| Author | Message | ||
     Anonymous Rating: N/A |
I know that this is going to stir some "emotions" but I'll write it anyway. You know what I would like to see is the VFX1 recreated with the same tracking, shell, audio, optics, mic, with a little better LCD resolution, no special interface card for about $200 with an upgrade for a better display available. Maybe a lighter plastic could be used for the shell. Is this possible IIS? Ebay sales and the interest in the VFX1 on this board are some evidence that a VFX1 that "worked" on today's machines would be marketable. Okay, fire away with your opinions. | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
I agree totally! | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
yes maybe also a linkbox type thing for all the peolpe who currantly have vfx1 headgear | ||
| Johan Rating: N/A |
In fact, i have asked IISVR several times in a few years, for help in the linkbox matter, and always got the answer: No, it cant be done, and no one knows anything about it anymore. Seeing how DMendez finally made it happend (another tread), with standard elecrical components and some time, makes me wonder why IISVR didnt do it themselves? The linkbox is just a csync converter and a videosplitter and ofcourse IIS knows this too, and have all the time. I think this is starting to get very funny. /J | ||
| Erick Rating: N/A |
IISVR is known for no having the answers or the quality equipment needed for a true vr experience. | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
The VFX1 was ahead of its time, and now everyone is going to try and make something that looks and feels like eye glasses and they're going to be ratcheted to your head or use noses for a painful brace. The reason IIS never released a link box is because it would interfere with sells of the VFX3D, not because they did not have the tech know-how. In regards to "IISVR is known for not having..." hmmm...That's a bit strong. IISVR/Forte did almost everything right in a tough market. But they did two big things wrong: 1. Creating an HMD (VFX1) that could not, as it turned out, be used with hardware accelerated cards/ feature connector connection requirement. 2. Never releasing a "fix" (linkbox) for VFX1 owners. | ||
| M.H. Rating: N/A |
VFX1 is an dead device. VFX3D have better, tracking, resolution and it cooperate with HW accelerated graphic cards even in stereo. I hope that IISVR will releas a new model of HMD based on latest technology, instead of working on some obsolate device improvement. | ||
| Johan Rating: N/A |
I agree fully with you, M. H. But thats not the issue we are talking bout here in this tread, really. Its the fact that the linkbox is so incredible easy to do, manufacter and sell. And must have been for a very long time. And long before vfx3d came out. | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
MH I think the point is that the VFX1 is not dead. The evidence is again: the interest on this board and ebay sales. If you want to dispute that then okay, but facts are facts. But for the sake of argument, let's just say we agree..."it's dead." At the very least, it should serve as some indication that a $300 HMD will be okay, but over $1000 will not be for consumers. I will not criticize the VFX3D...because that starts whole can of worms. I will say that it is the best HMD for the price, IISVR is a good company, and the VFX3D is not priced for consumers. The VFX1 suggestion is a suggestion for a "low-level device" with immersive optics and a mic. One suggestion, is that instead of throwing out the baby with the bathwater and attaching a intertrax tracker to an eyetrek-- stick with the VFX1 and make it a. affordable and b. work. It doesn't need hyper-accurate tracking, stereo vision and super resolution. It just needs a little better visual quality (with an expensive display upgrade option) and needs to work on the PS2, Xbox, and PC with 3D accelerated cards. My question is can it be done for $300 dollars? If it can. I'll buy one the day it comes out. | ||
| M.H. Rating: N/A |
I am realy afrad that it can not be done for $300. The InerTrack tracking system price is $1000. The relatively cheap and good tracking system used in VFX3D price is $300 itself ... Do you thing tha $600 is acceptable for a light weight HMD with parameter comparable to VFX3D ? I thing that IISVR will not support VFX1 if they want to lunch a new HMD ... According stereovision - I thing that HMD without stereoscopic support have litle sense. Using HMD gives so much stereo-related advantages (no ghosting, the optic used makes hi stereo deep effect available) = the stereoscopy itself could sell the HMD. | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
Hard numbers....$600 is a good bit of "disposable income." The tracking method must be made more affordable I suppose. I'm sure a clever engineer can do this. | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
Hey if you can't afford it find another hobby! I hear pick-up-sticks are cheap  | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
