Day: January 5, 2019

VR Triber: A Brief Introduction

I first encountered VR Triber under the “More Like This” section on the Sansar page on Steam:

VR Triber 3 5 Jan 2018.png

VR Triber is yet another social VR platform with a Rec Room aesthetic, created by a Chinese company called Socotar in Jiaxing, China. The game reminds me of Pararea, which I had just profiled recently on this blog.

Here’s a year-old, 20-minute preview video of the game:

This YouTube video has had a grand total of 29 views in one year! Woo-hoo!

So, still somewhat intrigued by this mysterious social VR platform, I checked out their official website. This is another company which very badly needs a competent translator:

VR Triber 4 5 Jan 2018.png

I mean, some of the Chinese-to-English mistranslations are laugh-out-loud funny!

VR Triber 6 5 Jan 2019.png

If you can’t read the captions in the image above, they say:

Welcome to VR TRIBER virtual reality social platform
You will play with players from all over the world
Looking for happiness (?)

Transfer The Hall (?!)
You can talk with others by VR

Jump Shot
Here is dynamic shooting experience

Kill Game
There have the most real heartbeat (?!??)

Hide And Seek
You need wisdom and courage here

Anyways, I downloaded and installed the client software via Steam, only to find this recurring error message in my VR headset when I tried to play it:

VR Triber 5 Jan 2018.png

It would appear that the software requires a login of some kind. However, there’s no indication (or any instructions) of how to create a user account in the first place! Massive fail. Don’t even bother with this one at all.

If Steam/Valve really thinks this is a game “like” Sansar, maybe they need to look at re-programming their recommendation software. (I assume it just blindly matches based on keywords and categories.)

Yet another product for my social VR/virtual worlds list.

Somnium Space Raises Over US$40,000 in Their Indiegogo Crowdfunding Campaign (and Announces an Official Partnership with Pimax)

Somnium Space has now raised 400% of their original US$10,000 fundraising campaign on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo:

Somnium Space Indiegogo 1 5 Jan 2018.jpg

When I checked this morning, 189 backers have raised US$40,296, which works out to $212 per supporter—impressive! According to their latest update to investors, dated January 4th, 2019:

Hello people of Somnium!

What a ride. The more you – our supporters, buy land, or teleports, or anything we offer we are amazed and grateful! We work really hard to deliver you the BEST VR experience available! Now let’s dive into new things!

First glance at [the] more detailed Map!

Oh yes! You asked for it, you begged for it, you threatened us and our team! Now the time has come to start revealing our new map which is coming in Feb 2019. Have a look and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

One image on their Indiegogo page caught my eye. It would appear that the VR headset maker Pimax is now an official partner of Somnium Space (although I could not find Pimax listed on the Partners section of their official website):

Sominium Space Partners 2 5 Jan 2018

As far as I am aware, this would make Somnium Space the first virtual world to partner up with the Pimax headset, which is supposed to start shipping to consumers in February 2019.

Pimax
The Pimax Virtual Reality Headset

And there’s also a not-so-subtle hint in the company’s latest investor update:

P.S.: We are working hard to deliver one of the coolest perks you can ever imagine. Something exclusive, something, which you will not be able to find anywhere else. We hope we will be able to finalize and announce it soon. One hint: if you are planning to buy a very high resolution VR headset – wait few days 😉 If it works out well – you will not regret it!

Here’s a tip, guys: if you’re gonna talk about something that’s not yet official and “Top Secret”, you better check all the media you post to your own Indiegogo page. Just sayin’ 😉

Somnium Space is planning a major update to their client in early 2019. Here’s a preview:

You can follow Somnium Space as it evolves on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram.