TPCAST – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

June 5, 2019

TPCAST Air for Oculus Go Heads to North America

Last month wireless solutions provider for virtual reality (VR) headsets TPCAST began shipping its TPCAST Air for Oculus Go solution for business in Europe and Asia. Today, the company has expanded those territories to include North America.

TPCAST Air Oculus Go

TPCAST Air is the company’s second generation wireless solution, originally launching it for the Chinese market in February. The technology is SteamVR-based, providing an ultra-low latency wireless VR experience for 3-DOF applications on the headset. Essentially, it allows customers to easily stream content of their PC and into a standalone headset

Designed for industries such as architecture, engineering, construction, interior decoration design, education and gym spinning, for example, TPCAST Air for Enterprise can, in fact, support different 3-DOF or 6-DOF standalone VR headsets. It supports multi-user applications so in time location-based entertainment (LBE) venues such as VR arcades could use the technology to stream content rather than users having to wear bulky backpack PC’s.

TPCAST Air for Oculus Go

As a single-user system, TPCAST Air for Oculus Go will be sold for $499 USD (including the headset) available for order now at www.tpcastvr.com and also at US VR solution providers.

TPCAST has also confirmed AIR will be coming to Oculus Quest. Able to support the devices Oculus Touch controllers, TPCAST Air for Oculus Quest is scheduled to arrive in about eight weeks (so presumably the start of August). No price has been revealed for this version.

As companies like Oculus and HTC begin steering users towards standalone devices TPCAST has expanded its wireless offerings to keep up. You can still purchase the original TPCAST Consumer Editions for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. VRFocus will continue its coverage of TPCAST, reporting back with further developments as they’re announced.

January 14, 2019January 15, 2019

CES 2019: I Streamed PC VR Games To An Oculus Go With TPCast Air

When I passed the booth for TPCast during CES 2019 I didn’t initially pay it very much attention. Last year we saw a new model of their wireless adapter that enables either the Rift or Vive to cut the cord and move around rooms freely without any wired connections to a PC. It sends the data to and from the nearby PC wirelessly, but you still need to be close to a computer. It doesn’t turn them into totally standalone devices like the Oculus Quest or anything.

So on the table next to a laptop I spotted an Oculus Go. This seemed odd to me because the Go is already a standalone headset and there were no external sensors, like with Nolo, so it wasn’t a 6DOF tool either. Instead, TPCast Air is a software and USB dongle that wirelessly streams PC VR content to the Go’s display. And much to my surprise it totally works.

Now since the Oculus Go isn’t a 6DOF headset and it only has one single 3DOF controller, there is only a very limited use-case for a device like this on that headset. You can’t expect to play full games on it at all and anything that needs you to move around more than just looking up and down or side to side is a no-go (pun intended). So the demos I tried were TheBlu, a classic VR showpiece that’s entirely passive as you watch fish swim all around you, and a walkthrough demo of an apartment complex rendered in a game engine (I think it was Unity or Unreal).

So if you’re a developer that has something simple to show someone but don’t want to export and package it as a Go app or don’t want to lug around your bulky PC VR headset, then you can use a Go and TPCast Air to display it with head-tracking and give a little tease. This is designed as an affordable enterprise solution and to that end it seems to get the job done.

What makes TPCast Air particularly exciting though, from a tech perspective, is that it will support the Oculus Quest as well.

That means that you can use your Quest like normal, playing ports of games such as Superhot and The Climb, but then also enable the TPCast Air to stream over content from Steam VR. Since the Quest is a 6DOF headset with two 6DOF controllers, you’ve basically got a wireless Rift that can also be a standalone for travel. Pair it with a laptop and you’ve got a really flexible setup.

Since the two apps I tried were entirely passive and had next to zero interaction it’s hard to say whether there was any input lag or latency. During my time with TheBlu I made sure to waggle my head around from side to side and up and down to see if there would be any latency at all with the footage keeping up with my head movement and I noticed a tiny bit. Basically on the edges of my view if I turned really quickly I’d see a thin black bar that immediately vanished once I stopped turning. I think that means there is just an ever-so-slight delay between the image itself rendering and being streamed to the headset.

I’d love to try the TPCast Air on an Oculus Quest to see how it handled 6DOF content streamed to a non-PC powered 6DOF headset. Based on how well TPCast Plus and original TPCast hardware functions, I like to think that it may actually work really well. I don’t know for sure, but that’s what I’m hoping.

Since the Quest can’t plug into a PC, purchasing a TPCast Air might be the next best thing to achieve a truly hybrid headset — assuming it works well on Quest too.

Let us know what you think of the TPCast Air down in the comments below!

