Striker VR’s ARENA Infinity is a haptic VR gun which can simulate various weapon fire modes and other haptic effects. After revealing the design of the accessory back in April, the company is now showing off a working prototype.
Based on the awesome retro-futuristic design by Edon Guraziu, Striker VR is showing off the first working prototype of the Arena Infinity. Aimed at the Digital Out-of-Home VR sector, the wireless peripheral has on-board haptics based on a linear actuator. The gun is capable of impressively powerful kick, especially for an electronic system, adding a convincing recoil to firing a virtual weapon.
The haptic engine in the gun can give feedback for the usual single, burst, and full-auto firing modes, but can also be used for other effects, like a sci-fi railgun that needs to be charged before firing (shown in the video at 0:28), or a chainsaw for hacking zombies apart (0:10).
The Arena Infinity Prototype is currently using a temporarily affixed tracker, but the company plans to provide formal support for several tracking systems, giving location-based VR firms a choice in which tracking system is best suited for their use. The company says the Arena Infinity currently supports PhaseSpace and Sixense STEM tracking, and is also aiming to integrate Valve’s Lighthouse, Oculus’ Constellation, and PlayStation’s Move tracking systems.
Striker VR says that the first Arena Infinity development kits will be delivered to select partners in Q4 2016, which will include the haptic gun, SDK, and haptic sandbox range as an SDK sample. The company says more broad delivery of the development kit will come “soon after” the initial rollout.
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While Striker VR hasn’t announced a consumer-facing version of their haptic VR accessory, they tease, “the Arena Infinity is a first step to a broad solution aimed at peripherals that are easily attached to the virtual environment and afford users an infinite array of possibilities.”