Who needs Oculus? PNI puts sensor fusion to work in "poor man's" virtual reality
January 13, 2015
Here was another pretty awesome showcase - a piece of card-board and a Nexus 5 phone that coalesced into a virtual reality platform. Okay, it's not ex...
Here was another pretty awesome showcase – a piece of card-board and a Nexus 5 phone that coalesced into a virtual reality platform. Okay, it’s not exactly that simple, but Becky Oh of PNI Sensors Corporation explained how a simple phone hack, some sensor fusion algorithms, a Google Cardboard kit, and a couple Google Play apps can save gamers a couple hundred bucks off the Oculus price tag. Sure, the experience may not be quite up to par with Zuck’s recently acquired gaming systems, but give the dev community some time and we’ll see what they come up with.
Continuing the battle for the developer, Oh also showed off a wearable watch dev kit that includes a gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, and pressure sensors from PNI, a full blown SDK, and a 3D printed band that the company hopes will reduce barriers to entry for app developers. She hopes that by providing a path to connectivity and data analytics, members of the sensor community can open the door to the next round of killer apps.
