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AtariHistorian
Up and Coming
June 4, 2013

Can a Rift + Omni + DELTA SIX actually work well together?

I'm thinking that the weak link in the chain is the DELTA SIX. Because it has motion sensors and not positioning tracking, won't the gun's aim get skewed over time (much like an Rift would without a magnetic drift correction)?

Is it credible to believe that the DELTA SIX team will work out that issue just by working with the Omni team?

EDIT: I believe they're going to have a challenge working with the Omni team to develop software to recognize that some of the movement on the rifle should be cancelled out if the player is also moving inside of the Omni. But beyond that, I think the even greater challenge is going to be matching the view of the rifle inside of the Oculus with what is going on in the real world. You'd need something like a hydra to get that absolute positioning (relative to the player) and not just motion sensors inside the gun if there is no reference to which way the rifle is facing in reference to the player.

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    VRMatthew
    Up and Coming
    June 6, 2013
    What is the latest? Have they confirmed some sort of positional tracking?

    VRMatthew
    VRMatthew (AKA MARKUS|edge) https://MetaverseXXX.com | Sex Positive Virtual Reality Porn
    AtariHistorianAuthor
    Up and Coming
    June 6, 2013
    You pretty much have the latest above. It seems that working well with the Rift/Omni was an afterthought. I believe the project's creator understands some of the challenges, but I don't think he yet knows how he going to deliver on them. Usually people on Kickstarter ask me to hand over my money when they actually have a solution to a problem.

    In reading the updates in the last 24 hours, they're trying to reach a $200,000 pledge total, and things are starting to look a little unreal. People acting nuts over a $225 pledge level which gets them a "grenade launcher" (just a forward grip + activation button). Seriously? Is that so much of an awesome feature you'd pay $66 more for it? Announcements of $500 pledges "to make it happen". Spamming the Omni discussion. Either I'm missing something, or they've got some rabid crazy fans.

    The hype-to-reality ratio just seems a little too high right now. Given that they have a target date of December, and the Omni has a target date of January, I think I'm better off playing it safe and waiting to see if they can deliver. I'd like to see this happen, but I just don't have the trust, so I've lowered my pledge level to $1.

    I'll be happy to be wrong come January, though.
    AtariHistorianAuthor
    Up and Coming
    June 8, 2013
    Two things strike me about how the DELTA SIX kickstarter turned out.

    First, on the money side...

    Wow. A last minute promise of Omni "compatibility" (good luck) and then they back down their stretch goals to 200% (200k). They beg and plead very hard for more money, encouraging people to up their bid to $500 for a toy gun. Seriously.

    In the end, they reach 198k and they're accepting additional post-Kickstarter funding. Then they go back to the people who pledged on Kickstarter and tell them something like -- Sorry, that seemingly arbitrary figure of $200,000 was actually the bare minimum to make a "grenade launcher" happen. BARE MINIMUM. But we're going to go ahead and make that and the silencer anyhow, but we're going to charge you for it.

    Then they invoke a strange tiered cost system for the add-ons. Grenade launcher: Every backer that pledges at least $225 will be provided the opportunity to purchase the grenade launcher add-on for their controller(s) at cost when it becomes available. Pledges of $159 - $224 will receive a 15% discount. Silencer: Every backer that pledges at least $500 will also have the opportunity to purchase the silencer add-on at cost when it becomes available. Pledges of $159 - $499 will receive a 15% discount.

    If you missed out on their Kickstarter, don't worry. They've announced their retail plans to sell these for $299, but you can still early back them for $225. I know all of you guys are jumping on that offer, right? Of course, if you wait until you have to buy it retail, you'll actually have a chance to see how well the Omni compatibility turns out in the real-world.

    Second, on the backer side...

    You know, I think that anything with a hint of "console" seems to to attract some very gullible backers.

    There's a sucker born every minute. Here's a brand new comment from the page: "i raised my pledge from $159 to $500 that we will win the Gl goal ... now i have to pay again ... i've learned that helping is a big fail in this world. This was my last kickstarter ... I Hhope that the grenade launcher and/or silencer will be optical compatible with the hydro-dipped ones !!" [His hope was answered by the project's creator: no.]

    I love this one great user quote about the grenade-launcher add-on: "it looks awesome, could be used for a number of other purposes besides what I mentioned and most importantly, it shoots grenades into the VR world. Imagine that, LOL." These guys absolutely have no idea how things work.

    I was reading some of them talk back-and-forth about buying TWO of them and being able to "dual-wield" them in a game. Really.

    Teenagers just don't have the critical skills to evaluate a nice presentation, but they're awfully good at hyping the hell out of it anyways. And if they get shafted in the end, they seem to take it pretty well. I have to say, I'm scared of any mixed PC/console hardware gaming project at this point.
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