Conventional wisdom dictates that Oculus and their stunning Rift virtual reality headset have already won the forthcoming VR war. They have the financial backing of Facebook behind them, after all. No other device gets close to having that kind of money behind them, not even Sony’s forthcoming device. However, conventional wisdom is wrong about half the time, conventional wisdom also says. So, it is still very much anyone’s game, particularly since this technology is still a few years out from gaining mainstream acceptance. On that note, here is another headset device vying for a slice of that sweet, sweet VR pie. This one actually has a good shot.
It’s called the ANTVR and, caps lock love withstanding, it seems like a really cool device. Some of its features read similarly to the Rift, with the actual virtual reality interface working in a similar way by outfitting each eyeball with its very own screen. All told the unit a full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution display, which has become the norm in the industry. It also is designed to be comfortable with glasses viewers and even features a quick glance “event window” that lets users take a quick glance at the real world without interrupting gameplay. Finally, the piece d’resistance here is the unit’s transformable gun attachment. This peripheral quite literally transforms depending on what kind of game you are playing, from gun to sword and back again. It can even be opened up to reveal a traditional game controller. Quite nifty.
The ANTVR headset isn’t out yet and, as usual, the designers have taken to Kickstarter to achieve final funding. As of this writing they were getting perilously close to meeting their goal, with more than a month to go. You can get in on the action and preorder your own for around $500.
