After yesterday’s announcement of the new Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) project, Ben Lang sits down with two of the key players in the project; Yuval Boger, CEO at Sensics and Chris Mitchell, Senior Product Manager at Razer.
Yesterday, Razer announced that, in partnership with experienced VR headset producers Sensics, it was to launch a new, entirely open-source virtual reality platform. It was a surprising move from Razer, traditionally associated with premium PC peripherals, and after trying the OSVR HDK (Hacker Developer Kit) headset, we were keen to find out more.
See Also: CES 2015: Hands-on With the HDK VR Headset From Razer & Sensics
One interesting element that came out of the interview is, although Razer are have helped design the OSVR HDK, which will function as the flagship device for the OSVR project, it is not a Razer product, according to the company’s Senior Product Manager, Chris Mitchell. Razer want their brand name associated only with consumer-facing products rather than enthusiast devices such as the HDK.
On Sensic’s part, Yuval was bullish about what they’d managed to achieve in this early iteration of the HDK, due for release in June this year. The inclusion of dual element optics for example, unusual in the sphere of consumer VR headsets right now, Yuval sees as “…pushing the art of the possible.”
It’s still not yet clear what the long term effect of OSVR as a movement will be, but the partnership between the two companies seems to have produce an ethos that will ring true with many VR enthusiasts and hackers around the world. We’re looking forward to seeing where this one leads.