Re:The Problem with Reality
by aaronsnoswell on Wednesday July 06, 2016 @11:20PM
(#12047305)
Have you seen the HoloLens by Microsoft? They've developed a custom silicon chip to off-board all the SLAM processing, and they use that for realtime localisation. Current SLAM techniques are absolutely fast enough for this, VR manufacturers just haven't gotten on board yet.
If it could be done now, JC would definitely be getting it into the next GearVR. The other problem is that even with current best-case everything, something like GearVR doesn't have enough processing power and if it did, it would kill the battery.
The Vive already has a front-facing camera that it uses for Chaperone and a few other things, but it's not involved in tracking at all. In the short-term, expect other HMDs to borrow this idea.