Bigscreen’s new VR headset goes small • TechCrunch

I’m undecided how excessive up measurement is on the VR scene’s present record of complaints. Fact is, there are nonetheless a lot of issues standing between the expertise and mainstream acceptance. Nonetheless, large, cumbersome headsets are a factor value discussing.

Again at CES, I attempted HTC’s Vive XR Elite, which made portability a centerpiece. After additionally demoing the PlayStation VR2, the Magic Leap 2 and the Meta Quest Professional at CES, I can verify that measurement does, certainly, matter right here, so far as consolation is worried. And that was simply over the course of a 20-minute trial. Get for much longer than that, and the issues can put on on the neck, inhibit motion and usually flip you right into a sweaty mess.

This morning, Los Angeles-based Bigscreen introduced its personal product, which it’s at the moment billing because the “world’s smallest VR headset.” The considerably sarcastically named Bigscreen Past weighs in at a bit of over 1 / 4 pound — examine that to the Vive XR Elite’s 1.4 kilos. In a launch, founder and CEO Darshan Shankar notes that fashionable headsets have largely been heading in the other way, as expertise has improved.

“In the present day’s main VR headsets have doubled in weight in comparison with headsets from 2016,” he says. “We constructed Past as a result of we felt VR was too heavy, cumbersome and uncomfortable. We invented new applied sciences to extend consolation and developed ultra-high-end parts like OLED microdisplays and pancake optics to extend immersion. To ship the most effective software program expertise for watching motion pictures in Bigscreen, we additionally needed to construct the most effective {hardware} with Bigscreen Past.”

Final yr, the startup raised a $3 million Collection A extension, that includes Andreessen Horowitz and True Ventures. That adopted an $11 million Collection A in 2017, additionally led by the 2 corporations. On the time, Bigscreen, true to its identify, was targeted on creating software program to observe movies for platforms like Oculus and Vive. Amongst its choices was an app designed to imitate a movie show expertise. Up to now, the agency has raised $17 million.

The forthcoming Past encompasses a pair of OLED shows with a mixed 5120 x 2560 decision. SteamVR monitoring, appropriate with its V1 and V2 base stations, is used to find out the wearers’ place. Bigscreen additionally customizes the headsets based mostly on a 3D face scan completed by the consumer by way of iPhone app.

The worth is pretty cheap — not less than by present VR headset requirements — at $999. Preorder begins at the moment and can start transport to U.S. prospects in Q3, to Canadian and European prospects in This autumn and to Japan, Australia and New Zealand even later within the yr. Bigscreen notes that the staggered rollout is due, partially, to the bottleneck of the headset customization course of.

Word: The gear within the pictures that accompany this piece are prototypes.