The Totem is a premium developer kit with unique features and plenty of onboard horsepower to experience immersive and engaging VR.
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The Totem is a premium developer kit with unique features and plenty of onboard horsepower to experience immersive and engaging VR.
About this project
Game Informer: "The clarity was impressive, rivalling some of the best experiences I’ve had with a Rift or Morpheus."
The Totem is a premium Virtual Reality (VR) headset with features that have never been seen before. It connects to any HDMI source (computer, console, Blu-ray, tablet, etc.) that plays Side-by-Side (SbS) 3D video or games, making it an investment compatible with more than one single platform. What makes the Totem so exciting, aside from its no compromise full HD resolution OLED display and wide field-of-view, is its outstanding user experience, onboard cameras and built-in acceleration. We believe the Totem is the key to opening the door to the metaverse, where the only limit is your imagination.
Full freedom and positional tracking with integrated on-board cameras
Current VR headset models restrict you to moving within their external tracking camera’s field of view (FOV). When moving too far left or right of the camera placed in front of you or looking behind you, there is no way for these cameras to keep tracking your movements. Our Totem’s internal on-board cameras take care of this and give you full freedom to move about in base world so you can do your thing in virtual world.
Say goodbye to keyboard fumbles with easy passthrough to switch from gameplay to real world
No need to remove the headset every time you need to be in the real world. The Totem’s integrated on-board cameras allow the user to switch seamlessly without having to take off the headset at the touch of a button.
VR enthusiasts: enjoy your favorite VR games & content with Totem
You don’t need to be a programmer to enjoy Totem. Not only is Totem backwards compatible with your favorite DK1 Rift-enabled games (and soon DK2 Rift) but also with some great virtual reality gear: PrioVR, the Virtualizer from Cyberith, Control VR, Perception Neuron, as well as Omni by Virtuix. Using the headset for navigation and control, these devices allow you to experience all VR gaming has to offer.
Video processing with lots of horsepower
Totem features low latency with built-in processing & acceleration
In VR, performance is important so every millisecond counts. Totem’s low latency means no lag between movements and the display. With our real-time secret sauce hardware acceleration, we compensate distortion, right inside the head-mounted display, to give you a faster, more natural virtual reality experience.
Wider selection of compatible devices
Having onboard distortion correction and emulating controls makes it easy to connect any device, such as tablets, laptops, mobile phones and game consoles.
Let the Totem do the work, not your computer
Console compatibility with emulated controls reduces your reliance on accessories. Totem’s built-in sensors automatically translate movements you would traditionally make with hand-held controls such as USB mouse, PlayStation or Xbox controller.
Realistic audio with binaural surround sound
Audio contributes to the feeling immersion in a phenomenal way and we’ve paid special attention to it. Distinguish where sounds are coming from with surround sound in stereo. We convert surround sound to stereo while keeping spatial awareness ("binaural HRTF", for you sound geeks) and output it to 3.5 mm jacks for use with your own headphones. While you explore VR with Totem, you can also distinguish where the sounds are coming from.
We believe total audio immersion is an integral part of a great VR experience so we’ve partnered with Sonomax to offer a pledge that includes specially designed eers custom fit stereo lightweight earbuds. eers are one of the top performing professional quality earbuds on the market and are of great value. They offer excellent frequency response and no distortion on deep bass sounds. The “do-it-yourself” eersTM will fit in each ear canal securely because after a short, safe process, they’re molded to fit you. The custom fitted shape creates an acoustic seal for better sound performance.
eers product review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407094,00.asp
Specially designed lenses
We built the Totem with your comfort in mind: specially designed lenses with individual lens focusing
We designed our own optics. The Totem has individual focus per eye for long and short-sided vision so you don’t need to worry about your glasses squashed against your face and the VR headset. Nevertheless, we’ve designed the foam in such a way that most people can wear their glasses comfortably inside the headset if they wish to do so.
Our oversized lenses make for clear bright legible text
Our lenses are oversized for clearer, crisp beautiful 1080p everywhere. This is especially important for heads-up displays (HUD) in games. Furthermore, because we’re using an RGB stripe panel instead of a pentile panel, users see less screen door effect.
Totem adapts to the future of VR
When we designed the Totem, we wanted to create a headset that would be able to evolve with the current fast changing VR space. Our two main processing components, the USB microcontroller and the Audio/Video processor (FPGA), are both field-upgradable with firmware updates. So as we develop new features or improve old ones, you will have access to them right away. We believe in future-proofing our products and we hate obsolescence. This is why we also added an expansion port so that third parties can create new features with accessories.
Augmented reality potential
With Totem’s passthrough capabilities, positional tracking and surround sound, we are now at a point where Augmented Reality is possible. Blending base and virtual worlds opens the door to endless possibilities.
