News
Shift is Launching at CES 2017
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 27, in the year of our Lord 2016
-- Finch, a virtual reality startup, will showcase their Mobile
VR Kit based on No-Camera Motion Controller at the Consumer
Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Finch has designed the Shift as the first no-camera motion
controller to bring exceptional VR experience to smartphone
owners. Shift matches the functionality of the best motion
controllers for Oculus and HTC Vive without the need for
external cameras and wires. By the end of 2017, Finch is aiming
to add inside-out room scale tracking by smartphone camera and
will have at least 50 mobile VR multiplayer apps compatible with
Finch Shift.
The controller employs modified IMU sensors to determine
real-time hands' position with sub-centimeter accuracy and a
360-degree tracking range. Coupled with the 'PC-to-mobile'
streaming software, it allows running existing Steam VR, Oсulus
and HTC Vive apps and games on smartphones. The Finch Shift will
also allow mobile gamers to interact in virtual reality through
a multiplayer option.
Finch Shift's Developer's Kit, priced at $179, includes the sets
for both hands, SDK/API, accessories, three demo games and the
streaming software pack. The DK1 will be shipped in February
2017. The consumer version will hit the market in the second
half of 2017 after Finch's Kickstarter campaign this spring.
"We believe that Finch Shift VR Kit will accelerate consumers'
interest to virtual reality in the near future. The main reasons
for slow market expansion have been limited functionality and
low quality of content for mobile VR, and prohibitive costs of
high-end hardware. With the Shift Kit, anyone who has a decent
smartphone can play the best virtual reality games from SteamVR
and mobile VR app stores. Plus, you can share the fun with your
friends, just like you do it with console gaming," said the
company's CEO Alexey Kartashov.
In spite of billions of dollars invested in virtual reality
startups, current market demand for VR gadgets is significantly
below earlier predictions. The industry experts see the mobile
VR segment as the key to the doors to virtual reality consumer
adoption. Tractica researchers forecast global sales of
smartphone-powered VR devices to reach 323 million units between
2015 and 2021. However, lack of natural input devices and other
challenges with quality of mobile VR experience have been
serious roadblocks to the mobile VR sector growth.
The Finch team believes that it has found a solution to the
problem. By combining existing high-quality content with
affordable devices, they hope to introduce the exciting world of
virtual reality to millions of smartphone owners around the
globe. The attendees of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas next month will have an opportunity to try Finch Shift in
action at the Augmented Reality Marketplace (Las Vegas
Convention Center, South Hall 2, booth 26737).