Inertial Tracking System for Oculus DK1/DK2

(2013-2015)

This project started in 2013 and it was one of the first major electronics and software projects that I worked on. In 2013, VR was in its modern infancy, and the lack of tracked controllers for the Oculus developer kit 1/2 was one of the biggest holes in the experience. I had the idea to start building a controller that would track my motion and provide an immersive experience that met the immersion of the headsets of the time.

While there were many flaws with the approach and implementation of the tracking system, I was awarded with a NASA Innovation Competition award for my work while I was an undergraduate computer engineering student at the University of Southern Mississippi. The tracking system led me to build my first start-up company “Hack and Smash” with Dante Buckley, Justin Word, and William Addison from 2013 through 2015. Our solution eventually laid the groundwork for Downpour Interactive which later developed “Onward” and the studio was bought by Meta in 2021.