Swedish teen's start-up brings us the most affordable VR full-body tracking ever

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Three Swedish teens have designed a full-body VR tracker for a fraction of the cost of other VR tracking devices, and it's up for pre-order now.

With the help of JA Sweden, a non-profit initiative for the promotion of student entrepreneurship, Anton Bill Månsson, David Möller and Mohammed Adigüzel founded Stonx. The company is right now in the late stages of design for the "Cookie-Body Tracking DK1," and the code is just being finalised ready for mass distribution.

With the DK1, we're looking at 120 Hz Refresh rate, sub-1cm accuracy and a 85×55 degree field of view. If you have a large space to play in, there's a range of 3m. And all this working seamlessly through Steam VR.

According to the FAQ, the kit's latency is currently at 3-5ms, and as for accuracy it explains: "While it's not as accurate as the Vive Trackers, it provides a lot better tracking than the Kinect."

The design is still under refinement and will continue to improve as the code is honed.

Currently, the 180 degree version comes with straps, a 3m extension cord, four trackers—which need no power whatsoever—and a Beacon that uses good old USB 2. The 360 degree version includes two Beacons and will track from all angles.

Including shipping to the US, the price is around $81 for the base product, and these are available for pre-order now on the Stonx store. Sure, you could grab a used Kinect for about $20, but these promise more accuracy—besides, this way you're supporting young start-ups and fueling the future of innovation.

Having been obsessed with game mechanics, computers and graphics for three decades, Katie took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni and has been writing about digital games, tabletop games and gaming technology for over five years since. She can be found facilitating board game design workshops and optimising everything in her path.