Vrvana tosses its Totem headset into the VR ring
[Philip Lelyveld comment; since Oculus has said they want to develop the Rift with AR capabilities including cameras, the issue is can a start-up build a community that can overpower the Facebook marketing machine. See Vrvana's home page for tech specs]
The Totem separates itself from the pack by having onboard cameras and acceleration tracking to replace the need for an external tracking camera. The front-facing cameras also open up interesting possibilities like integrating augmented reality and tracking the users actual hands. It also sidesteps the tedious problem of needing to remove the snugly-adjusted headset whenever you need to deal with the analog world.
The headset features powerful onboard processing and control emulation to offload a lot of the work that is often left to another device, increasing the range of compatible systems, which includes tablets, PCs, mobile phones, and gaming consoles. Oversized, individually focused lenses allow for crisp, legible text and negate the need for wearing glasses, though the foam-cushioned headset still leaves enough room for most specs if the user prefers.
The company was formed by French Canadian engineers in 2005 as True Player Gear and have been gradually developing the technologies necessary to achieve their VR dream ever since. Boutique PC maker VoodooPC’s founder and CEO Rahul Sood makes an appearance in the video and on their advisory board for a bit of high profile endorsement.
See the full story here: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/vrvana-tosses-totem-headset-vr-ring/