Category: StarVR

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StarVR One Resurfaces, Goes on Sale in Asia With US & Europe to Come

Isn’t this year full of surprises, from global lockdowns to Half-Life coming back, the rollercoaster that is 2020 keeps ongoing. Adding to this list is the StarVR One headset. The enterprise-focused device all but disappeared in 2018 but has now reemerged and available for purchase, in Japan and Taiwan.

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The StarVR project has had quite the bumpy journey since the headset was first revealed by Starbreeze way back in 2015. The following year the company partnered with Acer to make the headset a reality, creating the StarVR Corporation in the process. Everything came to an abrupt stop at the end of 2018 when Starbreeze Studios got into financial difficulties due to the poor sales of Overkill’s The Walking Dead. This also saw the closing of the StarVR Developer Program.

After that, it all went quiet until today when YouTube channel MRTV reported that sales had now begun in Asia. A purchase button has appeared on the StarVR website taking customers through to several Japanese and Taiwanese links for resellers and distributors. Further down the page, China is listed as coming soon while Europe, UK and the US all have ‘Inquiry Here’ buttons, where companies can enter their details.

StarVR One is most definitely an enterprise-focused device, aiming to compete with the likes of VRgineers’ XTAL or the Varjo VR-2. Notably absent from the StarVR website and the resellers in an actual price. When the StarVR Developer Program began in 2018 the headset was listed for $3,200 USD so it’s likely to have stayed in that region.

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StarVR One features a 210º horizontal and 130º vertical field of view (FOV) with a pair of VR-optimized, full RGB AMOLED displays offering 1,830 × 1,464 resolution per eye, serving up 16 million sub-pixels. Also built-in is Tobii eye tracking for automatic IPD adjustment and foveated rendering capabilities, alongside SteamVR Tracking 2.0 support.

Full Specifications for StarVR One:

  • Panel: 2 x 4.77” AMOLED
  • Display resolution: 16 million sub-pixels (1,830 x 1,464 resolution per eye)
  • Refresh rate: 90Hz low persistence
  • Lens type: Custom Fresnel lenses
  • Field of view: 210-degree horizontal FOV, 130-degree vertical FOV
  • Fully integrated Tobii eye tracking
  • IPD measurement with automatic SW adjustment
  • Dynamic Foveated Rendering
  • SteamVR tracking 2.0 up to two Base Stations
  • HMD
    • 2 x 0.9m Type-C cables
    • 2 x 5m Type-C extension cables
    • 1 x 3.5mm stereo headphone jack with microphone
  • Optional cable adapter box
    • 2 x DisplayPort
    • 2 x USB 2.0
  • Total cable length 5.9m
  • Weight: 450g (Only headset without head strap/headband and cables)

As further details including expanded territory support are revealed, VRFocus will let you know.

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Ultra-wide FOV Headset StarVR One Priced at $3,200, Selling to Enterprise Only

StarVR One, the ultra-wide field of view (FOV) VR headset, has traveled a long and winding path on its way to launch since it was first announced in late 2018 that developers and enterprise would be able to apply for hardware. Now the Taipei-based company has detailed price and availability in the US, Europe and Asia.

Update (May 4th, 2020): StarVR has detailed its official pricing, stating that their wide FOV headset is now available for purchase by enterprise customers for $3,200 or €2,800, which includes shipping, but excludes local taxes. The news was first reported by MRTV’s Sebastian Ang.

StarVR tells MRTV that since the headset is a b2b product, that price may skew lower based on order quantity. The company further confirmed that although StarVR One is indeed supported through OpenVR, however the number of viewports needed requires software-side changes for the sake of compatibility.

Furthermore, StarVR tells Ang that it’s headset is strictly meant for qualified enterprise customers, and interested parties will have to go through a selection process first (i.e. no prosumers). The original article follows below.

Original Article (April 9th, 2020): StarVR is now available in Japan and Taiwan through a handful of companies, including ELSA Japan Inc., Cybenet Systems, Access Co, and ASK Corporation in Japan, and Ability International Tenancy Co, Otsuka Information Technology Corp. and Axis3D Technology Co. in Taiwan. Availability in mainland China is marked as “coming soon”.

