Microsoft’s special Windows “Mixed Reality” event today saw the unveiling of its latest addition to the VR family, the Samsung HMD Odyssey, and also announced that all VR headsets slated to ship before holiday season are currently in pre-order. With a fresh advert, the company is delineating just how portable and easy to use their new class of VR headsets are in comparison to competing room-scale PC VR headsets like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
Topping out at $500, the same price as the Oculus Rift, Microsoft is drawing a pretty specific picture with their new Windows VR headset spot, and there’s really no subtext about it: Open up your laptop (almost any modern laptop will do for basic programs), turn on the wireless motion controllers, plug it the headset, and put it on.
While Rift and Vive require their own room calibration setup process, making you mark your playspace so you don’t smack straight into a wall, Microsoft’s line of headsets use inside-out positional tracking thanks to a set of wide-angle cameras on the front. This also allows the headset to track the motion controllers, making it truly a plug and play experience without the need of external sensors or basestations of any kind.
Noticeably, the new advert emphasizes travel and experiences instead of gaming, something that ought to attract non-gamers to the newest VR ecosytem.
Microsoft’s Windows VR headsets (branded as ‘Mixed Reality’) are nearly ready to ship, coming alongside the launch of Windows Fall Creators Update in mid-October. Announced today at Microsoft’s Windows Mixed Reality event, the company says a “preview” of SteamVR compatibility is sure to arrive sometime during the holiday season, giving its line of VR headsets access to the Steam’s vast library of room-scale games.
Update (10/03/17): Microsoft today announced that SteamVR support is surely headed to Windows VR headsets before the end of the year. Starting today, developers will be able to access a preview version of Windows Mixed Reality SteamVR support, but consumers will gain access sometime before the end of the year. The original article continues below.
Original article (09/04/17): Microsoft recently co-announced with Valve that the headsets will support SteamVR content, but didn’t say exactly when it would transpire.
As reported by the German tech publication Computer Base, Microsoft’s Greg Sullivan announced at the Berlin-based tech trade show IFA 2017 that SteamVR support wouldn’t be ready for the October 17th release of the Windows Fall Creators Update. According to ComputerBase, work on hooking the company’s swath of VR headsets into SteamVR has only just begun, and exactly when customers will be able to pop into Steam to buy and play supported titles, Sullivan couldn’t say.
image courtesy Microsoft
Windows VR headsets already have a number of confirmed titles, including Superhot VR (2016), Arizona Sunshine (2016), and Rec Room (2017) that can be available through the Microsoft Store. Check out the full list here.
As the holiday launch of the Windows VR headsets nears, Microsoft has published a new set of system requirements and an app allowing you to see if your PC will be ready for the company’s “Mixed Reality” platform.
Check to See If Your PC is Ready for Windows Mixed Reality
If you want to know whether or not your computer makes the grade, Microsoft has handily published a new application which will tell you just that. The ‘Windows Mixed Reality PC Check’ app is available on the Windows store, and will check your hardware against the Mixed Reality specifications.
Update (8/28/17): Microsoft seems to have pulled the Windows Mixed Reality PC Check app from the Windows store for now. It will likely return closer to the launch of the Windows VR headsets.
Image courtesy Microsoft
Even if your computer meets the specs, the app is likely to trigger a ‘Can’t run mixed reality’ message because the platform relies on the upcoming Windows 10 Fall Creators Update which hasn’t yet been released.
Microsoft today announced that the company will be bundling its Windows VR headsets and motion controllers, and making them available for purchase this holiday season starting at $400. Revealed by Alex Kipman, HoloLens’ chief inventor and technical lead, a “variety” of headsets and motion controllers will be available by end of year from HP, Lenovo, Dell, and Acer.
The reference design, which all of these headsets are based on, feature inside-out tracking, meaning you won’t need external sensors like with Oculus Rift or HTC Vive for room-scale interactions. With the addition of motion controllers, which are optically-tracked by the headsets’ onboard cameras, Microsoft’s PC VR platform hypothetically has the same basic ability as the two previously mentioned headsets. Despite an initial focus of on media consumption over hard core gaming thanks to the headsets’ ability to run basic apps on computers using integrated graphics, the platform’s inclusion of motion controllers, the ability to play VR content from Steam, and a new subset of special ‘Mixed Reality Ultra PCs’ has changed the headsets’ potential usecase considerably.
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Image courtesy Microsoft
HP headset, image courtesy Windows
Acer headset. image courtesy Windows
Dell headset, image courtesy The Verge
Lenovo headset, image courtesy Engadget
“When it comes to deciding which hardware is right for you, we know that our customers value choice in brand, industrial design, and features,” said Kipman. “That is why we created Windows Mixed Reality as a platform for you to enjoy experiences across multiple devices that meet your mobility and performance needs.”
Notably, the Windows VR headsets all more or less come in around 350g in weight, which is about 200g lighter than the Vive and 100g lighter than Rift. In a hands-on with Acer’s developer edition, Road to VR contributor and community designer for Rec RoomShawn Whiting said he “didn’t notice any screen door effect and text looked very legible. The downside of the Acer’s visuals are its field of view and lens quality.” As for its inside-out tracking, Whiting says the headset was “quite solid in all of my demos. I did experience the occasional tiny jitter in the headset’s tracking, but nothing major.”
We recently got a hands-on with the Windows motion controllers, which Road to VR Executive Editor Ben Lang says still presents some outstanding reliability issues when it comes to tracking. Check out the hands-on here.