We profoundly believe VR isn’t just about games
VR has a myriad of uses over and above amazing video game experiences. Here are just a few examples:
- Educational purposes such as 3 dimensional problem solving or using educational-based gaming
- Training such as practicing surgical techniques, or aviation navigational landings
- Simulations for tactical manoeuvres for military, police, firefighters or other critical response teams
- Managing post traumatic stress or other psychological disorders by recreating and repeating situations in a controlled way
- Improving patient recovery time or lower stress by using calming VR environments and sounds.
- Creating virtual tours for travel destinations
- Visiting architectural spaces or development sites not yet built in fully immersive walkthroughs
- Experiencing television entertainment in first person POV with 3D content such as sporting events and concerts
- Virtually attending conferences, boardroom meetings or social gathering events with friends and family in your favorite space.
Stretch Goals
What does the developer kit include?
The developer kit includes: the Totem head mounted display unit, a connection box, cabling, a soft cleaning cloth and a carrying case. Our software developer kit online support will include documentation, code, engine plug-ins, demos & tutorials.
Low coding requirements for developers
Many developers are now adding HMD support but one of the problems in the industry is the lack of a universal standard. Until this becomes available, we will be including plug-ins for all the major engines that will be simple and quick to use. These game engines are the same ones used to create any other virtual world you can dream of.
Together let’s make it happen
Totem’s early release to developers means user feedback at the right time to make our consumer version with the best possible features and specifications.
We’ve come quite far but we still need your help to make it to the finish line. We’ve completed most of our product development but with your support on Kickstarter, we can complete our R&D on the positional tracking and pay for materials and tooling needed for manufacturing.
Technical specifications
Screen - 1080p low persistence
RGB stripe OLED, up to 75 Hz
Field of View (FOV) - 90 degrees
Cameras - Onboard cameras for
positional tracking. M12 camera lenses with 130 degrees horizontal FOV.
Connectivity: HDMI input, USB output (tracker)
Sensors: 2x cameras 120hz 1080p, 3 axis 1kHz gyroscope, 3 axis 4kHz accelerometer, 3 axis magnetometer
Audio: 2x 3.5 mm jacks, Binaural Surround sound
Emulated controls: USB mouse, PlayStation controller, Xbox controller
Non-game controls: Up, Down, Select/Base
World View
Supported engines: Unreal, Unity, Havok Vision, CryEngine
Platforms: PC (Windows, Mac,
Linux), Playstation 3 & 4, Xbox One & 360
Supported media: All 3D formats, SBS
preferred
Size: 6.6" x 4.4"
x 5.4"
Weight: 400 g (estimated)
Hardware acceleration: hardware accelerated
motion tracking, hardware accelerated pre-lens distortion
About the team and a bit of history
Back in 2005, Bertrand Nepveu launched the company True Player Gear and started on a personal quest to improve his video gaming experience with his very own specially designed virtual reality headset. Jean-François Sicard, Yan Côté, and Marc-Olivier joined a few years later. Together, they developed four iterations of prototypes. All engineers, they possess a combined 60 years of experience in hardware design and development, firmware, manufacturing, software development and project management. In 2014, the company was renamed Vrvana to better reflect our long-term vision for VR in gaming but also in other fields such as simulations, continuing education, medicine, engineering, architecture, etc.
Throughout the years, we have developed relationships with outstanding suppliers for optics design, industrial design, R&D, manufacturing, etc.
We are lucky to have Rahul Sood, founder and CEO of VodooPC, along with our experienced advisory board, who bring tremendous business acumen in making a premium product a reality.
We could not have accomplished everything up till now and needed to deliver without the help of our outstanding team!
Early Prototypes and demos
We've included some of the video footage of head-tracking as well as an "inside look" at our Totem prototype.
Totem head tracking demo of Bert playing Technolust
Demo from a MTLVR meet up showing video quality of Totem while playing Wingsuitflyer.
Here are some of the prototypes and motherboards of our early attempts in VR.
Special thanks and shout outs to:
- Cherrie Abraham, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal
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Nate Beaty and his team at IrisVR
- Jean-Nicolas Laperle at Sonomax
- Patrick O'Luanaigh and his development team at nDreams
- Blair Renaud at Technolust
- Rahul Sood, at Microsoft Ventures
Production highlights
- Finalize hardware mechanical design including CE/FCC certification
- Design production tooling, hardware testing for mass production
- Design SDK Alpha Design for developers
- Product packaging design and sourcing
- Assembling of 1st batch – testing, troubleshooting & optimization
- Mass Production
- Shipping first units, SDK Release 1.0
Risks and challenges
We’ve been working on our prototyping and patented technology for the last 9 years. We have a great team and high level of experience but many things can potentially impact the success of the launch of the Totem headset.
PRODUCT ADJUSTMENTS
The headset is an innovative and complex product and as such, there are a number of aspects that must work perfectly in tandem: ergonomics, software, hardware, sensors, as well as electrical design. Before coming to Kickstarter, we completed a significant amount of the research, development and performance testing but there is still a portion to complete. We may discover that there are some minor adjustments to make to Totem, which could cause delays.