Tagged with: CES, Oculus Go, Oculus Quest, TPCAST, TPCast Air

The post CES 2019: I Streamed PC VR Games To An Oculus Go With TPCast Air appeared first on UploadVR.

January 9, 2019

TPCAST Air bringt PC-Content auf Oculus Quest und Oculus Go

Im Rahmen der CES 2019 hat TPCAST ein neues Produkt vorgestellt, welches das Unternehmen als TPCAST Air bezeichnet. Das System soll nicht eure VR-Brillen von den Kabeln befreien, sondern kabellose Brillen mit Inhalten von einem PC versorgen.

TPCAST Air bringt PC-Content auf Oculus Quest und Oculus Go

Zum Start soll der TPCAST Air die Oculus Go mit Content versorgen, jedoch sind Spiele nicht unbedingt für eine Übertragung geeignet, da die Oculus Go weiterhin keine Bewegungen mit der Brille im Raum erkennt. Dementsprechend sagt TPCAST, dass das neue Kit sich hauptsächlich an Unternehmen richtet, welche Inhalte aus den Bereichen Immobilien, Heimdekoration/Innenarchitektur, Industrie und Bildung zeigen wollen.

Zukünftig soll der TPCAST Air jedoch auch die Oculus Quest unterstützen und der Hersteller verspricht, dass man sich mit dieser Brille auch mit dem PC-Content frei durch den Raum bewegen kann. Hier hat TPCAST besonders Arcades im Auge, die kabellos ihre Spiele zeigen wollen, ohne auf eine hohe Qualität verzichten zu müssen. Da das neue Produkt reibungslos mit SteamVR arbeiten soll, dürfte auch genügend Content zur Verfügung stehen, der eine Anschaffung rechtfertigt.

Aktuell ist noch nicht klar, was TPCAST Air kosten wird, wie viele Stationen nebeneinander betrieben werden können und wann das Produkt auf den Markt kommt. Wir werden euch informieren, sofern es weitere Details von Hersteller gibt.

Der Beitrag TPCAST Air bringt PC-Content auf Oculus Quest und Oculus Go zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

January 8, 2019

TPCAST Air is the 2nd Gen Wireless Solution for Enterprise

Chinese tech startup TPCAST started by designing a wireless solution for HTC Vive before turning its attention towards Oculus Rift. For CES 2019 the company has now revealed its second generation wireless solution, TPCAST Air, designed for multi-user industrial and enterprise VR applications.

TPCAST Oculus Rift — TPCAST for Oculus Rift

With more companies looking towards location-based entertainment (LBE) and enterprise to make money for virtual reality (VR), TPCAST Air is primarily designed for multi-user applications.

Able to display PC VR applications wirelessly on standalone VR headsets by utilizing regular Wi-Fi networks, the solution is based on TPCAST’s real-time codec technology (RTCodec and RTCIP). Currently supporting headsets like Oculus Go, in the future TPCAST will add support for Oculus Quest.

Michael Liu, CEO of TPCAST, said in a statement: “TPCAST Air achieves our vision of TPCAST 2.0 – it provides wireless VR transmission in the short, medium and long-range distances. TPCAST Air for Enterprise combines the best of both worlds, which is the lightweight and low-cost standalone headset with the power of PC graphics. By that, it delivers lightweight mobility and high-performance rendering.”

Wireless TPCAST Adapter

Due to TPCAST Air’s ability to be used with standalone headsets, LBE and VR arcades won’t need backpack computers to achieve mobile VR, helping reduce capital and operational investment. And when you remove the need for backpack PC’s which can be difficult to set up and run, the whole system becomes easier to manage and run, plus there’s a nice reduction in cables.

TPCAST Air for Enterprise utilizes the same software infrastructure as Unreal Engine and Unity so there’s no lengthy migration process for developers. Plus, the system runs SteamVR and supports all SteamVR applications. Companies employing TPCAST Air will find the system is provided with an enterprise VR management suite that enables system administrators to manage multi-user solution easily, optimize the wireless performance and more.

TPCAST Air will be on display at CES 2019 all week. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

January 8, 2019

CES 2019: Tpcast Air Wants To Turn Oculus Quest And Go Into Streaming PC VR Headsets

TPCast’s second generation wireless VR solution wants to turn Oculus Quest into a streaming PC VR headset.

TPCast Air was announced at CES 2019 in Las Vegas today. Whereas the Chinese company’s original products made the HTC Vive and other PC VR headsets wireless via streaming, this new device will beam high-end VR content into less powerful standalone headsets.

The company says it’s starting out with streaming to Oculus Go. Go is a three degrees of freedom (3DOF) headset with one controller, though, so don’t expect to jump up and start streaming Superhot to the $199 kit. The kit supports SteamVR and is focused on enterprise and location-based customers, thus TPCast says this service would be best for “real estate, home decoration/interior design, education, and other industry applications.”

