Hardware & Technical The CastAR discussion thread

khaitom

K
Now that Oculus Rift support has been announced I was wondering if there way any chance of supporting the upcoming "castAR" from Technical Illusions. Working prototypes have been shown at several tech conferences and maker fairs in the US and it looks great.

I know that it's a request for the future as castAR isn't an available product yet but Jeri from Technical Illusions has confirmed that adding support for castAR to a game that works with Oculus Rift should be trivial and other games will be offering castAR support.

castAR, like Oculus Rift, has stereoscopic display and head tracking capabilities. Unlike the Rift, castAR uses glasses that have tiny projectors mounted above each eyepiece which project images unto a highly directional screen. This means that several people playing in one room can see each other and use the same screen, you can see your keyboard, the headset is lighter, etc.

Flight sim demo here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3HGrclGkIE

I'll be supporting the castAR kickstarter when it launches and really hope to be playing Elite: Dangerous on it at some point.
 

Philip Coutts

Volunteer Moderator
Philip Coutts
It certainly looks a lot less cumbersome than than the OR system. I'll be interested to see how this one progresses.
 

jabokai

jabokai
It looks interesting and the more of this kind of thing the better... but it's worth noting that this is not VR. From what I can gather if you look up, for example, and there is no screen there, you won't see what is above you. I might be misunderstanding it, but it seems it's basically 3D TV but on any surface you put the fancy retro-reflective screen?

I'll probably still back it, just cos I like toys! :smilie:
 

Nagual

Nagual
As with many things, cost will be the deciding factor. If it's cheap enough people will buy in to it, if it's easy enough to use the people will follow.


Perhaps the stretch kickstarter goals will be a doodaa thing that you strap to your noggin' and have the screen dangle from it.. ;)
 

Kerrash

Kerrash
This definitely looks more comfortable than wearing the Rift, but I can't see it being as immersive as full on VR.
 

khaitom

K
jabokai said:
It looks interesting and the more of this kind of thing the better... but it's worth noting that this is not VR. From what I can gather if you look up, for example, and there is no screen there, you won't see what is above you. I might be misunderstanding it, but it seems it's basically 3D TV but on any surface you put the fancy retro-reflective screen?

I'll probably still back it, just cos I like toys! :smilie:
Click to expand...

It's true VR too :)

"AR & VR Clip-On

This clip-on attaches to the front of the glasses to transform your experience into either true AR or true VR. True AR allows you to use our glasses without the retro-reflective surface, augmenting the real world."

Didn't know they were offering this until the kickstarter launch, they're offering up to 2mx1m of reflective material at the moment but you'll be able to add as much as you want.
 

khaitom

K
I shall be hand making everyone's Christmas presents this year. I've just pledged my spare cash to Technical Illusions. :)
 

jabokai

jabokai
They seem to be really pushing this as a tabletop, miniature gaming solution? I'm a bit confused - if this can (presumably) be as good as Oculus, with the attachment, why aren't they pushing that side more, considering the hype OR already has? Why push such a niche thing? :S

What is the resolution of this going to be, I can't seem to find anything on that?

I can only really justify this at a relatively low level, given my backing of Oculus previously, but I do hope it makes it! :)
 

khaitom

K
I think the latest prototype is 2x720, but that isn't finalised yet. Could be higher if they can get 1080 chips small enough. They're probably pushing the interactive table-top side of things because it's something that the OR doesn't do. The flight sim is a good example of vertical display and they're in talks with some games developers but, as always, they can't say who. I'm sure better software demos are round the corner.

What's the resolution of the OR going to be?
 

jabokai

jabokai
khaitom said:
casrAR 1024 720 120hz each eye
Ocuous Rift ~960 1080 each eye, refresh rate unknown
Click to expand...

The Rift refresh must be 60hz seeing as they recommend all applications run at 60fps (no more, no less) to avoid visual issues.

I guess the biggest problem castAR have, even if the device might be better (unknown of course), is that Oculus have so much traction and support already. They're easily going to make their funding target though so it'll be interesting to see, and competition is always good. :)
 

Slawkenbergius

Slawkenbergius
I'm feeling slightly reserved about the VR part of CastAR, especially how it will measure against Rift, and would need more info about how it works. If I understand it correctly, it's not really 120hz refresh rate each eye, as it uses shuttering like 3D glasses, which drops the actual frame-rate to 60hz. It also means that the image will be slightly dark.
 

Nagual

Nagual
They are both very interesting devices / technologies. With OR you get full immersion looking all around you, to change the view point you need to click or stick. With cAR you have virtual 3D which is dependant on your own physical location. By ducking down or moving your head side to side the image you see changes. There are advantages to both. Or at least that's how I've interpreted it?
 

Slawkenbergius

Slawkenbergius
Nagual said:
Or at least that's how I've interpreted it?
Click to expand...

Yes, that's the key part of what they're promoting, and it looks good. But they're also promoting a clip-on VR attachment to turn it into an OR-alike. If people want it for the AR, then they're good to go, but for VR it still looks like OR is the way to go, to me. I'm backing neither though, and will lock away my savings until a consumer model comes out.
 

JazHaz

J
I can't see ED working well in a tabletop VR.

Yes for Chess - even Wizard Chess, or for 3D TV - having the band play on your table.

The viewpoints are all wrong. In CastAR you are looking into a point, in ED you are looking from a point outward at the universe.
 

khaitom

K
In E:D you're in a cockpit. With the retroreflective surface on the wall or curved around you, you have a mini holodeck and the expance of space in front of you.. I think that will work as well, if not better than the Rift. Especially if you need to switch from Joystick/pad to keyboard to sandwich to drink while playing :)

Jeri confirmed that the refresh rate is 120hz per eye (as that's only doubling the Rift's rate it's a trivial difference) and that the brightness is good due to the retroreflective surface directing it's uch of the light straight back to the viewer.

I like the idea of both systems and if the castAR really does use as little power as hoped then using it for gaming on the move using it for overlaid AR could be interesting. No doubt at some point I'll see someone on a train with a rucksack full of tech and an Oculus Rift on their face :)
I agree the Rift has the momentum and castAR may be the Wii to Rift's PS. I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out.
 
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