Control VR device now has leg support!

Control VR Update #5...

...Hardware Updates

1) We are designing the new hardware to be more modular and include legs. This will be possible in two ways. Users who bought the upper body suit will be able to remove their finger sensors and place them on the legs. This will be possible only through an update package which contains leg straps and a lower body harness. Additionally, we developed a more powerful hub which will accommodate additional sensors. Users will be able to purchase additional sensors, along with the harness and leg straps to do full-body motion capture. More information on this topic will be made available soon.

2) Our second most common question has been wireless connectivity. We found wireless connectivity to be a very desirable requirement in terms of practicality. With that being said, wireless connectivity complicates the hardware and increases latency. Our focus at this moment is the fidelity of the data as achieved through high frame rates and low latency. Wireless connectivity is something we will be implementing only when we are confident that it does not compromise, in any way, the quality of the data. We are actively reaching out to companies, researching and discussing this topic.

3) We removed the need for “southing” whereby the user was required to face geographical south. This orientation was required to allow the system to work accurately while allowing users to place the sensors in various locations and at varying angles on the body. The south is now calculated synthetically, making the whole system easier to initialize and more accurate.

4) As we prepare for the consumer-level market, we are in the process of reducing the cost of the sensors while improving their performance and robustness. We have designed new sensors to endure the everyday abuse of the system.

5) We are in the process of designing new straps, gloves and covers for our suits. We are using 3D printers to prototype and test designs and we have future plans of involving the community and our backers in that process. We want the new suit to be more comfortable to wear, less intrusive, and easier to put on or take off.

6) We are designing the new hardware with latency in mind. We are working towards reducing our system's already unnoticeable delay by reengineering our hardware (hub and sensor nodes), core drivers and client-side software.

Software Updates

1) Our aim is to establish the new standard, in terms of simplicity and versatility for motion capture software, and we are working alongside some of the best and brightest in the industry and integrating solutions with leading developers and manufacturers.

2) We shifted a lot of our client-side (Unity, Unreal, etc.) to the core drivers, drastically simplifying the process of developing new software for our systems. Our SDK, which includes coding examples, will make the process of developing new applications very simple.

3) We developed a new and improved finger kinematics engine which replicates the anatomy of the human hand very accurately.

4) We are developing a system which determines the overall body proportions and posture of the motion performer during calibration to improve accuracy of the kinematic reconstruction. This will allow users to clap their hands and have one hand interact with the other much more accurately. This will be achieved through an intelligent kinematic model.

5) Optimized the software to remove software-induced latencies. Additionally, we are focusing on the computational efficiency and consequently performance of software to ensure that our SDK works efficiently on any computer without hogging the CPU or RAM.

6) We are developing a new software application, which will be shipped with ControlVR systems, which allows users to quickly visualize motion data and export animations in a variety of file formats. The recording of motion will be possible without the need of additional software applications (e.g. MotionBuilder). We will however continue to support plugins for animation software.

7) The SDK will include an application programming interface for those who are not interested in 3D game engines or animation software. User's will be able to develop their bespoke software in a variety of languages such as C++, C# and Java.

8) We are looking at supporting online multiplayer motion capture as well as having multiple suits connected to the same computer. The latter will be more suitable for high-fidelity motion recordings.

9) We integrated an inverse kinematics system with our in-game kinematics to improve the user’s interaction with the virtual environment. For example, punching through a virtual wall will prevent the avatar’s hand from clipping through the wall. The result is a much more natural motion that improves the overall VR experience.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates in the weeks ahead!