"Zoide" wrote: They should really lend the new prototype to reviewers so we can have a better idea of how the Virtualizer compares to other solutions before pledging not-so-small amounts of money to their KickStarter campaign.
Hard to do if you're a startup with limited resources and prototypes. Plus you would need to pay for shipping while having no money. Going to exhibitions (as they do) might be a better way to get the device to be tested by as many people as possible and might be a better use of the resources.
A
Anonymous
May 15, 2014
"renderingpipeline" wrote:
"Zoide" wrote: They should really lend the new prototype to reviewers so we can have a better idea of how the Virtualizer compares to other solutions before pledging not-so-small amounts of money to their KickStarter campaign.
Hard to do if you're a startup with limited resources and prototypes. Plus you would need to pay for shipping while having no money. Going to exhibitions (as they do) might be a better way to get the device to be tested by as many people as possible and might be a better use of the resources.
Agreed. I hope my comments are not interpreted as attacks against Cyberith, since I'm very impressed by their product and will likely back their crowdfunding campaign.
I just wish there were videos and first impressions of other people besides the inventor, whether at a convention or elsewhere.
Agreed. I hope my comments are not interpreted as attacks against Cyberith, since I'm very impressed by their product and will likely back their crowdfunding campaign.
I just wish there were videos and first impressions of other people besides the inventor, whether at a convention or elsewhere.
Any specific questions? I'll be meeting the guys tomorrow at a public demo ;-)
A
Anonymous
May 15, 2014
"renderingpipeline" wrote:
"Zoide" wrote:
Agreed. I hope my comments are not interpreted as attacks against Cyberith, since I'm very impressed by their product and will likely back their crowdfunding campaign.
I just wish there were videos and first impressions of other people besides the inventor, whether at a convention or elsewhere.
Any specific questions? I'll be meeting the guys tomorrow at a public demo ;-)
A few questions:
1) Walking experience: how does it *feel*? Once you have been using it for a few minutes, does your brain get tricked into thinking that you're actually walking? It would be great if you can share your own thoughts as well as interview a few of the other people at the demo.
2) Physical aspects: how much will the final version weigh, how much space will it take up, etc? Shipping might end up being the biggest cost factor for those of us in other continents or in small countries with no distribution centers.
3) Sensor integration: how do they plan to deal with Oculus' emphasis on a limited "seated experience"? Are there plans for STEM/PrioVR integration?
1) Walking experience: how does it *feel*? Once you have been using it for a few minutes, does your brain get tricked into thinking that you're actually walking? It would be great if you can share your own thoughts as well as interview a few of the other people at the demo.
You are in the harness and it has to prevent you from actually walking away, so it feels a bit like towing a truck (maybe not that hard ;-) ). Rotating yourself on the flat plate was very natural. I have never tried out the Omni, but one of those huge ODT where you can walk around freely and that think was worse than the Virtualizer. Ducking was also good.
"Zoide" wrote:
2) Physical aspects: how much will the final version weigh, how much space will it take up, etc? Shipping might end up being the biggest cost factor for those of us in other continents or in small countries with no distribution centers.
I guess the size won't change much, as for the weight, I don't even know what it weights now. I would prefer a sturdy metal construction over a flimsy plastic one when it has to support my weight (e.g. while sitting) and I can't see anything from the real world. Don't know how this will impact shipping but I guess we will know soon when the Kickstarter starts. I can ask about the weight.
"Zoide" wrote:
3) Sensor integration: how do they plan to deal with Oculus' emphasis on a limited "seated experience"? Are there plans for STEM/PrioVR integration? Thanks!
I'll ask. As a developer myself I don't think a special integration with STEM or PrioVR is needed as the Virtualizer gives the application information on walking speed, hip orientation and hip height (ducking size) while the other devices provide information on the relative locations of the limbs, head, weapons etc. I wouldn't expect the need for any special integration here. As for the Rift: Oculus is playing it save and provides a very good stationary tracking instead of an ok-ish tracking everywhere. This is probably the best way to go for now, in the long run however I expect those limitations to go away. With one camera you drop back to the neck-model when you turn away too far from the camera, so at least it would still work. Maybe you want to add a STEM to the head for those cases and solve the sensor fusion in your app (after all, some additional tracking for wireless guns etc would be ideal for the Virtualizer anyway!). How good the tracking will be with the camera above the user is unknown until someone gets a DK2 to test it. As the cables need to come from above anyway, I guess it would be trivial to attach the camera above the user (so you only get problems when you straight look down which might be ok for a shooter like scenario.
It's really a general problem: until there is no universal VR API which uses any kind of sensors an outputs the skeleton/pose of the user (and games support it), the applications will have to support the devices individually - everything else won't give you a good experience.
Let's see what infos I can get (and which I will be allowed to share ;-) ).
I'm curious about the safety, if I was a complete klutz would I be able to slip and smash my poor, blinded from reality face into objects/people I can't see in the proximity of the virtualizer? I saw an article on the Omni of a reporter who was dedicated to trying to injure himself, it seems like a relevant concern when you can't see your environment.
"BlackMage" wrote: I'm curious about the safety, if I was a complete klutz would I be able to slip and smash my poor, blinded from reality face into objects/people I can't see in the proximity of the virtualizer? I saw an article on the Omni of a reporter who was dedicated to trying to injure himself, it seems like a relevant concern when you can't see your environment.
You're fixed into the device and when you configure it to a high "sitting" position, you should not be able to fall very far. This would be best to get used to the device. Any device with sufficient flexibility in movement will *have* allow you to fall down I guess. If I get one for my lab (university, not personal), I'll send in a few students as guinea pigs to test that :-D On a more serious note: I wasn't concerned to fall over while walking, fast running and especially jumping however might not be the first things to try out. We might need to wait until some people have used it for a few hours/days to get reliable data on that.
2) Physical aspects: how much will the final version weigh, how much space will it take up, etc? Shipping might end up being the biggest cost factor for those of us in other continents or in small countries with no distribution centers.
Hi, the demo yesterday was great, the venue was full of enthusiastic people who wanted to try out the Virtualizer. I didn't test it again, but gave others the opportunity.
Shipping is hard to plan if you don't know how many devices will be bought at each region which will influence the shipping costs. So I couldn't get any hard information here,we will have to wait for the Kickstarter (which will start soon).
One new information is the price I'm allowed to share: "The KS price (w/o shipping) will start below 1000" - (note: we are counting in € here).
