After the announcement of the Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) initiative last month during CES, it seems that the idea might be catching on. Today OSVR is announcing the addition of 13 new partners, like Jaunt and VisiSonics, and the organization is also launching the OSVR Academia Program which it says will provide 10 of its ‘Hacker Development Kit’ VR headsets to qualifying universities.

razer hdk vr headset osvr (5)
The OSVR HDK headset is open for hacking

OSVR is a two part initiative, formed initially in partnership with PC peripheral maker Razer and professional HMD maker Sensics, which aims to supply a single open-source SDK that developers can use to support multiple VR headsets, input devices, and more, with a single integration. The other half of the initiative is the Hacker Development Kit (HDK) an open-source $199 VR headset that the organization says will have a fully open-sourced design and schematics that are available to anyone for hacking, manufacturing, and more.

See Also: Razer Announces $199 ‘Hacker Dev Kit’ VR Headset as Part of OSVR Initiative

The announcement of 13 news partners supporting OSVR brings the total count to 38. Many of the new partners will be well known to those following the VR space.[one-half-first]

  • 3DRudder
    Foot controlled 3D motion controller
  • Cyberith
    Creators of the Virtualizer VR treadmill
  • Jaunt
    Cinematic VR production company, working on their own camera hardware and content
  • Lucidscape
    Developing a “massively-distributed 3D simulation engine” for the metaverse
  • SoftKinectic
    Computer vision input solutions[/one-half-first][one-half]
  • Sonic VR
    Hardware and software for VR audio
  • VR Bits
    Developers of Darkfield VR and Nighttime Terror
  • VR Union
    Creators of the ‘RiftUp’ DK1 HD upgrade kit and VR headset manufacturer
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razer hdk vr headset osvr (1)OSVR Academia Program

Today the OSVR Academia Program is also revealed. The program aims give 10 Hacker Development Kits each to qualifying universities that “have or intend to set up a full VR lab.”

So far it isn’t clear exactly how they will qualify universities for the OSVR Academia Program, however OSVR encourages interested parties to inquire on the ‘Join OSVR’ page on the official website.

Full Disclosure: At the time of publishing, OSVR has ads placed on Road to VR.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."