Let's see what happened at Yaw VR since the last update. We've moved to our new production site and acquired some new machinery, made a prototype for the redesigned sideplate, shot a demonstration video of the Pro edition, and did some additional work with videos. Oh, and deliveries became regular, there's continuous shipping. There are also minor updates regarding the game engine and the box for the arcade edition, plus the Pro edition has been tested at the Aero Friedrichshafen expo with great results.
1. New Production Site and Machinery
Moving has finished to the new facility last week. Getting into the details, metalworking remains at the previous facility, while assembly, testing and processing moved to the new one. Although we're still waiting for the welding robots, the new laser cutter and the new laser welding machine are already in-house and working. Testing has already begun at the new site.
2. Shipping
We're shipping out Yaw2s constantly, and we don't see any reason for suspending this, fortunately. These are still standard editions and to Europe, but this category will be finished shortly, and then we can start shipping overseas. To all of you who have received their devices: we appreciate any feedback - be it negative or positive - regarding minor (such as packaging) or major (ease of assembly and setup) points.
3. Side Plate for Hotas
Many of you have asked for a redesigned side plate for hotas, to make it more comfortable. There's now a working prototype for this. Although it is not painted yet, see the picture below.
4. Demonstrating the Pro Edition
USB and power can now be connected to the upper part without any issues during yaw movement. There will be two hubs: one has the USB inputs, and the other one is a regular electrical socket plus a SmartPlug, which is a controllable socket with up to 200W performance. The SmartPlug can be used for wind FX, for instance, but is also functional as a simple socket, bearing the performance limit in mind.
Check this brief video about the Pro edition and its features. As with any other videos, all feedback is warmly welcome.
5. Aero Friedrichshafen Expo 2022
We recently exhibited in Friedrichshafen between the 27th and 30th of April. 🛬 Fortunately, our booth received large demand and this means that the Pro edition we brought there had an intensive live test. After 3 days of nearly constant usage, this live testing has validated the favorable outcome of the previous in-house testing.
To mention some of the factors that you guys have most often asked about:
- Getting in and out was easy which is promising.
- No overheating occurred at all. The device has been running with 22 lbs (10 kgs) counterweights and varying user weights nearly without breaks of 8 hours/day.
- The USB hub worked great, even with multiple units plugged in simultaneously. In addition, the electricity outlets were really useful for constantly charging the Quests we used. This is a special usecase, however, it shows that the function is working well.
We've made a short video from this recent aviation expo, hope you like it.
6. AWE USA 2022, 1-3 June
It's a great honor that Yaw2 has been invited to the Playground section of Augmented World Expo USA 2022, held in the San Francisco bay area (Santa Clara, CA). You can come and try various games on the Yaw2 there between the 1st and 3rd of June, and of course meet us in person to have a chat. We'll bring 4 instead of the originally planned 2 devices to the expo, and would be more than happy to welcome all of you there at booth 7. If everything goes well until the event, we'd be able to show our new space combat game, the very first product of our internal software development team.
7. Game Engine Redesign
Our game engine is being redesigned, and here is an early screenshot of the progress. Any feedback for UX/UI welcome.
8. Software and Hardware Updates
Motion Compensation
Some of you have correctly gave us a feedback / critique on how the motion compensation behaves with pitch movements. This issue can be most clearly observed in car racing games when braking, which causes the point of view to move forward inaccurately due to the pitch movement. This can be tackled with the new feature of setting the center of rotation in the game engine. Of course, fine-tuning is necessary and there is still space for improvement regarding motion compensation - such as, further smoothing the compensation for the yaw axis.
Noise Elimination
Finally, we have managed to overcome the noise issue. Previously, the devices were relatively noisy after a while, and this was experienced by the backers, too, who have so far received their Yaw2s. We had clicking noises when changing direction in the movement. Of course, the device won't be perfectly silent, but we'll continue to improve it in this aspect.
9. USB and Electricity Box for Arcade Edition
The usb and electricity box has received it's final design, and we're sharing the looks of it below. As seen on the picture, this can be attached to the side rail, or either side of the pitch - the other side would get the box with electricity outlets which is the same as in the Pro edition (see the 3rd picture).
10. Video Production
Since the Kickstarter campaign we have been so focused on development, testing, that recording gameplays and such materials have been pushed to the side. Back in January we also opened a new office in Budapest, part of which is a showroom and recording studio. This has been on our minds for a while and we are very happy to have found a space that fits our requirements.
We've been shooting a lot lately, fortunately there is plenty we can make a video of. 🎬
We already have some new gameplays and Yaw2 related content over on our YouTube channel and there’s definitely more to come. 📹