The news was first reported by Mixed Reality TV’s Sebastian Ang.

Pricing is still unclear, although we wouldn’t expect it to stray too far from its originally quoted $3,200 price tag when it was first offered through the developer program in November 2018 (see update). StarVR’s developer program was however indefinitely put on hold a short time afterwards, which was a direct result of its delisting from the Taipei stock exchange and subsequent reorganization from a public to private entity.

StarVR One, once the result of a partnership between Acer and game developers Starbreeze, is still likely well outside of the reach of consumers, appealing instead to businesses such as VR arcade operators, design firms, and other industrial use cases.

Just the same, when we tried it last back in September 2018 Road to VR Execute Editor Ben Lang was pretty impressed with what he saw:

“From my hands-on time with the headset, StarVR has done a great job of achieving optical comfort. The field of view feels immensely wide, reaching to the ends of your horizontal peripheral vision, without introducing eye-strain or edge distortions that are overtly distracting. The projection of the virtual world feels correct in a way that leaves the user free to soak in the added immersion that comes with such a wide field of view. Getting all of this right is key to Presence—that uniquely deep state of immersion,” said Lang.

The headset’s claim to fame invariably rests on its absolutely massive 210 × 130 degree FOV, dual custom AMOLED displays boasting 1,830 × 1,464 per lens resolution (total of 16 million sub-pixels), and eye-tracking from Swedish firm Tobii.

Check the specs and minimum requirements below:

StarVR One Specs

  • Panel – 2 x 4.77” AMOLED
  • Display resolution – 1,830 × 1,464 per lens resolution, total 16 million sub-pixels
  • Refresh rate – 90Hz low persistence
  • Lens type – Custom Fresnel lenses
  • Field of view – 210-degree horizontal FOV, 130-degree vertical FOV
  • Eye-tracking – Fully integrated Tobii eye-tracking, including Dynamic Foveated Rendering
  • IPD measurement – in-software solution
  • Tracking – SteamVR tracking 2.0 up to two Base Stations
  • Connectivity – 2 x 0.9m Type-C cables, 2 x 5m Type-C extension cables, 1 x 3.5mm stereo headphone jack with microphone
  • Port requirements – 2 x DisplayPort, 2 x USB 2.0
  • Total cable length – 5.9m

Minimum System Requirements

  • Operating system – Windows 10 64bits
  • Processor – Intel core i7-7700
  • Memory – 16GB
  • Graphics – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti or NVIDIA Quadro RTX5000/dedicated internal graphics card

The post Ultra-wide FOV Headset StarVR One Priced at $3,200, Selling to Enterprise Only appeared first on Road to VR.

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Starbreeze to Focus on Core Business Which Doesn’t Include VR

Payday 2 VR creator Starbreeze AB hasn’t been having a good time of late, filing for reconstruction due to poor sales of Overkill’s The Walking Dead and seeing CEO Bo Andersson step down. Today, further details have now emerged with the company stipulating how it plans to turn fortunes around, which could see its virtual reality (VR) aspirations die.

Overkill's The Walking Dead

In a press statement, the company has decided to focus on the group’s core business: internal game development and publishing. Seeing that Starbreeze AB states in its company synopsis that: “Operations are organized in three business areas: Starbreeze Games for own game development, Publishing, and VR Tech for technology development including the StarVR venture.” It would seem that the VR Tech side of the business will be dropped completely.

”We’re now focusing the business towards a portfolio consisting of a mix of internally developed games and publishing titles. We are humble for the task at hand, but our aim to build a qualitative company in the entertainment industry still stands, and the existing portfolio provides a good platform for our first-class teams,” said Mikael Nermark, Acting CEO.

“Our shift to core enables a larger focus on our internal talents and teams, whilst improving internal organizational and development processes,” adds said Stephane Decroix, Chief Development Officer. “Innovation and quality, and further on to deliver the best experiences for our players, will be our main goal in this process.”

