From: scivw@hitl.washington.edu Subject: DIGEST: Virtual Interface Marketplace [04.22] Date: July 15, 1996 Organization: Human Interface Technology Laboratory, U of Washington, Seattle Virtual Interface Marketplace Digest volume 04, number 22 Archive-name: Digests/MarketPlace-4.22 Posting-frequency: weekly Contents: FOR-SALE: (Finally!) Forte VFX1 Group Purchase! See the Sci.Virtual-Worlds FAQ, posted monthly and available by anonymous ftp (ftp.hitl.washington.edu:/pub/scivw/readfirst-faq) and in html URL: http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/knowledge_base/virtual-worlds/readfirst-faq.html, for more details on the organization of this newsgroup. There is also a home page for the ftp site: URL: ftp://ftp.u.washington.edu/pub/scivw/WWW/scivw.html This Digest is archived at the sci.virtual-worlds archive site, URL: ftp://ftp.hitl.washington.edu/pub/scivw/Digests/ Toni Emerson Moderator, sci.virtual-worlds http://www.hitl.washington.edu/people/diderot -------------------------------START OF DIGEST------------------------------- From: jgoggan@sojourn.com (John Goggan) Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds Subject: FOR-SALE: (Finally!) Forte VFX1 Group Purchase! Date: 13 Jul 1996 03:05:45 GMT Organization: Sojourn Systems, Lansing, MI (USA) Message-ID: <4s73q9$s20@tkhut.sojourn.com> Forte VFX1 HMD Group Purchase Information-Sheet! Last updated: 07/12/1996 What's Up? ---------- Well -- it is finally time for the next Group Purchase. Actually, we're doing two of them in parallel this time -- one for Forte's VFX1 HMD and one for General Reality's 5th Glove dataglove. (Of course, you can get one or the other or both -- whatever you prefer.) This info-sheet discusses the Forte VFX1 Group Purchase -- see the other info-sheet for information on the 5th Glove Group Purchase. This is for the full retail PC version of the product -- including head tracking and bundled software (see below for details). [Please note: as of right now (07/12/96 at 12:25am EST), I have not had time to fully organize the 5th Glove details. I hope to have an info-sheet within a day or two. Just to get an idea, the 5th Glove retails for $495 and our Group Purchase price will be around $425 including shipping. Again, more details as soon as I have time to do it, but I have been very busy at work lately, and I'm trying to get these Group Purchases taken care of in my (very limited) spare time. Thanks!] [Now back to the VFX1!...] Cost & Details -------------- Forte Suggested Retail Price: $995 (plus shipping, of course) Forte Suggested Street Price: $895 (plus shipping, of course) Group purchase price: $760! each (shipping to your door included!) (Basically, we're getting them over 23% off the retail price and over 15% off the suggested street price, which is a pretty good deal. Plus getting the shipping included in our price! The cheapest I have seen the VFX1 for sale anywhere else is for $849 at The VR Store.) Number of people needed: 12 Number that we have as of this post (07/12/96): 1 (we just started today :) (International shipping can be arranged -- just mail me your shipping address and I'll find out the extra shipping costs.) Head Tracking ------------- Degrees of freedom: yaw (azimuth), pitch (elevation), roll (tilt) Angular range: +/- 70 degrees (pitch & roll); 0-360 degrees (yaw) (CyberMaxx is only +/- 45 degrees for pitch & roll; i-glasses! unit is +/- 60 degrees for pitch & roll; note that the CyberMaxx has been discontinued by VictorMaxx) Refresh rate: 60 Hz Sample rate: 1000 samples per second Interface --------- Uses your PC's existing VGA card and sound card -- along with Forte's own VIP (VFX1 Interface Protocol) ISA Card. You plug their card (which is included, of course) into one of your PC's ISA slots. Then you connect it to your existing video card's feature connector using the included cable. You can also connect your soundcard to the unit for stereo sound through the VFX1's headphone speakers. No serial-port connection is required since all of the tracking information is through the VIP card. Displays -------- - High resolution dual 0.7" active-matrix color LCDs - 180k (181,470) pixels per each LCD panel - 789(RGB) x 230 resolution - 263 x 230 True Pixels - 256 colors - image appears as 120" screen(diagonal) at 11 feet The VFX1 has a flip-up front ("SmartVisor") which allows you to leave the unit on your head, but still be able to see the real world for a while. :) Makes for very nice development/testing with the unit -- since you can work with it flipped up and then quickly drop it back down for testing and so on. Optics ------ Field of view (45 degrees): - 