Exploring the Future of Wireless VR with tpcast at CES 2017

As I stepped into the HTC Booth at CES 2017, I couldn't help but feel excitement and curiosity about the latest advancements in virtual reality technology. Among the various innovations on display, one accessory caught my attention: tpcast, a wireless adapter for the HTC Vive that promises to revolutionize the way we experience VR. Joining me for this demo was David, co-founder of tpcast, who shared with me the fascinating story behind this innovative product.

"tpcast is a wireless accessory for the Vive that lets you disconnect completely from your headset," explained David. "It has three parts: a transmitter, a receiver, and a battery pack." I asked him to elaborate on how it works, and he began by explaining the transmission process. "We send the original signal very quickly, using our secret technology called tpcast 2.0. This signal is compressed, but not as much as you might expect – in fact, we're able to achieve a bandwidth that's almost 10 times larger than what's possible with 5GHz spectrum."

David also discussed the latency issue that's often associated with wireless connections. "Our target for responsiveness is less than two milliseconds," he said, "and we believe that our system can achieve even lower latency – down to one millisecond." However, he acknowledged that this depends on several factors, including the line of sight between the transmitter and receiver, as well as any potential obstacles or interference.

To mitigate these issues, tpcast has developed a robust signal transmission protocol. "Our patented technology is bi-directional," explained David, "which means that not only do we transmit video and audio signals to the headset, but also feedback control information from the controllers." This allows for precise tracking of the user's movements and inputs.

I asked David about the battery life of the tpcast system, and he revealed that it's designed to provide at least two hours of continuous use. There's also an XL version available, which can last up to five hours. "The battery pack is lightweight and easy to carry," said David. "You can just disconnect and plug it back in if you need to recharge."

I was impressed by the weight and size of the receiver, which sits on top of the headset. "It's actually quite lightweight – only 86 grams," said David. "And because it's designed to be worn on your head, it doesn't affect the overall ergonomics of the Vive system." However, I did notice that the headset unit itself got a little warm during our demo session.

The tpcast system is set to ship in Q2 this year for the US market and in Q1 for the Chinese market. As someone who's always on the lookout for innovative VR solutions, I'm excited to see how this technology will shape the future of gaming and beyond.

My Experience with tpcast: A Hands-On Review

I was eager to put the tpcast system through its paces and see if it lived up to David's promises. As I set up my demo station, I noticed that the receiver and transmitter were surprisingly easy to use – simply pair them with your Vive headset and controllers, and you're good to go.

The demo game we played was a shooter, which required quick reflexes and precise movement. I was impressed by how seamlessly the tpcast system integrated with the Vive hardware. The latency was virtually indistinguishable from the tethered experience, and I found myself moving my head and controllers without even noticing it.

However, there were some minor issues that arose during our demo session. At one point, I noticed that the image froze up on screen when I cupped my hand over the receiver – this turned out to be a rare case of interference, which was easily resolved by moving the transmitter to a higher position.

I also tried waving my hand between the signal and the receiver to test its range. To my surprise, the video signal remained uninterrupted – it wasn't until I deliberately blocked the signal that the tracking stopped working. This reinforced David's claim about the system's robustness in the face of obstacles.

Finally, I was struck by the fact that the tpcast system will work seamlessly with the new Vive Audio Deluxe audio accessory, which features a rigid strap that helps to insulate you from heat. This was a welcome bonus during our demo session, when both the headset unit and the battery pack got slightly warm.

