#mergevr

Funding Roundup: Merge VR Raises $10M & uSens Raises $20M 

Merge Labs funding came from a whole community of investors in gaming, software, hardware and retail sectors across the nation. Of those, the institutional investors included 645 Ventures, Comer Woodford Ventures, Geekdom Fund, McCabe Ventures, New Ground Ventures and Rothenberg Ventures.

Merge VR announced a distribution deal across hundreds of GameStop stores this spring and already had deals with its U.K. retail competitor called GAME." Our continuous growth and momentum validate our approach to the market and solidify our position as a player in the virtual reality space," the company released in a statement to the San Antonio Business Journal. Read more here.

Head- and hand-tracking startup uSens raises $20M Series A led by Fosun Kinzon with participation from Maison, iResearch, others; produces developer tools for creating virtual and augmented reality apps that provide physical interaction without controllers or gloves.

Usens’ tracking leverages machine learning and computer vision techniques. With the 26DOF mobile hand tracking, this solution replaces the need for peripheral devices such as game controllers or gloves. The integrated experience of natural hand and head tracking, as well as the combination of AR and VR creates a new standard of reality the team refers to as “super reality.” Read more on VentureBeat.

If my YouTube video (unboxing + first impression) is what brought you here, I want to start out by noting that that video in particular was made for entertainment purposes only. Prior to filming, I knew next to nothing about this product, and after research and further playing around I feel as though I have a much more informed opinion of the Merge VR. Now, let’s take a look at this VR headset and really break it down.

The first thing that can be pointed out even by a glance at the Merge VR is that this headset is built for total comfort. I’ve now watched lengthly videos and spent a fair amount of time strapped into the virtual world of the Merge VR, and for the entire period this headset was incredibly comfy. That being said, the foamy casing is also very durable. The adjustable straps also make for a nice ride for any and all head sizes; even Shrek would be able to enjoy this headset.

Moving on to some of the other features is when my opinion may start to become a little biased, as this is the one and only VR headset I have fully tested. To be perfectly honest, the reason for that is that prior to trying out the Merge VR I had little to no interest in VR. However, this little gadget has sparked my interest in such. The Merge VR also features some impressive lens’, which are also adjustable. The adjustment process was a little more tedious than expected, and the adjustments do not hold position quite as much as I would have liked. There were a few apps I had to completely dismiss because I could not get the lens to adjust and hold a perfect position to be in focus. Even so, this was only a small set back.

More-so than the gear itself this main issue I had (which was apparent in the video) is the lack of thoroughly developed apps for VR. A few provide a great experience (Street View and War of Words namely) but I had to sift through a lot of garbage to reach those few great apps. This only bothers me because it’s at no fault of the Merge VR, but still affected my experience.

All in all, the Merge VR is a great headset, and whether or not it’s worth the $100 is up to your interest in VR tech. If you’re on board, and can’t wait to try out current and new VR apps - go for it. If you’re like me, and still hesitant to jump on the hype train, I’d wait it out just a little longer.

Thanks for reading d00ds! Here’s a shameless link to the mentioned video for anyone curious to my initial experience ;)