Ex-Valve Employees Kickstarting AR & VR System

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We posted this earlier today in our Gaming Headlines section but I wanted to give you guys the opportunity to comment on this. I watched the video twice and, as far as I can tell, those projectors on the glasses are how you see what's happening in the game...right? What happens when you look away from the projection surface? What about head movement and natural jitters? During multiplayer, who is projecting what? When players look at each other are they projecting on to each other instead of the screen? If this is so great, why didn't Valve run with it?
 
Ahh yes the two people that got let go from Valve and made it very publicly known. They should be thankful Valve allowed them to take the project and prototypes and everything with them as they left -- most companies wouldn't and consider anything you created while employed there as property of the company.
 
On a more serious note, has there yet been a kickstarter that has actually delivered and not left everyone disappointed?
 
TheMadHatterXxX said:
On a more serious note, has there yet been a kickstarter that has actually delivered and not left everyone disappointed?
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I've done the Oculus Rift, Pebble Watch and Reaper Bones kick-starters, plus a few more, that shipped their product and left most people happy with the results. Not sure if this one is worth it, still reading up on their tech.
 
I can hardly wait to see what happens to our eyes in the future with all the augmented reality stuff that is being stuffed in them..

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Wonder if your brain would explode if these were put over Google Glass and put on a Oculus VR over both of them!!

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TheMadHatterXxX said:
On a more serious note, has there yet been a kickstarter that has actually delivered and not left everyone disappointed?
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Plenty. The ones that don't make huge bold promises of massive technical achievements in ridiculously short timeframes.

Many of the "art" based Kickstarters I've backed happend on-time and delivered everything they said they were going to.
 
This is the system I have been waiting for, more than the Oculus Rift. I will consider a pro package personally. It's a bit steep in price, but I think it'll be worth it.

Some of the questions you asked Steve were answered in other videos they released or in another interview with Jeri somewhere IIRC. Basically, there if you aren't pointing at the surface, you won't get an image. That helps those of us who get motion sickness, because unlike a sealed system like Occulus, you can see your surroundings so it reduces significantly any motion sickness effects. And as far as multiplayer goes, each glasses I think have slightly different timings (or something like that) so each person gets a personalized view even on the same surface. The VR cover is an interesting addon it's the first time I have seen it that one though might bring about some motion sickness because then the glasses become like Occulus and are a sealed system.

My only real question at the moment is how badly the projection can be washed out by external lights or sunlight into a room. That is the one issue with projector based technology that hasn't changed even in the home theater area. Projectors generally need a very dark environment, or the picture is greatly affected by light.
 
I want to kickstart a series of youtube videos about misandry in the 21st century.

I'm going to call it "Tropes Against the Hoo-Hoo-Dilly".
 
It seems like the Kinect: Technologically cool, but not that great for actual games.
 
Reminds of an updated Virtual Boy. They are onto something, but it just looks too crude to be viable at this time. But I can see something like this taking hold in a classroom at a much higher image quality.
 
Kicktarters... Begging for money online to avoid looking like a bum.
 
Nothing wrong with Kickstarters as long as they aren't started by scam artists.

There are a lot of great ideas that corporations pass on every year. Why should the inventor have to pass on his dream because a corporation doesn't share his passion? So he starts a Kickstarter and lets the public decide if his idea is worthy of pursuing as they are the ones that are going to end up purchasing it in the end.

I haven't contributed to an official Kickstarter yet as most of the really good games I want seem to get Kickstarted anyway. If Shadowrun needed more money I would have contributed. I bought a copy off their HumbleStore to support them in the end. If it hadn't gotten Kickstarted I would have been SOL.

I don't see it as begging. I see it as seeking funding from the public. Either the public shares your dream or they don't. Simple as that.
 
While I think this is going to be confused as competing with the Oculus Rift; I like this idea in concept.

Think of what it can do for board games, no more loosing pieces, roll out the mat, load up the game.

Also think of how old school pen and paper games or fantasy card games could work, that much was shown in video.

The tech looks cheap enough to be affordable. It may be too dependent on accessories though

I think this could also have non-gaming applications, say like viewing battle field (or disaster relief) maps in 3-D.
 
Is the projection onto the surface or the lenses? I don't see how each person can have their own tailored view if they project on the surface.
 
cageymaru said:
Nothing wrong with Kickstarters as long as they aren't started by scam artists.
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There is a problem if there ends up being alternate invester or a major kickstarter investor who ends up hijacking the show. And kickstarter investors start gettting treated like pre-order suckers.
 
Racheakt said:
Think of what it can do for board games, no more loosing pieces, roll out the mat, load up the game.
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You still need the pieces. In fact, you need both game pieces and relatively expensive RFID trackers. Losing game items is still a distinct possibility.
 
wonderfield said:
You still need the pieces. In fact, you need both game pieces and relatively expensive RFID trackers. Losing game items is still a distinct possibility.
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Ya I go crazy sometimes and add extra "o"s all over the place...:D
 
jpm100 said:
Is the projection onto the surface or the lenses? I don't see how each person can have their own tailored view if they project on the surface.
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They had a tech demo of them at a recent Borderlands event here in Dallas. If i remember right it works by projecting partial images onto the screen you lay out in front of you and the glasses are used for tracking your prospective. Also i believe they were active shutter type glasses as well for the 3D.
 
Their surface is a retroreflective surface, not a regular screen, so most of the light is bounced back to the viewer. You can see from some of the vids that you can't really see the image at any significant angle. I agree that it looks like they use active shutters as well, to make sure you don't get crosstalk between the two images.
 
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