Overall, my experience with tpcast has been overwhelmingly positive. While there's always room for improvement, I'm excited about the potential of this technology to revolutionize the way we experience VR. With its robust signal transmission protocol, low latency, and user-friendly design, tpcast is definitely an innovation worth watching in the months and years ahead.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enforeign from tested I'm here at CES 2017 about to enter the HTC Booth to try out some new Vive accessories virtual reality accessories and the one I'm most excited about may be tpcast which is a wireless adapter for the HTC Vive so you don't have to plug in power HDMI or USB directly into your computer you could have that all wirelessly untethered VR so check out a demo chat with one of the founders of tpcast and give you some Impressions David you're the co-founder of tpcast you guys have an accessory on wireless accessory for the Vive that lets you disconnect completely the headset um now tell me how does it work um it has uh three parts uh there is a transmitter over there you can see it and here on the top of the your head there is a receiver and also you will have a battery package uh you can put it in your pocket yes so those three important components um let's talk about the transmission and receiving first video comes over HDMI to the Vive so you want the image quality at that 90 frame Randy Hertz frame rate plus it needs to be at low latency so is this a compressed signal is this what it what is being processed and what is being sent uh actually we send uh the original signal uh very quickly uh it's called our secret technology it's it is called tpcast 2.0 Yes actually tpcast is a wireless display company for about many years we we have developed a lot of wireless devices before uh like wireless TV module wireless monitor volume module and wireless module for cars it's a certain frequency is it in the five gigahertz Spectrum like can you share any of the how much bandwidth you're sending over uh the bandwidth is much uh larger than five gigahertz bandwidth yes it's uh almost 10 times than five gigahertz now in terms of latency what is your target for the responsiveness since it's a wireless connection um what are you aiming for yeah uh the latency right now is less than two milliseconds yeah our theory is only one millisecond actually and I imagine a lot of that is because you have a direct line of sight you can't have anything blocking the signal and that's why you have the the transmitter smelted so high right yes definitely yeah you're right um so if there happens to be like you you can we have open space here so in a a normal user's house if I put a transmitter there and something like blocks it for a second does a signal lose completely or do you have algorithms to help it repair and and what is the experience like if you have Interruption uh actually our products do robust is very robust so if you just uh wave your hand like this it won't happen anything you just use it and as normal yeah um and then there's signal that needs to also be sent back to the system because of the vibe because there's motion there's motion um there's positional tracking information input information how is that sent back to the PC yeah go question that's uh our patent uh technology uh actually the tpcast is a bi-directional uh wireless video and feedback control transformation protocol uh so the feedback control signal is also included in our teamcast 2.0 protocol for VR controllers how much uh bandwidth is that compared to like a USB signal is that can it max out a USB 3 signal so right now we are supporting uh supporting USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 is uh under developing so in the future product you may but you don't need more than USB 2.0 data for the signal you're sending back from the headset right now it's enough great um and then the battery pack so you when I was using the demo you have the battery pack attaches to a pocket or a belt how much battery life is that supposed to provide the product we are shipping the battery we are shipping with our product uh will be two hours version yes uh and we also have a XL version it can last about five hours also and is that something that's easy to replace and swap out you can just disconnect and plug back in yes definitely and then uh what weight is the whole unit um with with the the receiver and the battery how much weight does that add to the whole headset uh for the receiver uh is 86 grams it is six grams um but since we put it on your head and you barely can sense it right it sits right on top of your head it's like wearing a heavy baseball cap right and then connectivity uh your transmitter which is I assume bundled with the whole thing that's just plug into HDMI and power and USB into your computer uh the transmitter is connected to the PC only for uh HDMI HDMI and uh no USB as well through another dongle ah another dongle great awesome well thank you so much David and when are you shipping uh the tpcast system uh we are going to ship tpcast wireless upgrade kit for a vibe in Q2 this year in US market and we will ship it in China Market in q1 this year fantastic thank you so much it's great to meet you okay wow I don't know if you could tell from that interview but I was pretty skeptical about the capabilities of the tpcast system as I was interviewing David but after running through their demo which is a shooter and also using another Vive accessory with the new Vive tracker uh the experience is at least in my Play Time indistinguishable from the tethered experience now it wasn't a game that required instant reflexes but just moving my head around moving controllers around I couldn't detect any latency and ergonomically the battery yes a little heavy and they didn't have it perfect I had it in my back pocket ideally it would be strapped to maybe a belt or maybe to some pouch somewhere but the actual receiver and transmitter itself that fit on top of the white headset not noticeable very very lightweight and I also tried to interrupt the signal because there's one transmitter that fits high up they had it up high up about maybe 10 feet high up in the room I tried waving my hand between the signal nothing nothing happened nothing interrupted the video signal or the tracking signal it wasn't until I cupped the entire tpcast system on top of my head that the motion tracking and the image would freeze up on screen and I would lose motion tracking and I wouldn't get any new visuals but that was a rare case and I was also told that the transmitter they have in the top Corner bounces the signal around the walls of your room so it's actually bouncing and hitting all sides one thing I did notice actually touching their unit is that it got a little a little hot the battery was warm and the headset unit was hot but because this tpcast will also work with the new Vive audio Deluxe audio accessory which has the rigid strap that may insulate you a little bit from that heat we didn't get to play it for the full two hours I'd love to run a full battery rundown test see what the XL battery performance is like it's going to ship later this year Q2 but it's one of the things that I definitely need for my HTC Vive system we'll have a lot more VR coverage of course more testing in the future but thanks for sticking with us and we'll see you next time bye\n"