Why is it that everyone wants to turn a good thread into something negative. Instead of adding to the conversation-- something you can't do because you are not creative-- you decide to throw a wrench in it. Okay here we go... A few comments: If you purchased one of the current HMDs for a "personal hobby" you are one of very few people since there is not a single HMD marketed to the consumer market for the past several years. HMDs have not sold well on any level. High end or low end,so don't act as though a legion of wealthy people are purchasing HMDs and Joe Playstation owner is left out because he can't afford it. You probably 1. work for someone who makes HMDs or 2. you yourself are not wealthy as you imply but are associated with an organization that can afford an HMD-- one which your boss had hoped you would use for something great but instead you play quake with it. Yours is the kind of attitude that has slowed the industry. Put that into your over-priced HMD and smoke it. | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
Pick-Up-Sticks would do you just fine, I guess anything would help break the tension in that 30 year old trailer you live in with that beer drinkin huzzy you call a girl friend. | ||
| Rob Rating: N/A |
how bout an optics upgrade for the VFX3D instead of buyin the next unit to come out? | ||
| M.H. Rating: N/A |
Rob: What do you mean under optic upgrade ? Higer resolution LCD ? I am afrad that it will need an electronic update as well ... I am realy sad from the whole situation in HMD market ... I am developing scientific application fro interpreting molecular structures. Th VFX3D is so closed for what I need, but at least 640x480 res per eye in stereo is absolutly nessesery ... | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
Selling VFX1. PERFECT condition. Has EVERYTHING. Interested? email tydurdan7@aol.com | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
Looks like I scored a direct hit with my guess...buhahahahahahahahah! Hit the button, eh? You either work for a company that makes HMD's or you're a "student". Or I suppose you would have us believe you're a VR enthusiast wealthy jet-set type who hangs out on tech boards to abuse people trying to move an idea forward. Yeah right, dick head. I have a good idea who this is as there has been a person from a certain company who makes similar comments when challenged. What's that 'huzzy in a trailer'? I suppose you would go ahead and marry your girlfriend since childhood, but it's illegal to wed goats. Why don't you just step away from the computer before you write something else that embarrasses you and your organization. Don't worry if you see your computer getting smaller. That happens when you walk further away from things you morooooooooon. | ||
| Doon1 Rating: N/A |
I have $900 invested in a monitor, $400 in a video card, and another $100 in shutter glasses. I don't agree with the way the anonymous individual put forth his view but at the base of it he's correct. I have a cutting edge machine that cost me a pretty penny to put together. Sure it would have been nice to spend a couple of hundred dollars and get what I have but that's not being realistic. It would be nice to get a stereoscopic 800x600(or better) HMD with a wide view, head tracking, and surround sound for $300 but that's not realistic either. I'm just waiting for a HMD that will rival my 19" 1600x1200x32 resolution game play. I hope that it's less $ than what I have in this machine already. If not, oh well. The really fun toys aren't cheap and if you want to play with them you can't be either. John | ||
| Bryan Rating: N/A |
I usually don't post in forums like this because it usually just generates more bashing. I have been the head tech-support for IIS for about 8 months now. I would like to set some stuff straight for you guys and try and give you a better insight into what has happened and what will. 1- The VFX1 link-box. There is a truth in saying that one of the ex-engineers here created the link-box as a hobby project, not as a work project. The box did work and he did sell a couple of them on his own. I am not an engineer so I can not tell you how he did it nor can he seeing that he doesn't work here anymore. I think that it is important to remember that the VFX1 was (like said above) ahead of its time. Every other day or so I get an e-mail asking if we are working on windows 2000 drivers for the VIP card or will the gforce gts work with the vip card? I sometimes wonder if people write intel asking for a way to get there 4meg edo stick to work with there new chipset. As it stands today, most motherboards don't even have ISA slots anymore. In 2-3 years they will be totaly gone. I will say this, and I have done so many of times. If any one person here e-mails me a good question about building the VFX1 link box I will bring it to the attention of our busy engineers. Most of the time I get e-mails for the schematics(they don't exist, at least not in this building). It is impossible because of the business aspect of a company to promise that I will be able to get you a complete answer, or for that matter an answer in one week. We are all extremely busy here and are very focused on current and future projects. I will try my best though. 2- Future HMD. This is a heated debate. I can say that it will happen. I can say that it will be better in many ways then the VFX3D. If you want proof take a look at our wireless product, the Icom. Read the specs on the display. This product has been visible at trade shows around the world now for 5-6 months. The technology is in our hands. The price will be as low as possible. 3- Current product support. We still bring VFX1 HMDs in for repair. We have software engineers building new driver sets for the VFX3D. I know it has been a slow development and standing in your shoes it is frustrating. I see how hard these guys work every day to come up with faster, more stable and supportive drivers. Today’s computer or API's are not made to work with VR gear. There was a time when DirectX had native support for stereo3D(i think version 5). For some reason that was dropped in future versions. It is these problems that seem to keep development so slow. * Note to Nvidia card users. Win 98 and Nvidia stereo drivers work great with the VFX3D. Just turn on the 3d support in the video drivers and off in the VFX3D control panel.(yes the VFX3D supports page-flipping).. I hope this helps clarify some issues. By all means if anyone has any questions feel free to e-mail me. support@iisvr.com Thanks, Bryan | ||
