AntVR, the Beijing-based VR headset company, recently blew past the $50,000 Kickstarter funding mark for its MIX AR headset, which means the campaign is fully funded. Now well on their way to $150,000 (currently at ~$138,000), the company says their first stretch goal will be a light-blocking visor that will allow for the headset to play in ‘virtual reality mode’.
“During the development of MIX, we tested the optical system with various different opacities. As a result, we realize that, in the sense of 96 degree FoV, MIX can be used for VR purpose if the environmental light is totally blocked […] So, we think an opaque shield could be the first stretch goal for all of you,” the company says in a recent update.
Once met, the $150,000 stretch goal will unlock the opaque visor to all backers for free. Considering the headset wasn’t designed to block out outside light, the opaque ‘VR mode’ visor isn’t likely to wow anyone with a VR headset already, although the extra functionality may be welcome to users without PC VR headsets.
As a tethered AR headset boasting a 96-degree field of view, Mix requires a VR-ready gaming PC to drive it, and primarily draws its content from Steam in a sort of an ‘AR re-purposing’ of VR games and apps. Because of the headset’s design, VR games must have a dark, or entirely black background to display optimally on the headset—not your typical AR hardware pitch, but one that seems to have resonated with backers. Check out our first article on the Mix Kickstarter for the complete list of details.
At the time of this writing, the Mix Kickstarter has 24 days left to go before the end of the campaign, so the likelihood of more stretch goals is pretty high.
AntVR is currently polling Kickstarter backers for more potential stretch goals, providing ideas such as a built-in speaker, an on-board RGB camera, included SteamVR games, or a free wireless transmission add-on.
