All Mode
For any technology to be crowned as “revolutionary”, one of the major considerations is “what impact does it have on the lives of millions of people?”. As of this date, VR is considered to be a path-breaking and game-changing technology, but still, it is currently in its nascent stage of development. Tech companies across the globe are flexing their muscles to make it more intriguing and affordable for users.
Today, the cost of some of the widely used VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive is around $600 along with an additional cost of $600 for a supported PC/Laptop. This means your overall VR experience can cost you somewhere around $1000-$1200.
To bring the costs considerably down, companies like Google and Samsung have offered mobile VR headset solutions like the Daydream View and Gear VR, that come in sub $100 price range. Even with a $500-$600 high-end smartphone the cost of overall VR experience is still reduced to half.
NOLO VR brings affordability to mobile VR positional tracking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_4DiaYqJPc
To drive ahead with the affordability quotient for experiencing VR, China-based company LYRobotix has currently announced its new NOLO VR system that aims to bring accurate room-scale positional tracking and motion control to mobile VR headsets. The price behind the company’s unique technology is $99.
The NOLO VR positional tracking system is comprised of a base station, a headset ‘marker’ that attaches to the top of your mobile VR headset, and remote-like handheld controllers for position tracking. The headset ‘marker’ is said to be compatible with three leading mobile VR headsets: Google Cardboard, Daydream View, and Samsung Gear VR. Also, the base station comes with a 100-degree FOV.
Image Credit: Kickstarter
Note that NOLO VR is capable of feeding the positional tracking details to your mobile handset, but for this to work well, you’ll need to make sure the application receiving the details supports positional tracking. To get this technology into the mainstream and available to more users the company is also shipping an SDK for developers, which they can use to introduce NOLO VR support to their developed apps. For now, check out the demo video of motion tracking with NOLO VR below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=24&v=UVP8h_AQHWU
SteamVR Compatibility
Using Riftcat’s VRidge software, LYRobotix offers SteamVR compatibility with the NOLO VR system. This means the user will have open access to the entire content library of HTC Vive. VRidge is basically a bridging software to transfer the real-time VR experience from your laptop to your VR headset. Wireless network broadcasting involves compression of image data at the source which might result into compromised quality. However, LYRobotix claims to keep the latency under 20 milliseconds giving a relatively smooth experience. Take a look at the stability test video for Steam VR Mode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7DLc4SxERk
The existing NOLO VR system setup is compatible only with Android phones, though LYRobotix is working to integrate this solution with the iOS platform, too.
The company is currently running a Kickstarter Campaign and is already receiving a huge response at the moment. As of now, the company has raised over twice its proposed goal of $50,000 with 37 days to go. You can back this project at Kickstarter and gift yourself this useful solution.
Great deail indeed, Now we will get the stunning simulation experiences.
Is it Android Compatible also?
It is actually Android compatible only at the moment and the company is working towards getting on iOS platform soon.
This is certainly a steal deal for $99…. And with SteamVR compatibility, its like a cherry on the icing … will book one for my Daydream View for sure