Another entrant to the burgeoning VR Headset market has appeared seemingly out of nowhere and straight to Kickstarter. AntVR promises wireless video streaming, a 1080p display and a proprietary motion controller. Sounds too good to be true ….

Promises, Promises

10338503_1442265186022007_4930833382777041993_oAs with any major advance in technology, there are those in the business world who can smell the money in virtual reality. And, as we’ve seen with popular gadgets, the far east is more than happy to take that device and produce ‘heavily inspired’ versions which look similar but are a shadow of their inspiration – yet available at a fraction of the price. When I visited AntVR’s (admittedly slick) website, I have to confess that was my first thought, as unfair as that might turn out to be.

10258100_1417263338534747_3181203044151672484_nIt has to be said though, if AntVR is faking it – they’re doing a pretty good job. A well produced (albeit cringeworthy), slick teaser video featuring beautiful people being amazed by stuff. And, even the product mockups have some neat flashes of inspiration. Unfortunately though, that technical details are a little thin on the ground.

So what do we know? The company is based out of Beijing, China and claim their headset is the first “all-in-one, universal” VR Headset. This initially suggests that the device might be similar to Gameface Labs’ standalone, Android based VR Headset. But it looks more likely that the AntVR headset is pitching itself as a universal 3D display, that can be used with your favourite games console, PC or movie playing device. Both the controller and the headset itself will apparently hold IMU’s capable of motion tracking. Possibly most interestingly, the device is to 1854_1409068112687603_1230912052_nsupport the new Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) standard. A 5Ghz, uncompressed wireless video streaming protocol with a claimed 1ms or lower latency. Finally, the VR Headset houses a 1080p display and offers 3D with a 100 degree field of view.

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The team have working prototypes it seems, and they’ve been showing them off over the last few months at various trade shows in the far east. In particular, Unite China – where it looks as if the public go their hands on a limited demo.

In any case, we’ll hold on judgement until we’ve obtained some solid technical information on the system. For now, should you want to know more you can check their website here. We’ll keep you updated as and when we know more.

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Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.
  • elecman

    No positional tracking? Hello motion sickness!

  • Pontianak

    I asked them over kickstarter messenger what panel tech they were using, specifically mentioning the desire for low persistence. It looks like low persistence is probably out, they are using some sort of LCD tech and didn’t even mention low persistence in their response.

    This was their response:

    ANTVR
    May 14, 2014

    Hi Pontianak

    We use LCD now, rather than OLED. But we’re planning to use OLED for future products.

    Thanks!

    ANTVR

  • snake0

    For some reason I could tell it was Chinese before even clicking the link. Maybe I have clairvoyance when it comes to scams.

    • Anyone

      So did you forsee the Facebook / Oculus deal, too?
      Or just being racist?

      • snake0

        In case you’ve been cryogenically frozen for the past 50 years, China has a track record for producing cheap knock-offs. That’s not racism, it’s a fact.

        • Onetazien

          The fact is, everything in your house is made from China. Not everything from China is simply a knock-off or a scam. Obviously, this isn’t a copy, imitation, or clone of an OR with a different label.

  • alexanderflux

    Hello guys, happened to know something about this, let me give you some insights.
    They actually started this in the end of last year.
    Qin Zheng, CEO of antvr, major in optics, according to himself, claim his optical solution is far more better than Oculus which “know nothing about optics, wasted a lot of pixels with distorted images”
    And the major difference with his headset is that they use aspherical lens which wont distort images.
    I know nothing about this, but I just wonder if Oculus do not know anything about optics, how come Sony still use spherical lenses?
    (But still, If anybody can explain to me the difference/pros/cons between these two type of lens I’d be very appreciated)
    And because of that, he’s headset support all the game and he did not care about motion sickness, but compatibility would be a great selling point with someone do not know enough about VR but intrigued by it.

    I’ve also been in Unite China, and witnessed Qin Zheng drag Jan to his booth and shoot him wearing their headset(which is still 720p at that point).
    Their booth is right beside Oculus VR DK2(which has been brought here by OculusVR Korean division), I bet they surprised by this arrangement, because they did not show up again in 2nd day of the conference.

    I tried their headset, but with 720p display, it’s just same as dk1.

    • Paul James

      Thanks for the info. I’m slightly perplexed though as the Rift also uses Aspheric lenses, and as the name might suggest most definitely caused optical warping / distortion – hence the requirement for pre-warping of the image presented the the HMD.

      Nice info RE Unite China booth proximity to Oculus. I guess the pressure was just too great for them. :)

      • alexanderflux

        Rift also uses Aspherical lenses? wait, is this concept stands for the shape of the lens or what? Spherical means round hence aspherical means flat maybe…? I don’t know. Do we have a clearer definition? And exactly which will cause distorted image? I thought the spherical one, did I always think wrong?

  • AndrewOstvig

    I just backed their kit.

    The design looks not so fancy. But who cares, anybody except yourself can see it.

    I just think the ANTVR Kit is light and cheap which my neck and wallet really care much about.

    Only judging from the marketing video, the Kit has a good compatibility with many games and movies. I order the Kit because I don’t want to wait for the games which are much more exciting but special designed. I want to play my favorite game COD right now! And if just as what they promised about the SDK, I would like to develop some new tricks on this new toy.

    Anyhow, I just think that the emergence of new competitor in VR market is a good sign for the future booming VR revolution, and I can be an optimistic participant.

  • giroudf

    what is strange is they target 200k for budget and got about 300 people for 100k already.
    so to make it simple, they should get around 600 people to reach the 200k. (probably a lot more, around 800)

    So if all these guy are backing up the project to purchase a kit, then it makes around 200k to produce the first 600 kits. so it is about 300$ per kit.
    Since the simple kit is 270$ and the biggest is about 500, they must get some money from another place or else they just go into the wall.
    It is a pity they did not give more technical details.

  • sami apple

    What 3D format can I play with it? 3D MP4? Full SBS or HSBS?