totemIt does look as though the Oculus Rift is the de facto virtual reality headset for developers to work with at the moment, but are there any decent alternatives in the market? Perhaps so, as the Vrvana Totem headset that you see above, worn by a seemingly enthusiastic test subject, would allow you to explore a virtual world with one major advantage – you will not lose awareness of the world around you.

How does this seemingly magical virtual reality headset work? Well, the Vrvana Totem headset itself will feature a pair of forward-facing cameras which can be passed through to the display. In other words, you will still be able to check out what is going on in the world around you, allowing you to catch just which colleague is the one sneaking away with your Snickers mini bars when you are not looking.

The Vrvana Totem is the sweat and blood of a small team helmed by Bertand Nepvue, who spend the better part of the last nine years working on it, having been inspired by the Xbox 360 hardware in the first place. Right now, the Vrvana Totem development kit is a Kickstarter project, and should there be any compatible games available, the Vrvana Totem ought to play nice with majority of current and next-gen game consoles.

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