Vrvana (formerly True Player Gear) finally launches a Kickstarter for the Totem VR Headset

[Damikiller37]

Source: Kickstarter Page / Vrvana Official Webiste

 

 
With VR headsets at a constant rise a company called Vrvana (formerly True Player Gear) finally

launched their Kickstarter for the Totem VR Headset. The headset resembles Rift in many ways

as you can see in the comparison below:
 

 
What may come as a surprise to some is that it supports more than just the PC but in fact anything that

has a HDMI port displaying a Side-by-Side 3D video or games, making it an investment compatible

with more than one single platform.

 

 

The positional tracking is also different as explained on the Kickstarter page:

 

Current VR headset models restrict you to moving within their external tracking camera’s field of view (FOV).

When moving too far left or right of the camera placed in front of you or looking behind you, there is no way for

these cameras to keep tracking your movements. Our Totem’s internal on-board cameras take care of this

and give you full freedom to move about in base world so you can do your thing in virtual world.

 

As you can see on the image above the Totem has two front facing cameras that assist the positional tracking

as well as they allow you to use the "Real World View" which will basically let you see what is happening

around you without taking the headset off.

 

When ordering the Totem developer kit you will recieve: the Totem head mounted display unit,

a connection box, cabling, a soft cleaning cloth and a carrying case. Software developer kit online support

will include documentation, code, engine plug-ins, demos & tutorials. What is nice to see is that the Totem

is compatible with current VR enabled games. The Totem works with current DK1 Rift-enabled games and

they are working to enable DK2 Rift games.

 
Here are the technical specs for the Totem:
 

Screen - 1080p low persistence RGB stripe OLED, up to 75 Hz
Field of View (FOV) - 90 degrees
Cameras - Onboard cameras for positional tracking. M12 camera lenses with 130 degrees horizontal FOV.
Connectivity: HDMI input, USB output (tracker)
Sensors: 2x cameras 120hz 1080p, 3 axis 1kHz gyroscope, 3 axis 4kHz accelerometer, 3 axis magnetometer
Audio: 2x 3.5 mm jacks, Binaural Surround sound
Emulated controls: USB mouse, PlayStation controller, Xbox controller
Non-game controls: Up, Down, Select/Base World View
Supported engines: Unreal, Unity, Havok Vision, CryEngine
Platforms: PC (Windows, Mac, Linux), Playstation 3 & 4, Xbox One & 360
Supported media: All 3D formats, SBS preferred
Size: 6.6" x 4.4" x 5.4"
Weight: 400 g (estimated)
Hardware acceleration: hardware accelerated motion tracking, hardware accelerated pre-lens distortion

 
To obtain the Totem you will have to pay $440 CAD. This does not include shipping costs and

shipping is available to North America and EU.

 

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Personally I think that the Totem will be a nice alternative to Rift and will create a solid

competition which is always good. The 1080p screen seems like it could be a thing holding

it back compared to Rift although since this is a development kit things may change before

the consumer release. I'm looking forward to see how it turns out!

[Manny Calavera]

We definitly need this! Whats this binaural audio anyway? 
 That early adopter is really good deal. Nobody should actually buy dev version if they are not developers, same as oculus.

[Damikiller37]

We definitly need this! Whats this binaural audio anyway? 

 That early adopter is really good deal. Nobody should actually buy dev version if they are not developers, same as oculus.

The binaural audio refers to 3.5mm output that will convert the surround sound into stereo while keeping the spatial awareness.

[Manny Calavera]

The binaural audio refers to 3.5mm output that will convert the surround sound into stereo while keeping the spatial awareness.

Virtual surround then, they are not actually using cetera algorithm ye?

They have so many good features oculus dont ( yet? ) have.

[techswede]

Finally!

[zanduh]

I haven't really kept up with the occulus or morpheus development. How does the $440 price tag compare?

[cubercaleb]

Yay more fragmentation in the VR department! Guess you have to buy all three if you want to use VR in all your games!!!

[Damikiller37]

Yay more fragmentation in the VR department! Guess you have to buy all three if you want to use VR in all your games!!!

"The Totem works with current DK1 Rift-enabled games and they are working to enable DK2 Rift games." ... I don't see a problem at all.

[qwertywarrior]

let me guess

their  SDK sucks ?

[Deletive]

isn't oculus aiming for 1440p?

[Damikiller37]

isn't oculus aiming for 1440p?

I'm assuming Vrvana will as well when they release the consumer version but for now for a dev kit 1080p should do just fine.