Razer’s Open Source Virtual Reality project, OSVR, continues to chug toward’s its mission to “set an open standard for virtual reality devices.” Today the company made the announcement at the Luval Virtual event in France that it will be making the OSVR Hacker Development Kit production files as well as the OSVR development roadmap.
By opening up the production files and roadmap, it gives developers access to software design behind the OSVR, which is a modular and customizable (hackable) HMD that makes use of a wide range of partnerships to help develop a device that is essentially universally compatible with the whole VR ecosystem, or that is the mission at least. “With the OSVR development roadmap opened up to contributing supporters in the open-source development community, the development process can be accelerated significantly,” says Michael Lee, VP of software at Razer. “We welcome the support of VR enthusiasts everywhere.”
Developers interested in contributing to the open-source development of the OSVR (and helping to create an open standard for VR) can learn more here.
In addition to opening its Kimono a bit more, OSVR also announced eight new partnerships, and seven new universities which have joined the fray, bringing the total to over 90 supporters since January.
OSVR’s new partnerships include:
- 3rd Planet: A virtual reality tourism company focused on showcasing “some of the best destinations of 2015.” Currently some of the highlight destinations are the Venetian Macau and the Grand Palace of Thailand, with many more destinations coming in the near future.
- About Face VR: Beginning as a Kickstarter campaign, About Face is a company that makes sweat resistant liners for HMDs that both make the device more sanitary but also more comfortable.
- Aurora Gaming: A “gaming lounge” in Dubai that is completely focused on VR, a permanent installation of the latest and greatest VR has to offer.
- Avnet: One of the largest distributors of electronic components, IT solutions and embedded technology.
- CSRV: An Italian based facility focused on VR’s use for training and scientific research, communication and marketing, industrial design, etc. In the past, the CSRV has made use of projection based VR solutions – also known as ‘cave systems.’
- Kinoki360: A firm focused on creating 360-degree experiences for clients and agencies.
- Media Ventures: Owners of some of the leading premium online news channels across four continents. Main focus is on entertainment news.
- Sparc Interactive: An agency making use of virtual reality technology in a number of their projects. They have created projects that recreate historic events, for virtual tourism, and are working on creating VR cinema with VFX studio partners.
- TwoBigEars: A company focused on improving the use of 3D spacial audio in VR, through making its implementation and design easier.
- Vertigo Games: A game development company currently working on two VR projects, World of Diving – an interactive diving game, and Skyworld a virtual tabletop world designed to bring back classical gameplay elements. They are also one of the developers confirmed to be working on the HTC Vive.
- VirtualRealPorn: the current standard bearers of the virtual reality porn revolution. Creating 180-degree rotationally tracked pornographic experiences, VirtualRealPorn focuses on delivering experiences that put you in the middle of the… action.
- ZeroLatencyVR: a system that ‘Frankensteins’ parts from a Playstation together to create a pretty impressive early wireless VR system. Using VR backpacks they had people walking in VR as early as the DK1.
In addition to the new partners these are the universities that will be joining the OSVR program:
- Aalborg University, Denmark
- Clemson University, USA
- Columbia University, USA
- Oklahoma State University, USA
- University College Cork, Ireland
- University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA
