Action Items from the OSVR Software Developer Survey

A couple of weeks ago, we surveyed the OSVR community for what they would like the core software development team to focus on. You can see the questions and answers here

Based on this input, the Sensics development team met and decided to focus on the following items:

1. Smoother end-user experience
This includes:

• 1-click installer for both end-user and developer
• Lightweight software that will detect when a new hardware is connected and help with the process of obtaining and installing the relevant drivers. 
• A graphical configurator to help the end-user select the HMD, input and output devices as well as configure key parameters for each

2. Continue to add device support. An immediate focus is to add support for the HTC Vive so that an end-user can obtain software that was written on the OSVR framework that - using a simple configurator - decide what to run it on. For instance 1) HTC Vive; 2) Oculus + hand controller; 3) OSVR HDK and more.

3. Make it easier for the OSVR community to contribute to the platform by listing key development priorities as well as high-level directions on how to perform certain development tasks.

Keep an eye on the progress of the OSVR software platform in the coming weeks.

Thank you for your feedback!

What we learned from focusing on 'Heavily Used HMDs'

Last month, my company set out to dive deeper into 'heavily used HMDs', wanting to explore where are the failure modes of HMDs and what to do about them. Here is what we did:

1. We launched a survey, asking thousands of users to tell us what they thoughts about HMD reliability, about the factors contributing to occasional breakdowns of HMD and what to do about them. The response was excellent and we were able to get nearly 200 questionnaires filled. The resultant report is now published and can be freely downloaded here and a sample graph is below

"Which parts of the HMDs are failing?" from the Sensics 2013 report on HMD reliability

2. Understanding how important HMDs are to the work our customers performed, we decided to offer them extra peace of mind by extending our warranty to three years (with some limitations). Read the announcement here.

3. For those customers that operate in harsh training conditions, we launched a Mil-Spec HMD that is designed to withstand rugged conditions including shock, vibration, pouring rain, extended temperatures and more.

4. To demonstrate that this HMD was as good as advertised, we had some fun taking it into the shower and riding wildly with it. See the videos below

"The Shower"

"The Ride"

What should we do next?

Good diversity of respondents in "Why HMDs sometimes break" survey

Our recent survey on "Why HMDs sometimes break" is now closed and we are busy analyzing the results.

Nearly 200 people participated in this survey and the diversity of participants as well as their familiarity with HMD use appears to be excellent. Here are key statistics for the response profile:

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Have you used HMDs or have frequently seen HMDs being used?

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Thinking of the HMDs you have used or have seen frequently used, in what kind of application are they being used? Please identify all that apply.

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In your estimate, how often are these HMDs being used?

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How many different people use the HMDs you are familiar with?

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Stay tuned for the full report!