Zeiss and Dacuda have revealed the latest work on their roomscale mobile virtual reality (VR) solution, the vaiaVR head-mounted display (HMD). Designed to provide an entry-level roomscale mobile VR solution utilising your smartphone, vaiaVR will be compatible with existing SteamVR titles and can be used for walking or sitting experiences similar to the HTC Vive.
Accurate tracking of the head position is important in creating the feeling of presence in the virtual world and to reduce the risk of simulation sickness. Current mobile tracking solutions provide only tracking of rotational movements, however Zeiss and Dacuda have built on the experience learned from the VR ONE platform and integrated a six degrees of freedom (6-DoF) tracker into their next HMD, the vaiaVR.
“Until now, these games were only accessible with a significant investment into a dedicated VR headset,” said Franz Troppenhagen, VR Product Manager at Zeiss. “The VR ONE’s compatibility with a wide range of mobile devices makes it a perfect accompaniment to the Dacuda platform, and we look forward to giving virtual reality enthusiasts an affordable entry into high-level VR with this bundle.”
While high-end VR headsets solve this problem with external devices, such at the HTC Vive’s Lighthouse technology, Dacuda’s 6-DOF tracker uses the phone’s built-in camera to determine head position and rotation more than 60 times per second. According to Dacuda, it is the world’s first solution that enables mobile 6DOF tracking at a <20ms motion-to-photon latency on Google Daydream-ready smartphones.
The Zeiss and Dacuda solution features a field-of-view of over 100 degrees while the optics are specially designed by Zeiss. The companies claim that there is no need for any adjustment to one’s own inter-papillary distance (IPD) and even the corner areas look sharp.
The solution builds on the Zeiss VR ONE and will feature a full plug-and-play experience for consumers including Steam Controllers for interaction. The solution requires a recent smartphone and a VR-ready computer running Valve’s Steam platform. The vaiaVR HMD is still currently in the prototype stage with no details on a consumer release yet available, however VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details on the vaiaVR.