Virtual Reality

OSVR HDK Unboxing

Posted on by Cyber Shaman

So I finally got my hands on the OSVR headset from Razer. I’m not going to lie, it took its sweet time getting here (about 2 months more than the initially projected date) but the sheer degree of awesome that is possessed by a VR headset helped negate all my irritation from the delay.

In other words, I was squealing like a child when I picked it up and began the unboxing. I hope my excitement translates to you, gentle reader!

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About now is when the squealing reached supersonic levels.IMG_20151015_144431475IMG_20151015_144443954IMG_20151015_143516892

The HDK itself seems to be divided into:

  1. The headset
  2. HDMI cables for the headset
  3. Some sort of audio cables that I haven’t yet figured out how to use
  4. The power supply
  5. The positional tracking kit (i.e. the Camera, a tripod stand and relevant cabling)
  6. A cleaning brush
  7. A hub for all the cables to connect into

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And there you have it!
The OSVR HDK unboxed.IMG_20151015_144048049

The link below is the official GitHub repository of the OSVR project, and contains all the instructions I needed to get everything setup and test the headset out in an actual VR demo.

Suffice to say, I was blown away.

https://github.com/OSVR

AND

https://github.com/OSVR/OSVR-General/wiki/HDK-Unboxing-and-Getting-Started

I hope this was of help/interest to anyone looking for more info on the OSVR project.

Feel free to contact me at Nightmask3@gmail.com for any help or insight I can provide on being a part of this ambitious new venture!

Thanks!

Happy hacking.

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Acceptance into the Razer OSVR Project!

Posted on by Cyber Shaman

It always feels like forever since my last blog post. Why is that? =(

I really need to learn how to stick to a posting schedule.

Anyway, this post is just a little celebratory broadcast of the fact that the folks over at Razer were kind enough to accept me as a developer in their new Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) project.

For those of you unaware of the fact, alongside the other commercial VR headsets like the Oculus Rift, Project Morpheus, HTC Re Vive etc., Razer has decided to back the OSVR Framework in an attempt to boost VR as a community effort, and not just proprietary technology that is obscure and locked away to the upper echelons of their massive corporations. =/

Okay I’m clearly overstating the matter, but it irks me that something like Virtual Reality would possibly remain in the hands of the few as an arcane topic as opposed to being available for all to contribute to and understand.

Oculus for instance have released their SDK – in – progress to be available free of cost to developers to create content on. The caveat being that all of this content is going to be used in retail when the commercial release of their actual consumer headset happens in Q1 2016.

I get that as a corporation and a company, you gotta make money, but hey a Repo on GitHub wouldn’t hurt would it?

Compare that to the level of freedom and exposure that the OSVR project has, which can be seen on GitHub at this link below:

https://github.com/OSVR

It’s essentially available for anyone to contribute to, as a group or solo effort, in an attempt to make VR a community achievement as opposed to a money – making one.

That is pretty damn admirable by my books. And if you’re wondering how much skill you might need to get started on this, don’t hesitate, contact the kind folks at Razer by sending them an email:

osvr@razerzone.com.

I’m a humble undergraduate student of computer science, with an intermediate grasp of coding at best. Quite honestly I might have gotten myself in waaaaaaay over my head. But that isn’t going to stop me from trying!

Wish me luck guys! And I hope to see you on the GitHub pulling and pushing like the rest of us work horse developers! =)

osvr4.0