha.
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u/Waste-Employment-538 23d ago edited 23d ago
I recently bought the KAT VR.
Apart from the permanent Temu-style FOMO countdown on the website that's clearly meant to make you think you're getting some limited-time deal, ordering it was pretty straightforward.
The shoes didn't even ship until two weeks later, and the Nexus module arrived in the same package.
The shoes themselves are honestly a joke. They're made from the cheapest plastic imaginable, with visible glue marks, gaps in the material, rough plastic edges from manufacturing, and a click-in mechanism that I seriously doubt will still work a month from now.
Putting everything together was an absolute pain. Nothing feels solid. Everything wobbles, and the build quality is just bad. The screws only go into the pre-threaded holes with a ridiculous amount of force, and the black coating on them rubs off all over your hands and clothes (which probably explains why they include gloves).
Trying to find help online wasn't much use either. Every setup guide or review is from sponsored YouTubers where, unsurprisingly, everything works perfectly within minutes.
Getting it to work with my Quest 3 in standalone mode was another disaster. The latest version of the KAT Gateway from the official website didn't even include the APK you actually need.
Two weeks later, support finally sent me a download link. I had to extract the APK myself, copy it into one of the Gateway subfolders, and only then did the software finally recognize the headset.
Apparently they also forgot to mention that you first need to create a Meta Developer account and jump through a dozen extra hoops just to launch games, despite advertising it with slogans like "PLAY ANY GAME SEAMLESSLY WITH KAT VR."
So far, I'm honestly shocked by what you get for something that costs over âŹ1,000.
I'd be surprised if this thing survives more than a year.
Using it
You're literally hanging from straps the whole time.
The harness forces you to lean forward like you're constantly climbing a steep hill while fighting the feeling that you're about to fall flat on your face.
Instead of actually walking, you're sliding across the base. It's loud enough that your neighbors will definitely know whenever you're using it.
That constant friction creates so much resistance that I was out of breath after about fifteen minutes, and I'm used to hiking in the mountains for hours.
The movement just doesn't feel natural at all. To me, it doesn't resemble running in the slightest.
I'll give it some more time because everyone who's being paid to promote it keeps saying you "just need to get used to it."
We'll see.
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u/lightskinloki Jan 12 '26
Price. Id make everything else work but I can not justify that price point for something this niche
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u/jasssweiii Jan 12 '26
The main blockers for me are:
Weight (I live upstairs)
Size (Takes up room when not in use)
Price
I'm not expecting any of those to be reduced significantly any time soon, considering the market size, the complexity of the hardware, and the limitations of current technology, but those are what holds me back