Using a headset to experience virtual reality content is a uniquely immersive experience — until you try to move around and find yourself confined in on way or another. Now, a team helmed by MythBusters star Jamie Hyneman is attempting to crowdfund an ambitious peripheral that could solve this problem.
Vortrex Shoes operate using a very simple principle: They allow the wearer to maintain the illusion of moving around while staying in one spot. This means that if they are embroiled in a VR experience, they can walk around naturally without the need for a huge amount of space around them.
The idea dates back to the 1980s, when Hyneman bolted drill motors to the back of a pair of rollerblades in an effort to invent a new form of personal transportation. As the VR boom was just dawning in 2010, he began working with Edmond J. Dougherty — an engineer who was part of the team that created Skycam, the technology that is used to gain unique camera angles during NFL games.
Since then, Hyneman and Dougherty have produced several different iterations of their design. Now, the project has been developed to the point where an Indiegogo campaign was set up to fund the next steps.
This particular project differs from the vast majority of crowdfunding campaigns, as backers aren’t actually purchasing the product itself. “It might work,” reads the blurb. “It might not. We’ll know soon.”
Since there is a chance that Vortrex might not come to fruition, backers can’t actually claim a pair of skates as a reward. Instead, there are various different Hyneman-approved survival kits, depending on how much cash in being offered, according to a report from Road to VR.
This isn’t to say that the team behind the project doesn’t expect it to be a success. The plan is for the campaign to fund the final prototype, at which point a full production run would likely follow.
The Vortrex system is being built such that it should be compatible with as broad a range of software as possible. The footwear will function as a gamepad, translating movements into standard inputs, but drivers and software development kits will also be made available to developers who want to implement more tailored support.
The campaign will run for the next month, and seeks to raise $50,000.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.