Broadband blues and the bleeding edge...

I have been running a combination of ADSL2+ and mobile interwebs for a while now. When I first entered the mobile broadband market, the reception was spotty, was plagued by random disconnects and would rarely even hint at the theoretical speeds available via HSDPA. Much of this remains the same today regardless of which ISP you choose, although some improvements have been made (eg. additional infrastructure/4G etc). While I have access to fixed line internet at some locations, I finally grew fed up with catastrophic failures in network signal, not to mention the vastly more expensive cost per gigabyte that mobile broadband seems to extort. Cost per gigabyte for fixed line bundles can reach as low as <$0.10 per Gig, while comparitively (avoiding peak/off peak restrictions) mobile broadband is *atleast* double that or more. Datablocks, pre-paid and other month to month contracts can make it even more expensive. Not to mention that all mobile broadband services I have experienced, offer no shaped usage after exceeding quotas. They either charge per MB, charge automatically in gigabyte blocks or charge per datablock - the so called "walled garden" is a poor substitute for shaped usage. An example is purchasing an additional data block with Optus under my current service... cost = $20 per gigabyte.

On top of this, a gigabyte is usually counted as 1000 Mb, which, as any geek will tell you is not really an actual gigabyte (1024Mb = 1Gb). Mind you, this "acceptable standard" type of definition of a gigabyte is also used by some other tech products and services as well.  Just about every company I have looked at in my quest for a suitable fixed line ISP has usually this listed somewhere in the fine print and most will happily count your upload traffic towards your monthly quota aswell. When choosing an ISP, especially anything on a fixed term contract, it is essential for you to do your homework. I have personally had companies offer me mobile broadband for locations that are in a confirmed blackspots - so make sure you check all facts and fine print and, should you opt for mobile broadband, be aware that you will most likely never get anywhere near the cost-per-gigabyte ratio of those on a fixed line. To get some independant reviews and a better idea of what the customer service and support is like, head over to the whirlpool forums broadband choice domain (bc.whirlpool.net.au), or visit whirlpool direct (whirlpool.net.au).
 

HAWKEN in VR mode with HUD enabled
(piloting the controversial technician class)

Free-look without turning the mech opens up some tactical possibilities

Clipping outside of the mech has been resolved,
however drift still needs a manual reset

 As mentioned previously, I spent some time recently with HAWKEN's RIFT mode. While this mode is definately early-alpha and many of the game options are designed with the HD-RIFT version in mind, as you can see by some of the screenshots above (all captured in low-res/DK1 mode), issues faced when forcing RIFT mode on via the config files are slowly being resolved/officially supported. If you'd like to learn more about this, I go into more a bit more detail in last months post.

Looking back, Kickstarter has made a regular appearances in many of my more recent posts. While I am not affiliated with the site in any way, I find that the main reason why it keeps popping up here in my topics is due to the large number of technical products that the KS community seems willing to support. Of course, it would be nice to have deep pockets so you could throw money at every project that catches your eye, however *most* of the bleeding edge technology that appears here on this site has originated from successfull kickstarter campaigns. More often than not though, people get this sort of financing model confused with something more akin to a pre-order. This is not what KS is all about. While various tiers and rewards are offered, more often than not, like in the recently launched Tactical Haptics Kickstarter, it is a way for a company to pay the large investment required for tooling moulds and other manufacturing setup costs. This paves the way for QoS and creates a way to mass-produce the controllers that will make their way to the early adopters. This is one of the reasons why Tactical Haptics lists their campaign as a dev-kit, it's a first-run production of a item they wish to bring to market, so naturally, costs of "buying" one of these first run devices will probably exceed expected RRP.

Tactical Haptics Reactive Grip (early prototype)

Tactical Haptics has done some incredible work, most recently, their reactive grip controller system (which will automatically cater to many tracking solutions (including the successfull Sixense STEM)) shows real promise. More than just another "rumble" feedback device, these hand-held controllers provide more haptic feedback that can be changed dynamically according to what the user is doing in-game. The feedback becomes more realistic using shear/pressure forces rather than just basic rumble packs - making the device far more suitable for a wide range of applications - not just gaming. While physically holding a controller is a long way off haptic gloves/suits, it promises to be an impressive step forward. considering any glove/suit haptics will come with their own unique issues and problems, it could be a while before we see anything resembling a realistic feedback device of this type. Head on over to the Reactive grip Kickstarter to learn more/become a backer.

Sixense STEM system - 3D concept

STEMs electromagnetic positional tracking generations
(prototyping still in progress)

So what exactly is the Sixense STEM? It is essentially a much improved Hydra, which will now come with a wireless/wired connection option. I jumped at the chance for the five point system as, even with improvements on tracking solutions for the Oculus RIFT and Virtuix's Omni on the way, you can never have too many tracking points for VR :) Heck, it might be fun to 3D print a sippy cup with a STEM slot (or just duct tape a module to your beverage) so that you could potentially drink from your virtual cup - I am looking at you soda drinker pro. There is even potential to use it to avoid accidentally bowling over cups of liquid around your precious computer/laptop/tech while RIFTing inside a virtual experience! Sixense originally developed the Hydra and chose to distribute through Razer and while the magnetic cores inside the Hydra were hand-wound, the ones inside the STEM system promise to be much improved over the originals (along with countless other improvements). 

Fortunately, the success of the Oculus RIFT thus far (even though it is probably atleast a year away from commercial release) tends to have a flow-on effect, as it has done here. Without the RIFT, Razer would probably still have Hydra's in stock, STEM would probably still be just a concept design until Sixense could either launch it via Razer (or another company), and Tactical Haptics Reactive grip may not have made it from the Haptics and Embedded Mechatronics Laboratory to VR enthusiasts and Kickstarters. Also - a host of software devs have already launched RIFT-based games and demos or added RIFT support as a stretch goal (such as Cyan's ambitious ($1.1m) Obduction).

In closing, an honorable mention has to go to Pushy Pixels "Proton Pulse" - which is one of the better made-for-VR games out there. It used face-look to bounce a ball off a translucent paddle back and forth between walls and blocks, even promising multiplayer in a future build so that you could go PvP against others. It may not sound like much, however, it was incredibly well built and designed and utilised the game mechanic it featured to maximum effect. Early demo's made available prior to the successfull Kickstarter campaign (raising over double the inital goal) are still around on the interwebs. As a backer of this project, I still have my latest beta-build, along with my refund from the creator. While Pushy pixels hates being forced into this position and is staying tight lipped about the real reasons behind the refund, speculation is that it had everything to do with heavy handed legal tactics from a major game studio laying claim to the IP. It is a sad day and age when indie game devs must choose to face a lengthy (and costly) legal process just because a major company has the pockets to effectively buy-out the game without ever spending any actual money. While this isnt a rant on the legal system so much and I do realise legal channels can help stamp out some blatant rip-offs, I can't help but presume it had something to do a team of lawyers, a cease and desist letter and a independant developer too scared to talk about the real reasons behind the projects cancelation because they are afraid of litigation. In memory of the game, I shall post this awesome 90's inspired television advert made for the original tech demo...