Play Any SteamVR / OpenVR Games on Your Cardboard With RiftCat
You Can Try High End Virtual Reality Games Without Ruining Your Wallet First
Rapidly rising popularity of virtual reality created two branches of the industry. Expensive, complex and big headsets designed for PC and driven by powerful gaming PCs – such as Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, and cheap, simple and small headsets in which a high resolution smartphone takes the role of a screen and CPU – like Google Cardboard.
The cheaper option allows you to watch 360 degree videos and play simple games but the highest quality virtual reality productions are designed for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Thanks to VRidge, it is possible to play them now on those cheaper headsets.
VRidge (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riftcat.vridge&hl=en) is an Android application connected with a Windows server called RiftCat (https://riftcat.com/), which makes your PC think that you have a real HTC Vive or Oculus Rift plugged in. It sends the video stream of your game to the phone and returns rotation data from the phone to simulate head movement.
RiftCat supports all the games made with SteamVR support and most games made for Oculus Rift SDK 0.6-0.8. This includes games like Elite Dangerous, Euro Truck Simulator, DCS World and many more (https://support.riftcat.com/hc/en-us/articles/207979295-Does-VRidge-support-game-X-).
The application is free to use with a time limit on each game session. To unlock unlimited playtime, it requires a one-time payment. The software is at the early access stage and it costs 14.99 EUR.
First user reviews are positive and confirmed by the community which is currently building up around VRidge on Reddit(https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleCardboard/comments/4dtgfn/just_tried_the_new_vridge_update_from_riftcat/). “We were very positively surprised about how interested people are in VRidge. We will develop it further to make VR even more accessible.” says Marek Antoniuk – RiftCat’s CEO.
The platform is being developed by a Polish startup. Since the release of their software, there were multiple updates at regular intervals (http://blog.riftcat.com/). As far as the developers say, they will continue to do so in foreseeable future.
About RiftCat Sp. z o.o.: RiftCat Sp. z o.o. Is a company based in Białystok, Poland. Founded in June 2015, RiftCat designed, implemented and released a RiftCat platform with the purpose of making the virtual reality technology more accessible and more appealing to everyone.
