The top line of every CES story this year has been Virtual Reality and the many new players from Razr to Google Cardboard to Samsung Milk vying to knock Oculus Rift off the presumptive throne. One notable upstart making headlines is 3DHead from Greek billionaire Alki David‘s Anakando Media Group. The device raised eyebrows by taking the booth right next to Oculus Rift and promoting the slogan Oculus Killer.
3DHead uses a removable 3D tablet in its headset to provide head control and arm control to play any game out there. This means a gamer who purchases it now can immediately plug and play Xbox, Playstation and other games instead of waiting years before enough content is generated to make the competitor’s devices worth purchasing.
Based on patented technology developed for the GSC3 GameCaster–which Anakando holds the exclusive license for–there is a pro version of the 3DHead that can enable a filmmaker to shoot within a virtual world. A version of the GCS3 system has been used within the video game tournament arena, to enable sports camera operators to shoot the action from within a game or 3D world. According to 3DHead, its hardware is already integrated with top animation and development software, including Autodesk, Maya, 3ds Max, and Unreal Engine 4. It has full head, arm and movement tracking as well as 2K resolution. It is also said to avoid Oculus’ notorious headaches and nausea.
“A smart, creative kid with 3DHead, who downloads the free versions of Maya and Unreal Engine 4, can most definitely produce the next Avatar,” says David. “In pro-mode, this is an extraordinary production tool. Pro-mode off, 3Dhead is a universally compatible gaming and viewing apparatus.
3DHead announced that the headset will retail at $595. The handset is also $595. The two devices will be available as a bundle at $995. (TV Mix is owned by FilmOn Networks which is also owned by Anakando Media Group.)
In an interview with Upload Podcast, David was asked about criticism by Oculus Rifts fans on Reddit. He brushed them off saying, “If there was no criticism there’d be something severely wrong.”
The Upload interviewer asked Alki, “One last thing consumers should know?”
David said: “It’s cool as fuck.”
