Just before Christmas VRFocus reported on Chinese virtual reality (VR) headset manufacturer Pico finally making its consumer focused Pico Goblin head-mounted display (HMD) available for purchase. The company isn’t stopping there however, as its original Pico Neo headset is getting a makeover for 2018, incorporating the six-degree-of-freedom (6DoF) standalone into the Vive Wave platform.
While the Pico Goblin is more your entry-level consumer version, packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 CPU, the Pico Neo comes supplied with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835, 4GB High-Speed RAM and SD support to 128 GB. As for screen specs the Pico Neo features 2 x 3.5 inch LCD displays – each with 1440 x 1600 screen resolution – and a 90Hz refresh rate.
Being part of Vive Wave the Pico Neo features some similarities to HTC’s upcoming standalone headset, the Vive Focus. So Pico’s HMD will include dual cameras for the WorldSense inside-out tracking system, so the headset will include 6DoF tracking as well as the controllers, depending on which version so purchase.
HTC’s Alvin Wang Graylin revealed on Twitter that Pico Neo will be sold in a consumer version with a singular 3DoF controller for 3999 RMB. A business version will be sold at 5299 RMB which will include two 6DoF controllers. At present Pico has only confirmed pre-order availability in China, with headsets expected to ship towards the end of January 2018.
#Pico + #ViveWave =
VR Ecosytem! Growing a healthy mobile #VR ecosystem one partner at a time. Pico to announce a #6dof Standalone based on the Vive Wave platform. @htcvive pic.twitter.com/OKG0vWBaTt
— Alvin Wang Graylin (@AGraylin) December 26, 2017
In terms of content, unlike the Pico Goblin which developers have to specifically design for, Pico Neo customers will have access to the Vive Wave platform and all the Vive Focus compatible software available. That’ll mean that customers will be able to purchase videogames through Viveport and the Pico Store.
As yet there’s been no confirmation of a western release date but it certainly seems on the cards. On Pico’s website the headset is listed at $749 USD to pre-order, clicking the link brings up a separate window for interested customers to submit their details. As further details on the Pico Neo are released, VRFocus will keep you updated.