my bad experience with ozivr

#author_luna #ozivr #vr #full_body_tracking #slimevr

first draft written %at=2023-12-19T00:54:13.902Z
currently %at=2024-01-06T03:15:28.768Z

before i begin, it's hard to get a properly functioning archive of the ozivr website. i attempted the following:

however, as those snapshots are not functional, i'll have to use screenshots of the website at the time of writing.

now we can actually start the article.

here's some context:

here is my experience with the units i bought from ozivr.

OziVR Lite 2.0 #

i bought these approximately around december of 2022, right after getting my PCVR system fully running (it took a while until vrchat osc had support for slimevr so that i could have full body tracking (FBT) experiences in standalone quest).

i bought the 5-tracker set (1 for hip, two for thighs, two for legs), they run with the MPU6500 which is one of the cheapest ones. it works for what i paid for (969.70BRL, approximately 198USD in current exchange rate), even with tiny drift times, i still had legs!

(note, 200USD might be the price of an original first-party slimevr set, however you should bump that to 400USD when in brazil due to the import tax on electronics being effectively 100%. one of the great things the idea of "attempting to ignite an electronics national industry" gets you, but that's for another article)

the process to buy it in Brazil is as follows:

here is a picture showing the unit itself (this is an ankle unit, which contains a TRRS jack for foot extensions you can buy separately, a common trick on SlimeVR systems since the extension is just the IMU unit, no need for ESP/batteries/etc)

from the 5-tracker set, after near constant use (3~4 times a week, 2h+ every time), only one of the trackers had a hardware failure months after it was bought (by brazil law, 90days is the minimum required time for a warranty, and that's what ozi does), after opening it i realized that these units are held together with hope, hot glue, two screws and dreams.

the failure that i'm assuming happened was a disconnection of the power wires, which led to it being unable to charge its own battery. it works now, probably because the cable connected itself due to air currents within my wardrobe, but it has been decomissioned from use.

so, i was without a right leg in VR for approximately 3 months? it's a weird feeling when you don't have full presence of your lower body, it's a hit for immersion as the avatar movements don't match nicely.

i had to look into either DIYing (which also means getting the tools and a proper workshop for me to assemble the pcbs, etc) or buying... more ozivr units, which brings me into

OziVR Lite 3.0 #

this is the next revision of the ozivr lite hardware, it has a better IMU chip (from MPU6500 to BMI160) and longer battery life. i bought another 5-tracker set.

from the 5 trackers that i bought in october (2023-10-18), only... two are operational. here's the failures:

i do not know what happened on the first two failures, as the units have warranty tape that would void it if opened. they have been in the RMA process for practically a month. here's know it works:

i would love to know the exact dates of communication, however, my ticket channel disappeared (and this is the trigger that made me write all of this), without explanation. i made another ticket to ask about my previous ticket. i've been waiting over 3 weeks to understand what's up with the trackers i was supposed to get (this is on the 90day period since purchase, so by brazillian law, it is within my right to have the warranty happen without issues).

while that happened, they started yet another giveaway of a Lite 3.0 5-tracker set:

a screenshot from their discord where the creator is announcing another giveaway of Lite 3.0

text form:

We are giving away Ozi Tracker Lite 3.0 - 5 Trackers for all boosters. ( ⁠No Access )
We are also giving away a giveaway for everyone at ⁠🎁┃give-away
So there are few participants for the special draw for all Boosters. This means you have a better chance of winning Fullbody Tracking!

the third failure is funny, because if you look between the Lite 2.0 and Lite 3.0, you can see the 3d printed enclosure changed, however if you overtighten, the former won't have issues (it'll dig into your skin, it's your problem, but you'll see that its the skin that's providing support, not the strap), the latter will snap because the attachment points of the tracker into the velcro strap are way too critical for the tracker's overall structure

i can still have fully functioning FBT, though, you can mix IMUs together! it's not pretty, but having any FBT is better than no FBT (3 MPU6500 + 2 BMI160, with one MPU6500 to spare in case any other tracker breaks again)

wait, wasn't there drama before? #

indeed! ozivr is banned from the official third party assemblers in the slimevr discord, that's done since around may 2023.

here is bwutwauh's statement in the slimevr discord (link to discord message):

The following are a list of sellers which we have banned/delisted from this marketplace. The reasons are included for each seller. For legal reasons, the following is alleged behavior, and provided here merely as an explanation of the rationale for delisting the post. Ozi Trackers:

Website: https://www.ozivr.com.br/en Vendor: @Rael For any inquiries or evidence, feel free to message a moderator. Note that we are extremely unlikely to undo this decision, we generally only do this after many repeated offenses. (edited)

some time after that statement, ozivr published their own:

in text form:

This statement is intended to highlight the irresponsibility of the Slime investigation team in their actions against Ozi. We present above all relevant evidence that supports our commitment to honest and professional business conduct. We strongly believe in our integrity and the high ethical standards we maintain in our business practices. We are determined to continue providing quality service to our customers and to vigorously uphold our company's reputation.

