2018 will go down as the year wireless or ‘untethered’ virtual reality (VR) became a very real reality. Thanks to the likes of the Oculus Go, HTC Vive’s Wireless adapter which launched last month, and of course there’s the work being undertaken by TPCAST, creators of the “first commercial wireless virtual reality solution”, as they put it.
TPCAST have been hard at work on a number of wireless solutions for VR, augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) headsets, but today’s announcement sees the company concentrating on trying to move the capabilities of wireless forward to benefit wireless VR and comes as Huawei continue their 5G Ecosystem Conference.
TPCAST signing not a contract, but a memorandum of understanding with a big name in computer technology and smart devices – Huawei. The two from now on will now be working together to enhance the performance of VR over 5G broadband. From its side, Huawei is set to provide its Cloud video and VR platform while TPCAST bring to the mix its will provide some items on the software side. Including VR feedback control protocol and multi-user wireless manager RTCIP and ultra-low latency codec RTCODEC. Pooling these resources together as they look to explore new opportunities in the Middle East.
“Within the 5G platform, the Huawei-TPCAST collaboration will also broaden the opportunities within both VR and AR. Our codec technologies will be a key factor for both accelerating the development and launching these opportunities to the market.” Said Reiner Pes, General Manager – EMEA at TPCAST on the agreement.
“This collaboration with TPCAST will help us to support the introduction of 5G-based cloud VR use case to the market. Huawei, through establishing the Middle East 5G ecosystem program, provides the cloud-based use case development platform, and supports the integration and verification of 5G use cases.” Added Vice President of Marketing for Huawei Middle East, Wang Su. “Huawei’s E2E 5G low latency solution and TPCAST’s codec technology will together offer an enhanced experience of VR services. This partnership will promote organizations in the region to seize these new opportunities for growth.”
VRFocus will bring you more details on the progress both parties are making in VR as we hear more.