When it comes to immersive technology projects, be they virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR) many seek backing through the aid of crowd funding websites such as Indiegogo, Kickstarter, etc. With not just experiences, but the technologies behind them and the utilisation of those technologies constantly being developed, it’s a good way to secure the funding needed to continue development and put the product ‘out there’.
As a result, we at VRFocus will often hear word or one or two such projects a week, whether it’s for a new piece of hardware or a new videogame. Some get funded. Some do not. As always with these things it really depends upon the product itself as to whether or not in can attract interest.
One project we’ve covered this week already has been that of MIX a new compact AR head mounted display (HMD) from ANTVR with 96 degree field-of-view (FoV) which also happens to be compatible with Steam VR, besides its AR functionality. The Kickstarter campaign for the MIX only began at midday yesterday, May 15th. Yet, in this instance funding has gone exceptionally well, with the sum required for securing funding being reached in just eight hours and, at the time of writing, with 29 days left to go on the campaign, funding has now surpassed £60,000 (GBP) and is well on its way to doubling its initial total thanks to An Early Bird offer for the headset of $449 (USD).
Speaking in an update, Qin Zheng, CEO of ANTVR was overjoyed by the initial response. “For our first update we just wanted to say we’re thrilled to see that after nearly 8 hours, we’ve already reached our goal with 75 backers! Thank you so much to all those who have jumped on board this early. We’re so happy to see such initial enthusiasm for the project—it makes us very excited about the state of the AR market.”
“We’ve already received a lot of great feedback and we’ll continue to update our FAQ and address the questions you’re sending. Please continue to spread the word about MIX and keep sending us more questions and suggestions. We have a long way to go still and are very much looking forward to engaging more with all of you and your ideas throughout the duration of the campaign. This is why we’re back on Kickstarter—to make this a collaborative process from start-to-finish with all of you die-hard AR enthusiasts, and we’re off to a fantastic start.”
VRFocus got hands-on with the MIX during our discussion with Zhu Lee, of ANTVR’s Software Product Department. You can find more about the headset in that interview by clicking here. We’ll bring further updates on ANTVR’s progress as the campaign progresses.