Kickstarter Begins for SteamVR Compatible etee Controller

Last week VRFocus reported on British startup TG0 and its upcoming Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for a pair of finger tracking controllers called etee. At the time only the 3 degrees of freedom (3DoF) versions had been revealed but today the campaign has gone live and the 6DoF, SteamVR compatible versions have been unveiled.

The wireless, buttonless controllers will offer virtual reality (VR) gamers a fully immersive range of gestures, from fully tracked fingers to touch and pressure.

The Kickstarter aims to raise £45,900 GBP by its 11th May completion date, with backers able to select from the etee DevKit (3DoF) to the fully SteamVR compatible 6DoF versions. A pair of the etee DevKit controllers will set you back £199 while the Early Bird etee SteamVR version is £239 – limited to the first 100 customers. Or for those after something a little more special there’s always the etee SteamVR Ghost Edition with a translucent body for £349. If money is no object then the £3,000 tier offers a pair of etee SteamVR Ghost Edition controllers which will have your name etched onto the PCB’s as well as one custom-made commemorative poly-framed PCB.

“I’ve never seen someone pick up an etee controller and fail to be wowed,” said Jakub Kamecki, etee’s Head of Business Development, in a statement. “We want to share this technology and to build a community, not only of gamers but of developers, innovators and inventors. We’ve felt for a long time that etee is the future of VR control. Now we’re going to make it so.”

etee Controller Feature List:

  • etee Dev Kit is 75g / etee SteamVR will be 120g
  • Open palm gesture sensing for all fingers
  • Thumb trackpad to simulate a joystick
  • Free hand design
  • Sweat, dust and water-proof for improved hygiene and reliability
  • Long battery life (16 hours standby, up to 6h active)
  • Full Colour LED
  • Next-gen haptic feedback
  • USB port Type C
  • Bluetooth BLE and WiFi communication

Should the Kickstarter go well then TG0 estimates the etee controllers will be ready to ship to backers in December 2020. As the campaign progresses, VRFocus will report back with all the latest updates.

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