Since the Vive’s permanent price slash down to $600, and the Rift’s temporary cut to $400 (including Touch), new entrants into VR will have plenty of testing and demos to do to figure out which headset is right for them. We’ll be taking a deeper dive into specs in the coming weeks to give you a good idea of what headset to buy this holiday season, so check back then. In the meantime, check out our deep dive reviews on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift andOculus Touch.
Microsoft’s proposed line-up also includes VR headsets from Asus and Chinese manufacturer 3Glasses, however the company makes no mention of the two in regards to holiday motion controller bundles.
Windows VR Headsets: Basic Specs
Two high-resolution LCDs at 1440 x 1440
2.89” diagonal display size (x2)
Front hinged display
95 degrees horizontal field of view
Display refresh rate up to 90 Hz (native)
Built-in audio out and microphone support through 3.5mm jack
Single cable with HDMI 2.0 (display) and USB 3.0 (data) for connectivity
Microsoft today announced a bevy of information regarding their upcoming Windows VR headset launch, which will see headsets from Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo coming this holiday season starting at $400. Revealed today by HoloLens chief inventor and project lead Alex Kipman, the Windows VR headsets have been confirmed to work with at least 67 apps—including games, experiences, and 360 video platforms.
Apps and Companies Supporting Windows VR Headsets:
This isn’t by any means a comprehensive list, as we’ve edited out some of the elusively Chinese-centric apps that don’t seem to offer multilingual support.
Windows VR headsets will also support SteamVR, as we suspect Valve and Microsoft are currently collaborating on an OpenVR driver that would allow for developers to more easily push support for games already designed for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
Microsoft’s HoloLens already has a physical input device, the HoloLens Clicker, but in a recently published patent, we may be getting a peek into what the company was initially planning before they decided to include each HoloLens with the tiny 3DoF device.
First spotted by The Vergevia Twitter user WalkingCat, the proposed wand features a trigger and what appears to be a touchpad and button just where the thumb would rest.
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image courtesy Microsoft
image courtesy Microsoft
image courtesy Microsoft
image courtesy Microsoft
The Clicker (which comes with HoloLens) already lets you essentially replace hand gestures so you can select, scroll, move, and resize 3D objects with the touch of a button, but the proposed device revealed in the patent appears to fit a different use-case, with its integrated trigger easily conjuring up thoughts of interactions like gripping items and possibly firing guns.
image courtesy Microsoft
These sorts of gaming-intensive interactions would ideally best be handled by something like Microsoft’s recently revealed motion controllers, but these critically do not support HoloLens, and are only for use with the company’s line of VR headsets.
While no supporting information was included in the official patent detailing the exact function of the touchpad and button below it, the patent specifically cites a Google Glass-compatible concept device created by industrial designer Jorge Trevino as a source of inspiration. Tentatively named Google Draw (the concept was created by Trevino, and is not a Google product), the AR stylus was imagined to work as both a pen for taking notes and a spray can.
image courtesy Jorge Trevino
Critically, the design of Microsoft’s AR input device wouldn’t be held like a stylus though, as it appears to be ergonomically similar to Vive’s Lighthouse motion controllers.
It’s unclear at this point if the company intends on producing the wand, although our hunch says it’s probably just an early concept. After all, we already got an eye-full last year during a Microsoft promo for their Mixed Reality platform. There’s still no telling what direction the next iteration of Microsoft’s HoloLens will take however, or whether the platform is making way for more dedicated AR gaming apps to fit alongside its productivity-focused Windows Universal Platform apps. Either way, we’ll be watching Microsoft intently for their next move to see if the device ever sees the light of day, or fades into obscurity.
Microsoft’s HoloLens already has a physical input device, the HoloLens Clicker, but in a recently published patent, we may be getting a peek into what the company was initially planning before they decided to include each HoloLens with the tiny 3DoF device.
First spotted by The Vergevia Twitter user WalkingCat, the proposed wand features a trigger and what appears to be a touchpad and button just where the thumb would rest.
1 of 4
image courtesy Microsoft
image courtesy Microsoft
image courtesy Microsoft
image courtesy Microsoft
The Clicker (which comes with HoloLens) already lets you essentially replace hand gestures so you can select, scroll, move, and resize 3D objects with the touch of a button, but the proposed device revealed in the patent appears to fit a different use-case, with its integrated trigger easily conjuring up thoughts of interactions like gripping items and possibly firing guns.
image courtesy Microsoft
These sorts of gaming-intensive interactions would ideally best be handled by something like Microsoft’s recently revealed motion controllers, but these critically do not support HoloLens, and are only for use with the company’s line of VR headsets.
While no supporting information was included in the official patent detailing the exact function of the touchpad and button below it, the patent specifically cites a Google Glass-compatible concept device created by industrial designer Jorge Trevino as a source of inspiration. Tentatively named Google Draw (the concept was created by Trevino, and is not a Google product), the AR stylus was imagined to work as both a pen for taking notes and a spray can.
image courtesy Jorge Trevino
Critically, the design of Microsoft’s AR input device wouldn’t be held like a stylus though, as it appears to be ergonomically similar to Vive’s Lighthouse motion controllers.
It’s unclear at this point if the company intends on producing the wand, although our hunch says it’s probably just an early concept. After all, we already got an eye-full last year during a Microsoft promo for their Mixed Reality platform. There’s still no telling what direction the next iteration of Microsoft’s HoloLens will take however, or whether the platform is making way for more dedicated AR gaming apps to fit alongside its productivity-focused Windows Universal Platform apps. Either way, we’ll be watching Microsoft intently for their next move to see if the device ever sees the light of day, or fades into obscurity.