| M.H. Rating: N/A |
Bryan: The stereoscopy is still supported in the DirectX 8 specification. See: D3DBACKBUFFER_TYPE Defines constants that describe the type of back buffer. typedef enum _D3DBACKBUFFER_TYPE { D3DBACKBUFFER_TYPE_MONO = 0, D3DBACKBUFFER_TYPE_LEFT = 1, D3DBACKBUFFER_TYPE_RIGHT = 2, D3DBACKBUFFER_TYPE_FORCE_DWORD = 0x7fffffff } D3DBACKBUFFER_TYPE; Constants D3DBACKBUFFER_TYPE_MONO Specifies a non-stereo swap chain. D3DBACKBUFFER_TYPE_LEFT Specifies the left side of a stereo pair in a swap chain. D3DBACKBUFFER_TYPE_RIGHT Specifies the right side of a stereo pair in a swap chain. D3DBACKBUFFER_TYPE_FORCE_DWORD Forces this enumeration to compile to 32 bits in size. This value is not used. Unfortunately totaly no company suppots this future. | ||
| M.H. Rating: N/A |
I had in mind: "No graphic card company". The future is not implemented in the graphic card drivers (even nVidia) => no standard for stereoscopic support if we do not count OpenGl ... | ||
| Bryan Rating: N/A |
I talked with the software engineers and I did mess up a bit on the explanation. Version 7 had the stereo hooks. Version 8 it was yanked. In dx8 the header is still there but only the _type_mono is a function. The rest are nulls. Maybe they will bring it back. thanks, Bryan | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
I doubt they will bring it back just for your product  | ||
| David C. Qualman Rating: N/A |
MIcrosoft had specifications for stereoscopic support all the way back to DX3, with the LEFTPRIMARYSURFACE support. They added a new interface in DX6, and finally pulled support in DX8 - as Bryan mentions, the documentation states that TYPE_MONO is the only one supported by DX8. I would be very surprised if Microsoft ever supports stereoscopy, until a perfect solution is provided from the outside. That is, a solution that is guaranteed to work perfectly on all video cards. Otherwise, the cost and risk would be just too high for them. | ||
| Anonymous Rating: N/A |
The idea of about $300 (US) for a consumer HMD is not a wish for someone who would otherwise play with pickup sticks, it is a market reality. I suppose it would be a costly test not to get market feedback, and I assure you IIS that when you do, you will find that $300 is the ballpark figure. I also assure you that this forum of enthusiast and or people in the industry is not the place to get a general feel for what people would pay. Ask someone who doesn't know what H-M-D stands for. Quality and performance are not the key factors. If you make a $700 HMD that has the quality of a $2000 HMD, who will care? If it is beyond what average Playstation2 and XBox owners will be willing to pay for a product, it will fail on the consumer market like "Forte's"/IISVR's VFX1 which was a great product, but beyond the reach for your average PC "Doom" player. I think the upgrade issue is important. . Consumers will be happier with a $300 HMD that can be upgraded with better tracking, sound, and visual gear than with a $1000 HMD that they cannot justify purchasing. Also, it's cool to upgrade, for example cars, bikes, motorcycles, stereos, computers...guys understand it. Don't get all bent out of shape if you disagree with this, eh. Or go ahead and get bent out of shape. What do I care. | ||
| loza Rating: N/A |
does anybody know if the vip connector on a geforce2mx work as a feature connector for vfx1. | ||
| the interloper Rating: N/A |
hi guys, i dont know if anyone reads this thread anymore but im the owner of the vfx3d and i NEVER got the thing going fully for literaly years, i was trying everything iis and my supplyer were telling me (which wasnt much) it just happens that im a MCSE semi-guru of compters and microsoft networks/hardware and with the dream of getting it goign again ive literally been experimenting (largely unsuccessfully) for years but guess what?! its now risen from the grave and has been ressurected as a fully modded overclked athlon64 nvidia 680gt, 1gb geil ddram - driven monster that is basically an awesome doom3 experience apart from the pc i use a vfx3d extension cable that i did manage to buy from my supplyer and an extra long usb cord with a gameport to usb adaptor for the cyberpuck as the movement controls, the cable being long enough also with the vfx3d cable to go up to the roof and lower above the player. (scored the game/usb adaptor a while back - opened a few dooors do to speak) as for the right hand i use a logitech mx-1000 cordless mouse with plenty of buttons, a great grip and decent range - this is for the weapons and attack etc. (well done logitech awesome mouse) as for the vfx3d driveres and software - dont get me started - i NEVER got it to work for ages with exhaustive testing to the point where i was considering my return options (not that it was at all made clear to me from my suppliers the warranty information on the unit) i tested it under 98/nt4/2kpro/xp with a range of video drivers and games and a range of systems and configs, i was told it worked under xp out of the box which