When talking about Virtual Reality, the press tends to talk about the main three or four. That depends on whether or not you consider Samsung’s Gear VR a legitimate headset compared to the heftier versions on PC and PS4. This conversation is going to have to be broadened out soon enough. More companies are going to be trying their hand at making VR headsets. A few have already been covered, but here are three new ones that have only just been announced. Any of these might be the VR headset to make VR mainstream.
LG’s SteamVR headset
Image courtesy: Engadget
This announcement came out of left field, but it’s an exciting one. Last Monday, Valve announced that they are releasing yet another VR headset. However, the hardware manufacturer this time round is LG. Due to Valve’s involvement, this headset will also use room-scale tracking and the lighthouse system. There are a few details that have been released about the headset, and they are very impressive. The resolution is sharper than either the Oculus Rift or The HTC Vive, variable FOV and a 90Hz refresh rate. That last part is the most significant because nothing kills a VR headset faster than screen-tearing and input lag. Even better, instead of having to take it off, you can flip the visor up. Initial impressions have been favourable. However, with no release date or price, don’t expect this in your living room anytime soon.
Source: PC Gamer
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 VR
Image courtesy: Engadget
This is more of a tease than an actual VR headset announcement. Qualcomm has developed a completely freestanding HDK of a headset powered by their most powerful mobile processor. No mobile or PC is needed, but the early build is still wired to a power source. The main feature apart from this is that you can see your hands in the virtual world. Qualcomm uses special cameras mounted on the display which let you manipulate virtual objects without the need of any controllers or haptic gloves. Of course removing haptic feedback might make it feel bizarre, but it’s a massive leap forward. Unfortunately, this will never be a consumer product. Qualcomm is shipping it off to developers next quarter and using it as a basis for their hardware accelerator program. Maybe we will see some version someday, but it won’t have the Qualcomm logo on it.
Source: Tech Radar
Microsoft’s Xbox One and Project Scorpio Headset
Image courtesy: PC World
This is not one headset in particular, but the fleet of headsets that Microsoft is helping to make. They’re AR headsets, similar to Hololens, and even though Phil Spencer has gone on record before saying there would be no Xbox VR until something substantial releases, Microsoft has said that there will be headsets supported by the Xbox One and the mysterious Project Scorpio in 2018. This might seem like a long wait, but it’s already March so it’s closer that you might think. There is some speculation about the split between mixed reality and VR because Scorpio is meant to have native VR support when it launches in 2017. In any case, the success of the PSVR is incentive enough for Microsoft to get VR on their consoles.
Source: PC World
