Tundra Labs’ anticipated SteamVR Tracker hit Kickstarter yesterday and, well, it’s doing very well already.
The device, which is similar in function to HTC Vive’s own tracking pucks hit the crowd-funding platform with a goal of $250,000. Less than 24 hours later, it’s raised over $610,000 with the help of over 1,600 backers. The campaign will be running until May 28th, so expect it to raise a lot more before then.
“I just want to thank the community for your support and believing in Tundra,” Tundra’s Luke Beno said in a video message following the Kickstarter’s launching. “We’re going to be working very hard to deliver these Trackers to you.”
Tundra Tracker Scores Big On Steam
Tundra originally made its name by selling USB dongles for the Vive Trackers, but is now releasing its own version of the device. SteamVR Trackers are designed to be attached to real-world items and objects so that developers might create virtual approximations of them that are tracked inside VR. The original Vive Trackers, for example, could be attached to plastic guns for more immersive shooters, and were even used for full-body tracking. They’ve also found plenty of uses outside of VR thanks to the accuracy and availability of SteamVR tracking.
This new offering is aiming to be a smaller, lighter alternative to Vive’s original Tracker, though HTC just released a smaller, lighter version that we haven’t been able to test for ourselves yet. That said, Tundra says it expects production devices to weigh between 46g to 50g, with seven hours of battery life and support for multiple units to connect to one wireless dongle.
A Tundra Tracker with a dongle starts at $130 through the campaign, the same price as HTC’s latest Vive Tracker (though you can get either the dongle or Tracker on their own for cheaper). Backer tiers reach up to $630, which scores you seven trackers and a dongle capable of connecting all of them. Tundra anticipates shipping units in September of this year.
Will you be picking up a Tundra Tracker through Kickstarter? Let us know in the comments below!
