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Relativty – An open-source VR headset

relativty.com

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Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#131

Post by entropicdrifter »

spiznnx wrote: post #76
Arkanosis wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least FHD almost universally means 1920×1080 and is googlable. This is less true for QHD / QHD+, unfortunately.

I thought QHD was almost unambiguously 1440x2560 (4xHD), and QHD+ was wider than that.

I think QHD+ is a little more ambiguous, as it could also reasonably be used to refer to taller displays (16:10 display at 2560x1600, for instance).

Also, annoyingly enough, QHD itself can stand for "Quad HD" or "Quarter HD", the old smartphone standard of 960x540, which admittedly has pretty much entirely fallen out of use

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#132

Post by chaostheory »

This is awesome. I'm glad we have have insurance in case no one fills the void of HTC leaving. You can argue that Valve is, but given the massive back orders of the Index and their discontinuing of their controller and streaming box; I'm not totally confident.

Now we just need controllers and maybe even base stations.

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#133

Post by criddell »

kipchak wrote: post #127
criddell wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the product turns out great they might buy it as an aqui-hire. What has Facebook gained from their purchase of Oculus? At the time I thought it was a pretty shrewd move by Facebook but six years later I'm not sure they got much for the $2 billion they spent.

Judging by the demos[1] they've shown and changes they've made to the Oculus software like homes, it seems like their long term goal is for it to be the basis of a google glass like system that's more environmentally aware and collecting lots of environmental mapping data for FB, and a VR facetime/The matrix but with Xbox Live avatars-ey thing. I think adoption is probably a ways out, but if people wind up wanting mo…

By the time any of that is ready, their purchase of Oculus will be more than a decade in the past. I think the acquisition was probably a mistake, but for Facebook blowing $2 billion isn't a very big mistake.

From my perspective as a consumer and somebody who was very interested in VR 6 years ago, I wish Oculus had either remained independent or had been purchased by somebody that was actually going to do something with the technology before a decade passes. I think Facebook's purchase of Oculus is one reason VR has lost so much energy and interest (Magic Leap's hilariously bad execution in AR hurts VR too).

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#135

Post by utopcell »

bsza wrote: post #114
utopcell wrote: post #13

This might be a fun weekend project to work on, but cannot be built for $200. The displays alone (and their driver PCB that accepts DisplayPort) cost $195. They are also not 2K but rather 1440x1440 (or 2.0736M pixels). Maybe the displays were cheaper when they built this. They also hookup a 6-axis tracking chip (MPU-6050) to an Arduino board and feed it to a PC via usb. Even if tracking was working perfectly, this wo…

> Even if tracking was working perfectly, this would be a cut down version of an Oculus Go Oculus Go doesn't have position tracking. I don't know what you're talking about.

Neither does this headset. Oculus Go has at least a 6D IMU, that gives it 3DOF (no position tracking), while this headset has a 6D IMU. The Quest and Rift have cameras on them for positional tracking. If it was possible to have reliable positional tracking just from an IMU, John Carmack would have delivered it on the Go.

This OSS headset has "experimental positional-scaling" using "any camera". On github, they say: "The tracking is still very experimental and can only be run on NVIDIA GPU due to the usage of CUDA. The tracking makes uses of only a video input and an Artificial Neural Network AI trained to estimate a 3D body position. This method is nothing close to the precision or freedom of movements of a dedicated sensor however we believe that the model can be trained and improved by orders of magnitude."

Again, this is a fun project. Probably as fun as the cardboard VRs Google used to hand out for free.

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#136

Post by ygjb »

_ink_ wrote: post #83
utopcell wrote: post #13

This might be a fun weekend project to work on, but cannot be built for $200. The displays alone (and their driver PCB that accepts DisplayPort) cost $195. They are also not 2K but rather 1440x1440 (or 2.0736M pixels). Maybe the displays were cheaper when they built this. They also hookup a 6-axis tracking chip (MPU-6050) to an Arduino board and feed it to a PC via usb. Even if tracking was working perfectly, this wo…

Probably Facebook can sell it cheaper that the hardware costs, because they (hope to) make money by tracking its users and showing them more ads.

Also, when you are homebrewing a device, vs say, shipping 400,000 devices to users, you just don't get the same economies of scale.

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#137

Post by c22 »

andybak wrote: post #110
c22 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understood what they meant by "room-scaling" immediately and I've only ever used a VR headset one time about 4 years ago. On the other hand, I can surmise from my experience with robot arms that "DOF" likely stands for degrees of freedom , but I would have had no clue what "6DOF" meant in terms of VR.

OK. Fair point about "DOF". But what do you understand "room scale" to mean"? Genuine question.

I imagined it to mean I could move around a constrained physical space while seeming to explore a larger virtual environment (thus "scaling" the dimensions of the room I was in). Admittedly the reference to a webcam that tracks your movements was an additional helpful context.

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#138

Post by Tijdreiziger »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #103
moron4hire wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean 3? We're already on Oculus' second generation.

Thanks, I meant "Quest 2" - I only kept my Oculus Go for 1 week, then gave it to my grandson. I get a lot of value from my Oculus Quest which I bought last year.

The Quest 2 is rumored to be releasing this month, but you'll be forced to log in with Facebook to use it.

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#139

Post by zlsa »

archi42 wrote: post #122
swalsh wrote: post #21

I've been hoping someone would create an open source version of the lighthouse technology. I think that technology could be huge outside of VR. Inside VR, I just want more custom hardware... I want VR feet.

Isn't the lighthouse system relatively open? I recall the analog receiver circuitry is relatively simple, and Valve cooperated with an IC manufacturer to get rid of the analog stuff (or, more precisely: move it into an IC). The IC was intended to be not be exclusively for Valve alone. Of course that doesn't help with the base stations, and might still violate [Valves' or other's] patents if used in an actual product.

> Valve is now making SteamVR Tracking fully available to other companies, without licensing fees.

> There is no certification from Valve necessary. Ship the product you want to build, whenever you think it's ready.

I don't believe it's strictly open source, but it's certainly far more open than Facebook's ecosystem.

Source: https://partner.steamgames.com/vrlicensing

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#140

Post by fouric »

> We started Relativty because after watching Sword Art Online

This little fact alone makes the background story way funnier than most tech origin stories I've heard. And being able to do PCB layout and system design at 15-16? Kudos to Max and Gabriel.

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