iMyth

Month: June 2017

  • Introducing, from Mother Russia : Anvio!

    Introducing, from Mother Russia : Anvio!

    The newest competitor in the location based VR experience market is a start up from Moscow called Anvio. Anvio is a great looking, full body motion capture VR experience.

    The setup employs full body motion capture from a Moscow based company, Vortex LLC., mixed with off the shelf HMD equipment (Oculus Rift) and backpack computers. From the videos they seems to have a very fleshed out experience.

    With their 2,150 square foot arena, one can’t help compare Anvio with Zero Latency. However with plank walking, floors breaking apart, soccer balls, and a seemingly less arcade like experience, it would seem Anvio has a superior product. An interesting observation is that Anvios offers fill body Motion capture which none of the existing experience companies are providing. By effective tracking of wrists, ankles and bodies, the participants are empowered to interact on a far more organic and intimate level. It will be interesting to see where this company goes. They plan on opening a facility in London in the near future. These guys are really exciting!

  • Location Based VR Experiences Gaining Market Traction

    Location Based VR Experiences Gaining Market Traction

    I have been ranting about Location Based VR Experiences for the last few years and it seems as if the business model is starting to gain traction. In a Road to VR article written by Greenlight Insights analyst Colin McMahon, VR Developers Prioritizing VR Arcades for Content Distribution, the ground work for such business is explained. VR Arcades are opening around the world and it would seem the trend is only building. Location based VR is extraordinarily popular in China where the cost entry point for getting into VR is out or range for most consumers. VR Arcades offer an excellent way for experiencing VR without having to pay the enormous start-up costs.

    In many ways, the LBVRE industry has done a much better job of fulfilling the early potential and expectations of what virtual reality as a technology can offer, than home systems. With no restrictions on hardware customisation and the freedom to eschew out-of-the box tracking technologies for current generation VR headsets, startups like The Void and VRCade have shown what pure virtual reality attractions can offer right now. Companies such as IMAX VR are already distributing content created by other developers.

    McMahon says, “The emergence of the LBVRE sector will benefit VR-first studios, as it is another premium channel to distribute their experiences, much like Hollywood studios benefit from movie theaters.” He then goes on to explain the intentions of VR development company Survios to distribute their new title Sprint Vector as an ideal LBVRE content.

    Utilizing LBVRE for distribution is on many developers mind’s as well. The graph shown below demonstrates a 36{76c5cb8798b4dc9652375d1c19c86d53c1d1411f4e030dd406aa284e63c21817} concern for the availability for VR distribution channels.

    It’s obviously too early to identify a specific trends but there does seems to be a building interest.

    Based on Greenlight Insights March 2017 forecast, LBVRE is expected to grow in revenues to $1.2 billion in 2021, propelled by commercial and consumer spending on VR technology, content and services at cinemas, arcades, and other venue attractions.

  • State of VR Arcades

    State of VR Arcades

    I just bumped into an interesting article today written by Ian Sherr for CNET talking about his experiences with VR Arcades. VR Arcades are very similar to what iMyth is trying to create. The big difference is that the VR Arcade are positioning for smaller term, fast experiences where as iMyth is striving for longer episodic experiences. VR Arcades such as the IMAX VR Arcade have already made a presence in Los Angeles and are opening another facility in New York in the near future.  Companies such as Dreamscape Interactive will be joining in the competition in the very near future.

    The author goes on to describe his experience with Nomadic VR. I documented  Nomadic a couple of months ago. Nomadic is positioning itself to create Turn-key systems based on theatrical props and sets borrowed from the movie industry. They are looking for industry partners but only if your are big enough to register a blip on their screen :). Sherr believes that location based experiences such as IMAX, Dreamscape and Nomadic will be the big winners with the advent of the VR Arcade. SO far VR has failed to capture the dollars of the mass public. Could VR Arcades be the answer? I believe so!

    There are some cynics to be sure. Sean Kelley, an associate at investment and advisory company The Rain Group, said while his firm has made bets on entertainment and live events, it’s not yet convinced VR arcades are going to be a big draw. “The biggest issue with these VR arcades is not demand or content or whether the experience is cool, it’s throughput,” he said. There are already signs some arcade chains are failing, and part of that is because they just don’t make enough money, he added. “You have to put enough people through.” Throughput is very much a problem. I believe the answer to this is creating a higher end product with a far greater production value than be achieved in the home. In my opinion, “High-End” VR is better than no VR and people will be will to pay for experiences outside of the box.

  • House Scale VR in Sight!

    House Scale VR in Sight!

    I received some bitter sweet news today from the folks at Valve Software.

    After much anticipation, the engineers at SteamVR have found a way to create a cheaper, more versatile Lighthouse solution. The old sensor chip, the TS3633, produced a single “envelope” pulse per laser or sync blinker hit. That hit allows the Watchman module in the device to time the difference between the sync and the laser hit and compute angle from that difference.  There is a new sensor chip from Triad Semiconductor, the TS4231 which is actually simpler and cheaper to produce. What’s most important, it provides a burst of data per laser or sync hit. Using that data allows information to be transmitted on the laser itself, which we can be used to learn about the source of that laser.

    This new capability to encode information in the laser is significant for two reasons:

    • It allows support for more than two base stations, and thus larger tracking volumes.
    • It allows a base station to function without including a sync blinker, which is the source of most of the interference between base stations (and is also a significant driver of base station cost.) This technology is called sync-on-beam.

    Depending on tests, these new sensors will start rolling out in late June. The new lighthouses won’t start rolling out until November.

    Here is a diagram of the compatibility of the two systems:

    Regretfully the old sensors will not work with the new Light House configuration. The new sensors will work with the old but not the other way around. Regretfully I just invested in 7 new Tracker pucks. They can still be used with the old system but not the new.

    So this news is bitter sweet. iMyth will have ware house scale VR in 2018. Regretfully We will need to retrofit will all new sensors. I suppose it was a good thing I had not had a chance to turn the printed iMyth props into controllers since they will be need to be redone anyway. At close to $500 per prop, I suppose the damage could have been much worse. I have recently finished long conversations with the folks at Optitrack and Motion Reality. It seems now Steam VR can join them in the House Scale/Warehouse Scale VR race. Because Steam VR tracking is not bound by cameras, there may be possibility to have vertical structures as well. Very cool!