We would like to show the quality of our products in: ⁠No Access and ⁠🚚┃shipping-envios
We make it clear that the text published by BwuTwauh does not expose the evidence that makes the accusation consistent. No request for conversation has reached us so that we have the right to respond with the appropriate accusations.

here's the PDF by OziVR, archived, as i can't directly link to discord CDN anymore: https://web.archive.org/web/20231219015108/https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1026167579556991036/1105927215830532156/Ozi_Declaration.pdf?ex=658c6f7b&is=6579fa7b&hm=958cb7bfc285eacf2191a2e6a483fc6df1ec4c30686b64a4509e080f461f6d48&

this was made in 10th may 2023, given my recent (november~december 2023) experiences, i can not confirm that their behavior has changed.

about the website #

as said before:

however, as those snapshots are not functional, i'll have to use screenshots of the website at the time of writing.

NOTE (2024-01-06): while wrapping up this article (taking pictures of the trackers), ozi has updated their website. i had to update this section which now contains both old (dark theme) and new (light theme) designs. critiques exist for both, as it showcases behavior.

here is the homepage (new design):

it shows the compatible platforms you can run the ozivr units on (all of the support for these platforms is by slimevr themselves. note how in none of these screenshots slimevr is mentioned, they're not legally required to, but it's weird behavior).

a bunch of videos are shown with people using the trackers, here is that section on the old website.

only one of these videos (on the old design!) actually works to show the product, and its the one by rael (the creator) themselves, you can only confirm that a tracking solution is good by being consistent in your movement with some existing ground truth (like lighthouse systems). the other videos are useless for comparison between the sets otherwise.

now that the comparison video is gone on the new version, it's even more useless now. great!

NOTE this part was on the OLD version of the website, its critique still matters:

then you see a bunch of client statements (none are negative here, mind you, because of course there wouldn't be).

how did you actually arrive in these numbers? i can say my minimum drift time is around 10 minutes with the lite 3.0, but this feels like marketing jumbo to try to trickk me to get the Dance 2.0 units. what is drift, even? (i know what it is, but to a consumer coming to buy this for the first time, this is information they don't know anything about)

then more detailed pages are made for each tracker edition, Dance, Standard, Lite, in order of highest price to lowest price

you can get dedicated extensions or singular tracker too

NOTE: the following was removed on the new homepage

reviews are shown from various people. note how "more on Discord", i'll go soon there.

NOTE: this part was removed from the new homepage.

yadda yadda yadda, nothing here other than "4 month warranty" (i still haven't found a proper terms of service somewhere)

nothing else here that's worth elaborating, let's continue to the trackers. let's say i want the lite 3.0. i click on "technical specifications"

two nitpicks:

what's that about the discord though #

this is a very small part, but the "reviews" channel in the discord is made only by certified buyers of the units, i don't know how i could become someone that could post on that channel, but i have seen someone create this type of rant that i'm writing right now, get it deleted, and then i have no idea what's up.

there are lukewarm/mid reviews in that channel that were not deleted, so that's cool i guess. but when your reviews are curated by the same party that's being reviewed, that's just shit asymmetry of information. you shouldn't put any reviews on the site at this rate, and start a way to get independent slimevr assembler reviews going (because ozivr is not the only assembler, and it'd be welcome to have better rating of these providers. slimevr won't do it themselves because by definition those assemblers are third party. slimevr has no incentive to deal with that, it's you, the buyer, in a jungle).

conclusion? #

if you have to get ozivr units like i do, be really aware that you could get an extremely shit service, and should seriously think about other hardware assemblers. if you have the know-how to go DIY, you likely should do it too, slimevr provides this https://docs.slimevr.dev/diy/components-guide.html

from my experience, ozivr are amateurs trying to sell something professional. don't trust their statements. best of luck to them, and i hope they get better.