MANUFACTURING
Delivery dates may vary due to unforeseen manufacturing issues. One of the biggest challenges in the initial stages is that production is also a “work in progress”. We’ll be working with a tried and tested manufacturer that will ensure we have all the needed expertise in one location. Our engineering team will iron out all the production details and plan for full scale manufacturing when we finish our golden sample.
Other delays might occur due to the varying lead times for all of our components. To avoid the possibility of delays or production setbacks, whenever possible, we’ve lined up at least one back up supplier for most components.
We are super excited to get the Totem in your hands and help build a bright new virtual world. There will always be risks involved with creating new and innovative products, but by implementing processes in place, testing multiple prototypes and good quality control, we dramatically reduced this risk. Thank you for your support.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterFAQ
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Yes you can. Just make your pledge a multiple of the amount of units you want.
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We've had an overwhelming request to open up our shipping destinations. We’ve included here a short list of shipping cost estimates for various countries (excluding import duties and VAT).
North America:
Canada: $23 - 29
USA: $20 - 28
Mexico: $80
Europe:
Belgium - $38
England - $21
France, Denmark, Germany - $45
Greece - $62
Ireland - $41
Italy - $57
Netherlands - $39
Norway - $71
Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden - $55
Switzerland - $69Asia
China - $83
Japan - $91
Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand - $105
S. Korea - $77Australia & New Zealand: $100
South Africa: - $105
Middle East:
Turkey: $76
Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE- $105 -
The Totem developer version will cost $549 USD.
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The developer kit isn't for general use, but for developers who are developing Virtual Reality experiences and content. The DK is also an opportunity to get involved early and influence the development of the product. The consumer version will be built based on user feedback we receive. At this point we are still in too early a stage to know what the consumer version look like.
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Yes you can connect RCA cameras to the Totem. Since we do optical correction in the headset, you could plug an HDMI camera directly in the Totem.
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There will not be a wireless version of the Totem DK. Wireless is on the roadmap, but there are many other problems we want to tackle first.
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The main difference between the Totem and other products that work with mobile phones is that the Totem only uses your phone as a video source. The Totem has its own screen and sensors for tracking.
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The Totem DK will include a headset, a connection box, cables, a soft cloth for cleaning lenses and a beautiful carrying case to show the kit off to everyone you know!
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There are no games currently shipping with the Totem developer Kit. Should we add any games with the release we will be sure to post a Kickstarter update.
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Please get in touch with us at info@vrvana.com.
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The Totem DK will work with games that support 3D SbS. It also features backward compatibility by emulating a mouse for tracking. However, for the best experience, we recommend using games that have been developed with VR in mind.
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We will be using Visual SLAM video processing technology as seen in the 13th Lab video (https://www.youtube.com/watch…). In fact we are in discussion with them for a future collaboration. You can also take a look at this article for more technical information: http://bit.ly/1s5qn8x
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Each lens can be adjusted individually for myopia and hyperopia (from -7 to +3 diopters). The lens (Interpupillary distance) IPD is 46 - 74 mm.
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You certainly can! The are 3rd party programs that allow you to do so.
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The HDMI cable is 2 meters long.
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For media and PR-related questions please contact us at media@vrvana.com
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The cables will be in a housing and the housing will attach to the strap on top of the head.
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Not at this point. In order to keep headset weight down we suggest using a headset with an incorporated speaker.
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Since we are emulating the DK1, we have the exact same precision as they have.
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Yes we have roll functionality, same way it works on the Rift.
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Yes it is, we just do a rotation within the FPGA.
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The cameras are connected directly to the FPGA were we process them using a SLAM algorithm. We also use the IMU to keep the latency as low as possible. The cameras are mostly for drift compensation.
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Yes, we can support 2D video but the image will be cropped in half because the eye sees a resolution of 960x1080 to combine for 1920x1080. For best results you should consider viewing content specially designed for VR such as 3D SbS.
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We developed our own algorithm. We take the audio sent over HDMI and process it with a binaural algorithm so we can maintain the surround sound effect. You can use any headphones or earbuds (such as the eers ear buds that are specially designed for Totem).
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They are a customized version of eers that consists of two separate earpieces with a connector each. They will be connected directly on each side of the helmet. Eliminating the need for long cables you will have more freedom of movement to enjoy your VR experience. We will also include an adapter so you can use your earbuds with other audio equipment.
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We want to be seen as a standard 3D SbS HDTV and a standard gamepad. If you have content that support 3D SbS, you will be able to plug the Totem and watch that content. However, this does not mean that you can have a great VR experience with current SbS games because they were not designed for VR. In some use cases watching videos on your console will still give you a great experience. Totem opens the door for Indie developers to create new VR content.
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Totem uses a Full-Speed USB2 device. For clarity: Full Speed in USB terminology means 12Mbps link rate.
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Yes we will providing API for Computer Vision.
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Part of latency depends of screen refresh rate of your computer but it will be one frame slower than the native 1080x1920 since there needs to be a rotation in memory.
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Chromatic aberration worsens the wider the FOV gets but will be fine at 105 degrees. We correct the aberrations in the FPGA.
Rewards
Funding period
- (29 days)