FAQ

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What will the range be from PC to headset? Can I play in the next room over?

Our advertised supported play area is 5m x 5m. In our test area at nofio HQ we regularly play upto 10m, however with SteamVR support of 5mx5m we decided it was best to stick with the officially supported play area.

While WiFi6E is less affected by line of sight issues, there can be some interference when operating through walls. The performance will be highly dependent on the individual room characteristics and wall materials. We don't recommend this configuration as a default play space.

Will the final index adapter product use my existing cable or a new short Oculink cable?

We will supply a custom short Oculink to Oculink cable which attaches between the nofio unit, and the Index HMD.

How is the weight distribution?

The final weight will be approximately 200g for the head unit, and another 200g for the battery. With our development prototype which is considerably heavier, we haven't experienced any balance issues.

We will ensure the weight and balance of the final design is optimised before release

What's the latency gonna be like?

The custom codec from IMRnext features subframe-streaming, which means the pixels are compressed and sent as the frame is generated from the GPU. This ensures the latency is always less than a single frame period.

Will it destroy my headset?

Mounting the adapter will be non-destructive. The adapter will come with all necessary mounting attachments, and can be installed and removed without any permanent modification.

How much of an interruption will it be to swap the batteries? Does SteamVR need to restart?

The Head unit has 2x USB ports which the battery can connect to.
With one battery connected, simply add the second battery, and then disconnect the original empty battery. This process should take approximately 20secs, and does not require SteamVR to restart.

Does it require any additional software ? Does that mean it could theoretically work on Linux?

We supply a small USB driver which presents our base hardware to SteamVR as a virtual HMD device. There are other USB functions which the driver performs to ensure low latency USB performance.

While nofio won't support Linux directly, we will support community development of any drivers required for Linux.

Does this only support the Valve Index?

Right now, Yes... We want to make sure we bring the best performance, highest quality product to market. This means focusing all of our Engineering Effort on supporting a single Headset.

With a successful release of the Index Adapter we will then look at support for other headsets. Expect announcements in early 2023.

What resolution and refresh rates are supported?

We support full resolution, at 90 and 120 Hz. The experimental 144Hz setting is also functional, however performance may be impacted by exceeding the 5m range.

Does it use any system resources on my PC?

No, The encode , decode and wireless comms are all handled by the supplied hardware and do not rake resources from your PC.

We regularly use Gaming spec laptops with good performance.

What are the WiFi specifications ? Will I need my own WiFi Router?

The WiFi uses 1 channel of 160MHz 2x2 MIMO on the 6GHz spectrum band.

The system includes a transmitter which is connected to the PC via Display Port and USB.
It uses a single point-to-point connection, and works completely independently of your home WiFi network.

Will nofio continue to provide batteries after the kickstarter?

Yes, we will continue to hold a number of Batteries in stock for purchase online, after the kickstarter and release of the product.

What are the battery specifications?

The Battery capacity will be 30Wh which will give over 2.5hrs play time.

It is possible to install 2x batteries at the same time which will give double the run time over 5hrs. However the second battery will need to be body mounted via a custom strap or long cable to a wearable pocket.

Can I use my own batteries ?

Yes, the headset uses <15W and supports USB-C PD power delivery.
Any USB-PD battery supplying 20W should be compatible.

We currently do not plan to support proprietary battery protocols like QC3.0