Thanks to all of your generous support, our campaign was funded in just 30 hours! In this update we will explain what’s next, and answer some questions you all have been sending us since the launch.

What’s Next

Shortly after the campaign hit its funding goal, Crowd Supply processed all payments for orders placed up until that point. All new orders are charged right away. If your card couldn’t be charged, you should have received an email explaining how to update your payment details, so keep an eye on your inbox.

On our side, development continues as planned. We’re so happy to see way more excitement about both the Sakura Edition and Charging Dock than we expected! Seems like a lot of you value both the convenience and the pink color scheme. Our engineering lead who pushed for the pink option is very happy to see it! <3

Questions & Answers

We are getting a lot of questions through Crowd Supply, YouTube comments, Discord, and Bluesky. Below are answers to some of them!

When will the Sakura set stop being sold? Are there any pictures of what they will look like?

We will continue selling this special edition set until at least the end of the campaign on March 19. We only have a photo of a prototype for now, but we’re quite happy with its color and will try to match the final color close to it. We will share more photos as we make progress.

When will Butterfly Trackers be shipped?

We are planning to ship out Butterfly orders around August 31. We have been working on this for a long time, and have a plan laid out that will get us to that target should nothing major go wrong. We know what to expect this time and have accounted for issues in our timeline, so fingers crossed we will achieve all our major milestones without any hiccups.

Will I be able to buy the trackers after the campaign ends?

After the end of the campaign you will still be able to pre-order Butterfly Trackers. In coordination with Crowd Supply, we will be placing a bigger production order to cover orders placed after the campaign, but depending on the sales numbers, orders placed after the campaign might be shipped later than orders during the campaign.

Do Butterfly Trackers track better or drift less than normal slimes? What are the differences?

Butterfly Trackers are built using the same tracking technology as our regular SlimeVR trackers, the ICM-45686 IMU chip by TDK. Because of this, they have the same long drift reset times and great tracking we are known for. There are a few key differences: Butterfly Trackers use a custom 2.4 GHz dongle instead of Wi-Fi, and they are much smaller and lighter than the already small and light standard SlimeVR trackers, and have extremely long battery life. Another minor difference is our approach to customizability, as we have multiple methods of tracker attachment, including directly to straps, using clips, and iron-on patches.

Can I upgrade my old set with Butterfly Trackers?

Butterfly Trackers can be used alongside other SlimeVR trackers to add additional tracking points, they just need a dongle to connect to. Just assign them as normal. So, if you aren’t sure if you want to replace your old slime set, you can instead upgrade it by adding some Butterflies if you want, such as a Butterfly hip or feet!

Can I combine the trackers with Vive / Tundra / FluxPose / others?

Yes! You can use them to track different points of your body, for example you can add feet or knee tracking to your three-tracker Vive setup with just two Butterfly Trackers and a Butterfly Dongle.

I just ordered the old SlimeVR trackers, can I change my order?

If your order hasn’t been shipped yet, you can contact Crowd Supply to ask them to cancel your order, and then you can place an order for Butterfly Trackers after the refund.

Is it compatible with my headset?

Yes. SlimeVR is compatible with any standalone headset like Meta Quest, Pico, or Steam Frame, as well as any headset that uses SteamVR (including but not limited to headsets by Vive, Valve, Meta, Pico, Bigscreen, HaritoraX, and Vajro). Even PSVR2, when paired with a PC, is compatible.

Steam frame??

Yes.

Toe tracking?? How??!?

Currently in semi-open testing phase, it uses a modified server to add toe bones which trackers can be assigned to. For the trailer, Sebby was using three Butterfly Trackers per foot attached to their toes using a custom mounting system. This will eventually be added into the server, but for now it can be found in the ⁠dev-forum channel of discord under the Toes tracking thread. It may require modifications to your avatar, but Sebby has prepared a setup script to automate the installation.

Finger tracking?? How many Butterfly Trackers do I need for that? How does it work?

Finger tracking has been in development for a while, and is already in the server code. Butterfly Trackers themselves are not designed for finger tracking, but can work well as hand trackers for mocap and VTubing. SlimeVR Gloves are in development and will be our answer for open source finger tracking, so keep an eye out for that in the future. If you want to join the development, DIY your own, or just see what’s happening, we have a finger-tracking development channel in our discord.

I haven’t used slimes for a while and I saw something about drift correction in the trailer. When will that be available?

‘Stay Aligned!’ is a newer feature added in our SlimeVR server software that intelligently ‘pushes’ against drift towards custom poses recorded by the user. Long story short, it’s basically magic that means you may never have to drift reset while chilling with friends while using Butterfly Trackers.

Why does it require a custom dongle? Why not use Bluetooth?

There are many limitations of Bluetooth that make running more than six devices on one receiver a challenge, as well as limits on update rates. Using our custom dongle gives us more control of the hardware to ensure the best connection quality.

Why is it made in Europe, but ships from the USA?

We are partnering with Mouser and Crowd Supply for sales and fulfillment of all orders, a partnership we maintained for the last four years. Mouser is based in and ships from their warehouse in Texas, USA.

When you order from Crowd Supply to Europe, you prepay all VAT and shipping charges, so there are no additional taxes on delivery. We’re also working on arranging distribution from Europe in the future, but there is no timeline on this yet.

When are reviews coming?

We have already sent out review sets to five independent creators who are working on reviewing them, but they need a bit more time. We’re sending one more in the next few days. Then we’re waiting for more parts that will arrive by the end of the month so we can assemble more sets for review. Stay tuned!

Are resets still triggered with the same taps or can we use the button on the tracker?

You will be able to use the button too.

Is the stomp bug still present?

No, the stomp bug affected only SlimeVR V1.0 and V1.1, it’s not present even on SlimeVR trackers V1.2, or on Butterfly Trackers, as we use a more modern tracking chip and custom tracking algorithms.

Why aren’t there five-tracker sets anymore?

We found that most users who purchased a five-tracker set would later purchase a hip upgrade. We think that the tracking quality of a six-tracker set is so much better than five-tracker sets, that we no longer recommend using five trackers unless you’re on a very tight budget.

You can still order a five-tracker set of Butterfly Trackers by adding a Core Set to your cart and then removing one Butterfly Tracker and one Long Strap, or by building a set yourself from the Parts & Accessories section.

How durable are the trackers?

Very. Due to their smaller size, they’re harder to break than the old trackers, and the belt between the tracker halves was never a weak point in all of our testing.

See Ya Soon!

We have a few interesting updates prepared for you in the next few weeks, so stay tuned~

If you want more regular updates, we post weekly on our Discord, as well as on our other socials like Bluesky, Reddit, and YouTube! We’re also on TikTok, Mastodon, and Tumblr!