OVERKILL's The Walking Dead

It might not all be bad news when it comes to VR, with Starbreeze AB looking to sell its interests: “For the part that does not belong to the core business, the company will immediately initiate a process to find collaborations with external parties to secure that these operations develop in a positive way,” a statement reads.

How much StarVR Corporation and its StarVR One headset will be affected is unclear, as Acer holds the controlling share.  The StarVR Developer Program has been put on indefinite hold currently, so there’s going to be no chance of any studios getting their hands on one. As this story unfolds, VRFocus will keep you updated.

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StarVR One: Auslieferung des Development Kits der VR-Brille gestoppt

Erst letzten Monat begann die Auslieferung der Entwickler-Kits der StarVR One, nun wird das Projekt bereits auf Eis gelegt. Grund dafür sind finanzielle Probleme des dahinterstehenden Entwicklerstudios Starbreeze, der Börsenrückzug des Unternehmens in Taiwan und damit verbundene interne Umstrukturierungen.

StarVR One – Auslieferung des Development Kits gestoppt

Das Start-up StarVR veröffentlichte kürzlich eine E-Mail an die Entwickler, in der eine vorläufige Pause des Dev-Kits der StarVR One verkündet wurde:

“An unsere geschätzte Community von Entwicklern und Partnern,

Wir bedauern, Ihnen mitteilen zu müssen, dass das StarVR-Developer-Programm bis auf weiteres auf Eis gelegt wurde. Wir glauben, dass es die verantwortungsvollste Vorgehensweise ist, das Programm vorerst stillzulegen, während unser Unternehmen im Begriff ist, sich zu privatisieren, was einige Änderungen in unserem Betrieb mit sich bringen kann.

Wir freuen uns über ihr Interesse und ihre Unterstützung für StarVR. Wir verstehen, dass viele von Ihnen sich auf den Kauf der StarVR-One-Brille gefreut haben und entschuldigen uns für die dadurch verursachten Unannehmlichkeiten.”

StarVR One Development Kit

Derzeit stehen dem Unternehmen harte Zeiten bevor. Erst kürzlich zogen sich die Verantwortlichen von der taiwanesischen Börse zurück. Eine Hauptversammlung der Aktionäre findet am 27. Dezember statt, um die genauen Verfahrensweisen zu besprechen. Zusätzlich wurden finanzielle Probleme bei Starbreeze bekannt. Im Zuge dessen steht eine komplette Umstrukturierung mit einer neuen strategischen Ausrichtung an. Dadurch soll zukünftig eine höhere Flexibilität gewährleistet werden. Hinter dem Start-up StarVR steht neben Entwicklerstudio Starbreeze ebenso Acer.

Die High-End-VR-Brille StarVR One soll durch sein extrem großes Sichtfeld mit scharfem Bild überzeugen. Das Entwickler-Kit war bisher für stolze 3200 Euro erhältlich. Ob die Käufer ein Exemplar erhalten haben, geht nicht aus dem Statement hervor.

(Quellen: Road to VR | Starbreeze)

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StarVR Developer Program Officially ‘on hold until further notice’

The virtual reality (VR) industry can be a tough business, some find success, others manage to get on by, and many more fail. Last month StarVR Corporation announced the launch of its developer programme, allowing select studios to get their hands on the $3,200 USD StarVR One headset. That’s now come to an abrupt stop today.

StarVR new1

In an official letter posted to its partners and developers via its blog, StarVR Corporation has said:

“To our valued community of developers and partners,

“We regret to inform you that the StarVR Developer Program has been put on hold until further notice.

“We believe it is the most responsible course of action to put the StarVR Developer Program on hold while our company is in the process of going private, which may entail some changes to our operations.

“Your interest and support for StarVR is greatly appreciated. We understand that many of you were looking forward to purchasing the StarVR One headset, and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

“Sincerely yours,

“The StarVR Team”

Where that leaves developers who have already invested in the programme is unclear, as there’s no indication the programme will start up again. For those that were thinking about joining up, it looks like you’ve dodged a bullet.

Zerolight

StarVR Corporation used to be a part of Starbreeze AB until it was spun off into its own separate company via a partnership with Acer. Starbreeze AB itself has been going through its own woes this week, filing for reconstruction in a bid to avoid bankruptcy as well as seeing its CEO Bo Andersson leaving.