is the biggst load of bullshit ive ever heard, and i heard it from a few that could never even back it up with screens and evidence when i quizzed them. the first playablity i got ou of it at all was under win98SE directx8.a nvidia cant remember which drivers (couldnt get stereo even though the driver supported it at the time) the vfx3d driver offered NO STEREO SEPARATION from the vfx3d control panel and forget head tracking too, the tracker did however become detected by windows as a game controller from which u can calibirated fairly accurately, then thru a reasonably cool program called jmouse, u basically emulated the mouse using the head tracker game device, and thus 1st person shooters were possible with the HMD! hope! then the obvious flaws became agonizing apparent far too quickly and i became pissed off at the fact that no matter how much or little u played with the sensitivity of the mouse and also the jmouse emulation app (horiz -/+ style slider) the tracking ALWAYS had an amout of jumping around, almost like when u get a hair or piece of dirt temporarily under your optical mouse. also from the instant u enable jmouse, u have to secure the headset otherwise it overrides the mouse and its tiring trying to get to your games shortcuts with the intefernce (also the ingame GUIs, u have to actually go out of the game and disable the hmd and go back in to change options then go out and reenter with the hmd. at this stage i was administering and rolling out 2kpro and server and was being to by iis and my supplyer - nah fuck it MINDFLUX http://www.mindflux.com.au were telling me (and it also stated on the website) that the vfx3d works under xp/2k - NO IT DOES NOT, or not unless someone has a different understanding of what 'running satifactorily' now dont get me wrong, im not saying the vfx3d doesnt work, whwat i am saying is that with the support and the provided documentation/sofware, not to mention the lack of detail of the offered advice of supposed 'experts' HAH it makes me laugh it was not until just a while ago that i stuble across a user in some chatroom who is based in US and was EXTREMELY knowledable about the vfx3d, however very reluctant to offer much help except for a small application THAT FIXED ALL MY PROBLEMS! its called VFX2MOUSE and u dont even need the vfx3d drivers or software, u just need to connect the vfx3d correcttly to the pc and and launch the application! now theres no need for the tracking to be detected as a game controller and thus i can now use it under 2k and xp perfectly and with any game. display drivers : i have to say a big thankyou to NVIDIA not only for making a kickass card like the 6800GT, but for providing me finally with stable stereo separation support for the vfx3d with the 71.89 drivers - ive now got better stereo vision in games than ever. as for the cyberpuck, it also bacame a pain in the arse, not just because of the tweaking and cfg writing etc to get the thing to work acceptibaly in games, but just the simple fact of not having a stand or pod or mount or SOME THING to sit it on while its connected (i mean hullo, i dont know how many games i tried that are simply a hassle to configure controls cos if the cyberpuck is on its side then its registering sideways movement (i know this is easily fixed by some know-how but u see my point?) so now i simply use a another small emulator that basically registers a keystroke from the cyberpuck movement with many options including the essential 'dead zone' settings i also mounted a small microphone inside the visor of the hmd and with roger wilco voice/ip sofware i can basically talk the vr user thru the controls and stuff - pretty cool huh so i think ive ranted on enough about this and noone may even read this topic again, but the reason why im saying this is i guess that im glad ive got the headset up and running even if it has been 5 years of trying it now works great and im even making public appearances and stuff AT LAST! but, i have to say, thanks for nothing to mindflux and if anyone affilliated with IIS ie bryan QUOTE : "I usually don't post in forums like this because it usually just generates more bashing. I HAVE BEEN THE HEAD OF TECH-SUPPORT FOR IIS FOR 8 MONTHS NOW" and u read this, how about doing me a favour and helping me out with some advice, software, tips-tricks, blueprints/data sheets or even a response to my post would be good, coz quite frankly the purchase and research ive done into operating the headset has had a big influence on my spare time - for a long time now. 1 thing i would like to hear someones opinion on and that is upgrading the lenses of the vfx3d for better image resolution that ive discussed with a few people before - is it possible, if so how and where do i get the lenses, and how do i do it!! coz i dont know about u other gys that own the vfx3d, i wanna get some more life out of her yet, if i can get a better display from it, then i need to know how. best regards to all except the dickheads at mindflux - and if anyone wants to discuss anything about what ive said in this post in further detail, including mister 'im head of tech support' wayne from the above post, please email me - the interloper : surrealdeal@hotmail.com | ||
| Rob Rating: N/A |
thanks for the info. i just downloaded vfxtomouse and will try it tonight. also will try the optics upgrade on that site. i know the vfx3d is outdated and there is better stuff available now but why waste somthing I already have. im thinking of getting the z800 3dvisor but will wait till some more reviews are in |
