Skip to main content

Acer puts its bets on open-source VR, touts support for Razer’s OSVR in latest gaming PCs

OSVR
OSVR
On Thursday morning, Acer held its 2016 Global Press Conference in New York City, revealing a number of new products that should get your mouth watering. One of the announcements made during the event is that Acer plans to use technology in devices and computers that support Razer and Sensics’ Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) platform. The latter solutions will actually be packed with Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 980 and Titan graphics processors, making them compatible with today’s VR products on the market.

“OSVR presents a great complement to our plans for bringing Acer into the virtual reality industry,” says James Lin, general manager of consumer notebooks for Acer. “The open-source ecosystem allows VR enthusiasts and gamers to use our products for VR-related experiences without worrying about compatibility with other technologies.”

OSVR is essentially a platform based on the open-source Apache 2.0 license that allows all VR-based headsets and controllers from all manufacturers to work with any OSVR-enabled game. According to the website, it’s a “movement” to unify VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented or “mixed” reality) technologies.  The platform aims to reduce fragmentation so that developers don’t have to worry about hardware and content support when creating applications.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

A headset based on OSVR hit the scene during CES 2015 thanks to Razer and Sensics. The device was served up to developers as a $300 “hacker development kit” six months later followed by public pre-orders in October and a full commercial release of the kit in November 2015. The kit includes a 5.5-inch OLED Full HD module, a dual lens optics module, a mainboard module with a sensor hub, a faceplate module, an HMD mechanical module, and a belt box module.

Despite the hacker kit made available by Razer, device builders can create their own OSVR-based solutions from scratch by downloading a set of 3D-Files. Builders can also toss in additional components to upgrade Razer’s current hacker kit such as extra positional trackers and cameras. Users can even switch out the faceplate, displays, and optics system to get the best VR experience possible and keep up with industry standards.

According to the OSVR collective, modifications to the hacker kit, “derivative work,” and schematics are automatically licensed back to Razer. In turn, the company can freely re-license the technology to the community under the kit’s Module Development Kit (MDK) license. This license is actually modeled after Google’s own Project Ara Module Development kit.

The OSVR collective said on Thursday that Acer is the latest to jump on board the open-source initiative, joining more than 350 partners. Listed “industry leaders” include Nod, Leap Motion, Razer, Intel, Gearbox Software, Sensics, and more. The client list extends from educators to VR headset/peripheral manufacturers to content producers.

“With 40 years of knowledge and experience in computing and communication, Acer recently affirmed plans to expand its interests into the VR industry,’ the OSVR collective says. “Technology research focused on VR experiences is underway at the company, and it plans to work toward VR devices that are compatible within the OSVR ecosystem.”

News of Acer’s involvement follows a recent announcement that Unreal Engine 4.12 from Epic Games will feature native OSVR support. That means game developers using this engine will have full support for the many VR headsets and controllers that are available now and have yet to come. The news also means that a huge number of upcoming games won’t be locked to a specific VR headset, which should be good news for consumers indecisive about which headset to purchase.

Kevin Parrish
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then…
Power up your tech game this summer with Dell’s top deals: Upgrade for a bargain
Dell Techfest and best tech on sale featured.

One of the best times to upgrade your tech stack, be it your desktop, a new laptop, or some high-resolution monitors, is when great deals are to be had. Well, I'm here to share that thanks to Dell's top deals, you can power up your tech game and have most of the summer to make it happen. Maybe you're happy with your current system or setup. That's excellent, but you're likely considering upgrading somewhere, and that's precisely what these deals are all about. Dell has a smorgasbord of deals on laptops, desktops, gaming desktops, monitors, accessories, and so much more. We'll call out a few of our favorite deals below, but for now, know that you should be shopping this sale if you're interested in anything tech-related.

 
What summer tech should you buy in Dell's top deals?

Read more
I love the MacBook Pro, but this Windows laptop came surprisingly close
Apple MacBook Pro 16 downward view showing keyboard and speaker.

There are some great machines in the 15-inch laptop category, which has recently been stretched to include the more common 16-inch laptop. The best among them is the Apple MacBook Pro 16, which offers fast performance for tasks like video editing and the longest battery life.

The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 is aimed not only at other 16-inch Windows laptops but also at the MacBook Pro 16. It offers many of the same benefits but at a lower price. Can it take a place at the top?
Specs and configurations

Read more
How to set an ‘Out of Office’ message in Microsoft Teams
Person using Windows 11 laptop on their lap by the window.

Many people use Microsoft Teams regularly to communicate with colleagues both inside of the office and remotely. It is considered one of the most efficient ways to ensure you can stay in contact with the people on your team, but what if you need to let people know you’re not readily available? Microsoft Teams has a method for you to set up an "Out of Office" status for your profile to let staff members know when you’ll be gone for the afternoon, for several days on vacation, or for an extended period.
Where do I go to set up my ‘Out of Office’ status for Teams?
It is important to note that your Microsoft Teams and Outlook calendars are synced. This includes your out-of-office status and automatic replies. So, whatever you set up in Microsoft Teams will reflect in Outlook. Similarly, you can set up your out-of-office status in Outlook, and it will be reflected in Teams; however, the former has a more straightforward instruction.

First, you can click on your profile icon in Teams and go directly to Schedule an out of office, as a shortcut. This will take you to the settings area where you can proceed. You can also click the three-dot icon next to your profile icon, then go to Settings > General, then scroll down to the bottom of the page. There, you'll find out-of-office settings and click Schedule.

Read more