No matter the Kickstarter there are no guarantees a campaign will be successful, some become unexpected hits while others simply don’t manage to gain any traction with backers. Feelreal Inc. is a company that has tasted both sides of that coin. In 2015 it’s first crowd-funding campaign failed. Yesterday Feelreal launched a second Kickstarter for its Multisensory VR Mask and the results couldn’t be more different.
The team were looking to raise $20,000 USD over the course of 30 days, and quite easily smashed that target. In fact, the $20,000 was hit within the first hour of the campaign going live, and 24 hours later had quadrupled its initial goal, raising over $75,000.
“We are extremely grateful to everyone who have supported our campaign so far. With the overwhelming support from our community we can finally achieve our dream of introducing new sensory dimensions to virtual reality!,” said Gary Mostovoy, President and CEO of Feelreal, Inc. in a statement.
330 backers have already supported the project which has 29 days to go, as such, three early tiers are now no longer available including the $199 tier – the cheapest. If you’re trying to decide whether to back the project then the next available tier retails for $209 but is very time limited with 18 hours to go. After that has finished then the standard Kickstarter offer of $249 will remain in place until the end of the campaign – which still saves $50 off the regular price. As well as the mask the tiers also include the “Feelreal Dreams Aroma Set” which has nine various Aromas: Female Perfume, Burning Rubber, Gunpowder, Espresso, Rose, Burning Wood, Tiramisu, Forest, and Barbecue. There’s also a bonus Patchouli Aroma.
The Feelreal Multisensory VR Mask is designed to deepen the immersion of VR by attaching to the underside of Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Go headsets. The device is capable of generating various scents, water mist, cool/warm wind, vibration and punches, and judging by the Kickstarter success, there are plenty of VR owners keen to give the mask a try.
Feelreal estimates shipping will commence in August 2019 for backers. As further updates are released, VRFocus will let you know.