TPCast, the company behind the first consumer-grade wireless VR upgrade kit, is moving into the commercial market. The company announced a new multi-user wireless VR system for professional users called the TPCast Business Edition.
TPCast first introduced the TPCast Wireless VR Adapter for the HTC Vive in China in late 2016, and in the latter half of 2017, the company released the adapters in Europe and North America. The company also introduced a wireless adapter for the Oculus Rift near the end of the year.
Ahead of the North American consumer release, TPCast announced that it would be going after the commercial VR market. The company forged a partnership with VRStudios, which would license TPCast’s technology to create a wireless setup for its VRCade arcades. Now the company is ready to bring wireless VR to a wider commercial market, including medical and educational facilities as well as enterprise-level companies.
Dave Ruddel, the Chief Architect of VRStudios, said in a TPCast press release:
“The TPCAST Business Edition enables us to create and provide an all-new product-line that was previously unavailable. By combining the HTC Vive Business Edition, TPCAST Business Edition, the VRcade Attraction Management Platform (AMP), and our VRcade content, we can offer a new set of wireless, multi-player solutions to entertainment business operators that increases throughput, decreases operational complexity and keeps them ahead of consumer offerings.”
At CES this year, TPCast revealed that it is working on a second-generation wireless adapter that would support the upcoming Vive Pro HMD. The current iteration of the TPCast Wireless Business Edition is based on TPCast’s original wireless adapter, which supports up to 2K resolution with less than 2ms of additional latency. The primary difference between the Consumer Edition and the Business Edition of the kits is the number of users that they support. The consumer model is limited to one unit, whereas the Business Edition supports two to four units per setup.
TPCast said that U.S.-based customers can now purchase the TPCast Wireless Business Edition adapters directly from the company and that channel partners would begin reselling the units in 2Q18. TPCast said that pricing is available upon request.