26.4 degress vertical - 35.5 degrees horizontal - 45.0 degrees diagonal IPD and focus for each eye fully adjustable High quality color corrected optics Sound ----- Excellent 3-D audio spatialization High fidelity, dynamic range stereo speakers Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz 3D sound capable Weight and Fit -------------- Ergonomic design Adjustable No uncomfortable "head-vise" type adjustment! :) Weight of helmet distributed over entire head and optics are suspended in front of the face -- to prevent all the weght from resting on the bridge of the nose (which really isn't nice -- trust me!) Integrated Microphone --------------------- A Comset microphone is built into the SmartVisor of the VFX1. This allows for handsfree communication/input. Cyberpuck Controller -------------------- [Most of this text taken from Forte directly...] The system includes the Cyberpuck VR user device. It works on two axes, measuring both roll (forward and back) and pitch (left and right) to allow you to move freely through your virtual environment. It also has three programmable buttons and is designed to fit comfortably in either hand. It connects to the VFX1 system via either the ACCESS.bus port at the read of the VFX1 or on the VIP interface card. VIP Card -------- This is the VFX1 Interface Protocol (VIP) card. It is a 16-bit ISA-bus card that plugs into your PC. It uses the ACCESS.bus PC Connectivity standard to allow connection of up to 125 peripherals at a time. Warranty -------- The VFX1 package includes a one-year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. System Requirements ------------------- IBM PC or compatible 386, 486, or Pentium Available 16-bit ISA slot for VIP card Stereo sound card (optional) Standard VGA card with feature connector No external power source is needed! The only connection from the helmet is to the VIP card itself. Bundled Software! ----------------- Shareware versions of: Heretic Zephyr Descent Dark Forces Magic Carpet Quarantine 3D-Ware Virtual World Includes VR MOUSE, a driver that simulates mouse and keystroke actions for applications that don't support the VFX1 directly. Translates headset movements, CyberPuck motions, and button actions into simulated mouse and keybaord commands. Other Information ----------------- Here are some WWW sites that I located while collecting information on the VFX1. Some contain reviews, specs, and prices (again, I found nothing near what our Group Purchase price is!). Check them out for more details if you like: - http://www.fortevr.com - http://www.goodnet.com/~ecloud/vfx1hmd.html - http://www.gamespot.com/3dvr/fovfhead/ - http://www.powerup.com.au/~girvin/vfx1-1.htm The Deal Itself --------------- Please note that this is a group purchase so that we can all get a good price on some nice VR equipment. I AM NOT MAKING ANY MONEY FROM THIS DEAL! I am simply trying to get myself an excellent price on the units by getting all of us an excellent price! If you need any further details, please feel free to write me (jgoggan@sojourn.com)! How soon? --------- We need about 12 people to make this work. As soon as we near 12, people will mail in payments, and I will place the order. If I can come up with some cash, I will place the order as soon as we get close to the 12 so that we don't need to wait for all the payments to reach me from each of the 12 people. The units should be available immediately upon placing the order, so they should ship almost as soon as my payment reaches them! This way, I should have the units right away so that as soon as your payment reaches me, I can ship the VFX1 unit out to you! This will all hopefully occur within 1-3 weeks (depending on how the interest goes), so we could all have our units by the end of July or very early August if things go as planned. What To Do Now? --------------- Write me and let me know that you want to have a Forte VFX1 HMD at your door within a couple weeks for a total price of $760! I will add you to a list of definate buyers and keep you updated as to what exactly is going on (how many people so far, any new news on the deal, etc.). When we near 12, I'll tell you to mail in your payment and order the units. When your payment and the VFX1 units both reach me, I'll mail your unit to you immediately via UPS or USPS (whichever you prefer)! If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask! - John Goggan jgoggan@sojourn.com (517) 772-6022 (my home number -- please keep it before midnight EST :) ************************************************************ End of MarketBooth Digest ************************************************************