However, the company’s press release also notes that support for Oculus Quest will be added in the future. Arriving later this year, Quest is another standalone but it has a full 6DOF range of movement thanks to inside-out tracking. Specifically, TPCast says this integration will allow users to freely walk and interact with each other. The company says it could be put to use in VR arcades.

We know that Quest won’t be able to plug into a PC to double as an Oculus Rift. Oculus did, however, debate offering a streaming solution similar to what TPCast is describing. According to Oculus’ John Carmack, it could turn into an official feature, but ‘no promises’ as of yet.

TPCast Air is on display on the CES show floor. We’ll look to get you some impressions later this week.

Tagged with: Oculus Quest, TPCAST, TPCast Air, VR streaming

The post CES 2019: Tpcast Air Wants To Turn Oculus Quest And Go Into Streaming PC VR Headsets appeared first on UploadVR.

October 19, 2018

TPCAST To Collaborate With Huawei On VR Use With 5G Broadband

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.

Huawei - Logo “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.

October 19, 2018

Huawei und TPCAST wollen 5G gemeinsam für VR nutzen

Das Unternehmen TPCAST, welches durch das Vive-X-Programm gefördert wurde und mittlerweile einen Adapter anbietet, der die HTC Vive und die Oculus Rift von seinen Kabeln befreit, geht nun eine Partnerschaft mit Huawei ein, um die Möglichkeiten von 5G im Mittleren Osten für die Virtual Reality auszuloten.

Huawei und TPCAST wollen 5G gemeinsam nutzen

Huawei ist den meisten Menschen sicherlich durch Smartphones bekannt, doch das Unternehmen hat noch weitere Eisen im Feuer. Darunter beispielsweise eine eigene Cloud, die besonders in Verbindung mit 5G für VR interessant werden könnte.

Im Rahmen der Zusammenarbeit mit TPCast wird Huawei seine Cloud-basierte Video- und VR-Plattform zur Verfügung stellen. Diese ermöglicht den effizienten Zugriff, die Verwaltung und den Betrieb von Videoinhalten sowie hochspezifischen Set-Top-Boxen (STB). Im Gegenzug stellt TPCAST den extrem latenzarmen Code RTCODEC und RTCIP, ein VR-Feedback-Steuerungsprotokoll sowie eine drahtlose Mehrbenutzer-VR-Zentralverwaltung bereit. Entsprechend sollen der Codec von TPCAST, die Cloud von Huawei und das 5G-Netz im Zusammenspiel zukünftig spannende Möglichkeiten für Virtual Reality und Augmented Reality schaffen.

Herr Wang Su, Vice President of Marketing von Huawei Middle East, sieht großes Potenzial in der künftigen Kooperation:

“Die Zusammenarbeit mit TPCAST wird uns bei der Markteinführung eines 5G-basierten Cloud VR Use Cases helfen. Huawei stellt mit der Etablierung des 5G-Ökosystems für den Nahen Osten die Cloud-basierte Use-Case-Entwicklungsplattform zur Verfügung und unterstützt die Integration und Verifizierung von 5G-Anwendungsfällen. Huawei’s E2E-5G-Low-Latency-Lösung und TPCAST’s Codec-Technologie werden zusammen ein verbessertes VR-Erlebnis ermöglichen. Diese Partnerschaft wird Organisationen in der Region fördern und neue Wachstumschancen gewährleisten.”

Huawei und TPCAST sind nicht die einzigen Unternehmen, welche die Chancen von 5G für VR erkannt haben. Auch HTC ging bereits mit China Mobile eine Partnerschaft ein und gründete gemeinsam die “5G Devices Forerunner Initiative”.

Der Beitrag Huawei und TPCAST wollen 5G gemeinsam für VR nutzen zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

September 12, 2018

TPCAST To Demonstrate Multiplayer Wireless VR

For many users, the wires that connect the virtual reality (VR) headset to the PC rig are an annoyance. In multi-user environments they can be an active danger. While many location-based VR centres use backpack PCs to get around this, it isn’t a perfect solution. Wireless VR company TPCAST will be demonstrating a different way to enjoy VR without wires at the Digility Expo in Cologne, Germany.

TPCAST will be showcasing its wireless VR solution for head-mounted displays (HMDs) with its business edition (BE) wireless adapter at the event, where its multi-user wireless VR solution will be demonstrated.

The TPCAST multi-use wireless VR solution allows for up to 16 people to play simultaneously, while maintaining the 2K quality video of the HTC Vive and a latency of under 2ms. The BE version of the adapter is targeted as multi-user businesses of all types, including medical, education, automotive, real estate and others in addition to videogaming.

“Our multi-user wireless solution offers VR fun for a group of people up to 16. Not only arcades will benefit as wireless multiplayer games give players a true immersive VR experience, but also enterprises can get rid of the cable or backpack laptop introducing VR-based team collaboration” comments Reiner Pes, General Manager TPCAST EMEA.

The adapter kit comes in four parts: The PC transmitter modules, the helmet receive modules, battery power box and a business-class router.

The equipment will be demonstrated at the Digility Expo in Cologne, which is due to take place on 26th-27th September, 2018. TPCAST will be located at Hall 5.1 Stand A4, where demonstrations of the product will take place as TPCAST shows how the wireless adapter allows for a more immersive VR experience in multi-user set-ups.

Further information on the TPCAST Wireless Adapter Business Edition can be found on the TPCAST website. For future coverage on TPCAST and other VR product, keep checking back with VRFocus.

July 10, 2018

TPCAST Wireless Adapter for Oculus Rift List Price Dropped in EU

TPCast began selling the Oculus Rift version of its wireless adapter in December 2017, enabling users to finally free themselves of cables for a more immersive virtual reality (VR) experience. This came at some cost however, so today TPCast has announced a reduction in the list price for the Oculus Rift version.

In order to make the TPCast Wireless Adapter attractive to even more customers, the list price (including tax) has been reduced from €389 EUR/£349 GBP to €359/£324 GBP this week. Currently, the TPCast Wireless Adapter for Oculus Rift offers the only wireless solution for the headset on the market.

“With the price decrease, even more consumers will enjoy wireless Virtual Reality and additionally the new software version for the Oculus Rift CE adapter will give consumers a flawless Virtual Reality experience and enhance the wireless Virtual Reality experience,” said Reiner Pes, General Manager, TPCast B.V. in a statement.

The new software version (V3.0.2) for the TPCast Wireless Adapter for the Oculus Rift is available via TPCast’s support page.

Wireless TPCAST Adapter

It’s worth noting that while the list price may have dropped retailers were already selling the adapter for less. Over on the Overclockers UK website for example the TPCast Wireless Adapter for Oculus Rift retails for £299.99. And for those of you who happen to live in North America the adapter is currently discounted on the TPCast website, reduced from $349.00 USD to $319.00.

The consumer edition of TPCast wireless adapter is a special accessory designed for Oculus Rift. The kit consists of four parts: PC TX Module (TX), RX Module (RX), a router and a battery with a charger. It supports 2K video transmission at 90Fps with sub 2ms latency. The adapter comes with a battery to power the headset and the wireless module and can last for up to five hours of operation. VRFocus will continue its coverage of TPCast, reporting back with any further updates.

June 26, 2018

TPCAST Wireless Adapter for Oculus Rift to be Sold at Fry’s Electronics

A couple of months ago wireless virtual reality (VR) specialist TPCAST announced a distribution partnership with retailer Fry’s Electronics to sell its HTC Vive Consumer Edition Wireless Adapter. Now the pair have revealed an expansion of this partnership with the retailer adding the Oculus Rift version to its inventory.

Fry’s Electronics will be the first brick-and-mortar retailer to distribute the TPCAST Consumer Edition Wireless Adapter for Oculus Rift in North America since its launch in December 2017. The TPCAST Wireless Adapter will be available in all 34 Fry’s Electronics stores in the United States and also online at Frys.com.

There are currently 8 stores in Northern California, 9 stores in Southern California, 8 stores in Texas, 2 stores in Arizona, 2 stores in Georgia, and 1 store each in Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

“TPCAST is excited to have its channel partner, Fry’s Electronics, be the first to distribute the TPCAST Adapter for the Oculus Rift, and expand its reach of the Wireless VR adapter,” stated Udi Yuhjtman, TPCAST’S North America General Manager in a statement. “TPCAST is the only source for wireless VR solutions for the PC VR market and we are committed to support multi user adapters and provide additional wireless solutions going forward.”

Oculus Rift - Touch

“Fry’s has seen great success with having the TPCAST Adapter for HTC Vive available the past two months. The product performs well and customer feedback has been very positive,” stated Manuel Valerio, Fry’s Community Relations Manager. “We have seen a significant attach rate of the TPCAST Wireless Adapter and the HTC Vive VR headset, and are looking forward to expand the cooperation with TPCAST with the addition of the TPCAST Adapter for Oculus Rift.”

It might not be cheap but the TPCAST adapter offers consumers one of the only ways to make their Oculus Rift truly wireless, with the kit capable of offering 2K video quality at less than 2ms latency. The TPCAST Consumer Edition Wireless Adapter for the Oculus Rift retails for $319 USD. For any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.