That is maybe a simpler answer. Could pimax theoretically do it? Sure along with anyone else.
However there are those pesky patents. Nvidia with there cascaded displays and varjo and others with there application versions.
Varjo for example likely didn’t need to license Nvidia Cascaded Displays as there application maybe significantly different using 2 different size and res displays. Where Nvidia’s application used 2 identical displays offset? To improve latency and sharpness by pixel density.
If it’s a design patent in question, you could just change the design slightly - for example by using oval displays instead of circular ones, to avoid infringement.
If it’s a utility patent then there would have to be some fundamental changes in implementation in order for there to be no intellectual property infringement. I wouldn’t expect a big company to dish out money for anything less than a utility patent.
The same goes for wearalirys headset the lense is patented, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be reverse engineered and implemented differently to achieve a similar or the same result.
You would think it is that simple. Priority One was sued by another Palletier company on how a product was turned and a couple of other ideas like using a lift to raise and lower the skid vs raising and lowering layer build surface.
Depending on how the wording and what is patented can make copying a design idea hard.
Sony for example was I believe sued for Rumbling effect in controllers and rekeased Sixaxis controller without rumble. But later re-released Dualshock after coming to an agreement of licensing the tech.
With this it is better to either have good opensourced hardware or pay a licensing fee to avoid losing one’s shirt.
Yeah from Varjo directly. The VR-3 indeed. HMD + 1 year subscription since that seems mandatary. Although I just paid $3195 so that still doesn’t seem to included the subscription. I did get a separate email that the subscription will start soon though, although it mentions a date of 31 may. I guess I’ll get billed by then. The yearly fee of course s*cks, but if this headset is really as good as the specs seem to be, I think it might be worth it.
Yeah, $5000-$6000 really is a business price. The current $3100 price tag is much more prosumer priced already, although with the $795 yearly fee it’s of course still very expensive … I’m sure that without that yearly fee they would reach a lot more prosumers
Changing the organisational structure of something works when you’re trying to reverse engineer a design patent or a trademark.
Trademarks cast a very broad net, they’re not specific to wording but because trademarks deal with imagery “similar enough” is enough for a potential claim. That’s why apple sues any fruit related companies just for having fruit as a logo, because any fruit is “similar enough” in the wide net cast by apples trademark
For example, I can make a design patent on a recipe for food or a burger, but I can’t make a utility patent for the concept of burgers themselves. Changing the organisational structure and ingredients slightly is enough for avoiding liability when it comes to design patents and even trademark intellectual property disputes.
With respect to VR, trademarks on a certain style of headset are not very strong (because many other similar designed headsets exist, so it would not be like a trademark dispute on fruit imagery when it comes to apples trademark), and neither are design patents. It’s the patenting of a certain concept that has the most strength.
In fact you could argue that the whole concept of patenting is a kind of machine to have middle class workers invent ideas that can be bought out by the rich and wealthy to never see the light of day.
It’s sad that anti-trust practices which lead to bill gates being sued (repackaging qDOS as MS-DOS and forcing people to buy MS-DOS in order to install windows) is now a commonly accepted practice (quest 2 Facebook login requirement)
I have the greatest respect for freeware and decentralised technologies like the newer web 3.0 blockchain IPFS implementations of older DNS technologies which have proprietary platforms built into them, for that reason.
Yeah possibly. Although honestly in this case I’m ok with the yearly price tag. I mean either a new headset like the Index V2 gets released this year and I just sell the Varjo, having paid only 1 year subscription. Or in 2 years still nothing better has come along in which case I’m still happy having paid 2 years the subscription.
I think by 2022 we have a whole new realm of competition. It would make sense for Varjo to stop charging the service fee and to reduce prices in order for them to stay competitive.
Index 2, Galea, Quest 3, Half dome, Samsung oddysey 3, Psvr2, vive proton, CREAL are all coming this or next year supposedly.
Companies already do this in some ways. A few companies I have worked for own an ideas an employee has that could be linked to forming it by learning that companies process and techniques. They often have an incentive for low reward on coming up with great ideas that save the company lots of money. Great idea herecis $50 to $100 on your next pay.
Agreed and at one time some pc manufactures had implemented things in the bios to prevent MSDOS from being installed on PCDOS machines.
The greatest way to move forward is together for that reason.
Man I surely hope so! The good thing is that the number of SteamVR users is steadily growing so as long as that is happening the VR future is looking good
I hope there’s some sort of collaboration with companies to create a bit more parity between headsets. I’m going to assume Oculus keeps to themselves, while Valve will work with WMR and HTC(or they all just work with the same screen manufacturer with Valve producing lenses) and a bunch of headsets come out with the same good resolution/good FOV headsets, so we can choose a headset based on other features. Want the best tracking? Pay more for Index 2, otherwise a WMR with camera tracking it is. Having that parity should keep costs down if everything is created in bulk.
Either that or I hope Pimax lets us buy a different lens insert for something like 130 FOV using the full panel, because my 8KX is pretty solid, just the fact that everything isn’t always geometrically correct/distortions. Quest 2 gives me the best 3D effect out of any headset I’ve had. Just need that + big FOV.
I’ve reduced wobbling a lot by changing hinge from left to right and lowering the mount to the back of the head on my 8KX.
You don’t need to buy a Bluetooth adapter if you have an Android smartphone. Just download Lighthouse PM from google play. And I don’t have any problem with room setup, just spent 5 min, also on another PC of my friend, which has Vive Pro+TP cast, it just work when I downloaded PiTool and plugged HMD. Now he wants to buy Pimax 8KX
I just got an email from Varjo that the lead time is 2-3 months! So if you’re getting it next week then it’s definitely better to NOT buy it directly from Varjo …
