The BodyLink campaign is a successful Kickstarter effort supporting the development of a standalone physiological monitoring camera designed specifically for use with television games and virtual reality headsets.
Rebuff Actuality, a virtual reality (VR) accessories firm, currently offers a range of products including straps, grip socks, and USB hubs specifically designed for HTC’s Vive Trackers. Additionally, their product lineup features a rear battery for Quest 3 and the physically engaging VR game Dance Sprint.
BodyLink is essentially a modern-day equivalent of Microsoft’s Kinect, packaged as a standalone console featuring an ARM-based processor. Available with a robust operating system, this cutting-edge device seamlessly integrates Android TV capabilities, offering an array of physique-monitoring video games to be enjoyed from the comfort of your living room, featuring both controller-free and controller-based gameplay options utilizing the supplied 6DoF movement controller.
BodyLink’s distinct objective is to deliver VR physical tracking without wearable trackers, instead wirelessly transmitting its skeletal output to compatible VR games on standalone headsets and PCs, including VRChat and Dance Sprint.
It’s already possible to utilize your phone as a physical monitoring camera in VRChat, and fundamentally, BodyLink is simply a dedicated system for this purpose. While some apps may differ, Rebuff Actuality contends that BodyLink’s camera captures images at a seamless 90 frames per second, ensuring a more fluid viewing experience, and its expansive field of view allows for closer, more consistent monitoring of one’s physique.
The BodyLink feature is a key component of Google’s Stadia vision, allowing users to share their immersive experience with friends and family by casting what they’re seeing on their Quest headset directly to their TV – a seamless option for those without a Google Stadia-enabled TV or streaming system.
The BodyLink device features an additional 4K colour camera specifically designed for capturing high-quality content, as reported by Rebuff Reality, allowing for potential use in supported VR titles with live-streamed, interactive experiences akin to LIV-style mixed reality capture.
According to Rebuff Actuality, the rumored price point for BodyLink could be $300 at retail stores, while early backers on Kickstarter may have the opportunity to secure the device for a discounted $170. The company plans to begin shipping rewards to its backers in August, ahead of general availability later in the year.
While it’s true that backing a Kickstarter project shouldn’t be equated with placing a preorder, it’s important to recognize that the two concepts share some similarities in terms of their fundamental purpose: to support creative endeavors and secure early access to desired products or experiences. Kickstarter projects are under no legal obligation to deliver the final product, and many hardware Kickstarter campaigns fail before fulfillment, due to the daunting complexity of successfully delivering a consumer experience product.
