Ilium VR braved the internet with its Indiegogo campaign to fund the development of the Athena Rifle, a rifle peripheral for virtual reality in early December. Integrated with realistic gun recoil and actions, Athena presents realistic tactile feedback and should improve gamers' VR FPS experience overall.

While both HTC and Oculus offer tracked hand controllers to enhance the experience brought on with their own HMDs, the demand for VR peripherals continues to rise. Ilium VR has a lot of guts to tread among the grounds that VR giants stomp on, but it should be noted that the move is commendable. With the Athena Rifle, Ilium VR has become the first third-party company to create its own lighthouse-tracked peripheral.

"Ilium VR is a virtual reality peripheral company," said Sebastian Sarbora, the company's CEO, in an interview with Tom's Hardware. "We're starting with guns because they're great and they're fun. They're a really great way to get into the market. And who doesn't like playing a really good first person shooter?" In the same interview, Sarbora talked about how the Athena Rifle was designed.

As of the moment, Ilium VR is focusing on the product, with Sarbora adding that the team is also open for ideas from its crowdfunding backers. The CEO said that he wants to know what the community expects from the Athena Rifle.

Ilium VR is currently offering the Athena Rifle through its Indiegogo campaign. You can get the early bird package for $260, which includes the rifle and a bundled game. Backers get to have "Arizona Sunshine" or "Nest," while those who missed out on the early bird can get the package for $300. After the campaign, the rifle will be sold for $300 without the bundled games. Ilium VR is aiming for December 2017 as the shipping timeframe.