As further details are released regarding StarVR Corporation going private, VRFocus will keep you updated.

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StarVR Developer Program Paused “until further notice” as Company Goes Private

StarVR, the Acer & Starbreeze owned startup behind the recently unveiled StarVR One wide field of view (FOV) headset, is going through a pretty rocky period after it was delisted from the Taipei stock exchange last month. Starbreeze today published an open letter to its developers notifying them the StarVR Developer Program is on hold until further notice.

Here’s the letter in full, which was also emailed to developers who signed up for the program:

To our valued community of developers and partners,

We regret to inform you that the StarVR Developer Program has been put on hold until further notice.

We believe it is the most responsible course of action to put the StarVR Developer Program on hold while our company is in the process of going private, which may entail some changes to our operations.

Your interest and support for StarVR is greatly appreciated. We understand that many of you were looking forward to purchasing the StarVR One headset, and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Sincerely yours,

The StarVR Team

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The StarVR Developer Program was devised to make StarVR One headsets available for purchase to a “select group of development teams and professional users.” There were also a few hoops to jump through to show that developers were up to the task of creating content for the $3,200 headset, which was unveiled in late August.

Where that leaves StarVR One, we’re just not sure at the moment. It’s very likely the company is searching for venture capital to make the transition from publicly traded company back to private firm a sound move financially.

The post StarVR Developer Program Paused “until further notice” as Company Goes Private appeared first on Road to VR.

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StarVR Developer Program ‘On Hold’ Due To ‘Uncertainties With Shareholder’

StarVR Developer Program ‘On Hold’ Due To ‘Uncertainties With Shareholder’

Less than a month after StarVR started accepting applications for its $3,200 developer kit program, the company has confirmed to UploadVR that it’s putting the process ‘on hold’.

Last month, StarVR stated that its first production units for StarVR One were ready. Developers could apply to purchase the headset, which featured 210° horizontal × 130° vertical field of view, dual AMOLED panels, integrated eye tracking and SteamVR 2.0 tracking (though no SteamVR base stations to actually track the device). Yesterday we also reported on the StarVR’s claims that its headset would be the first to support the new VirtualLink standard.

But trouble was brewing surrounding the announcement. Ahead of the launch, StarVR announced that it was delisting StarVR from the Taipei Exchange Emerging Markets board, citing the current state of the VR industry as one reason. Then, earlier this week, we learned that headset creator Starbreeze, which now owns around a third of StarVR (the other two-thirds belonging to Acer), had filed for reconstruction with the Stockholm District Court. Its offices have been raided this week, leading to one arrest linked to insider-trading.

Today a StarVR spokesperson provided UploadVR with the following statement: “We believe it is the most responsible course of action to put the StarVR Developer Program on hold while there are uncertainties with our key overseas shareholder, and also while our company is in the process of going private, which may entail some changes to our operations.”

The same message has been sent to anyone that had enrolled in the program thus far. The statement certainly seems to refer to Starbreeze’s current difficulties.

It’s uncertain what this means for the future of the VR headset, which had been designed for location-based and enterprise experiences. One thing is likely; developers will have to wait at least a little longer to get their hands on the hardware if it does indeed ever reach their doorsteps.

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The post StarVR Developer Program ‘On Hold’ Due To ‘Uncertainties With Shareholder’ appeared first on UploadVR.

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Report: Acer Could Sell or Disband StarVR Soon

StarVR Corporation, an Acer and Starbreeze partnership behind the wide field of view (FOV) VR headset StarVR One, could be on the ropes after its delisting from the Taipei stock exchange earlier this month.

Digitimes reports that Acer, a 63 percent majority stakeholder in the company, has given StarVR three months to turn profitable, citing an anonymous ‘market watcher’ source.

Another Digitimes source maintains that Acer is also actively looking to sell the company to firms based in China or Japan.

Sweden-based game company Starbreeze, which currently owns a 33 percent interest in StarVR, says in a recent announcement that stakeholders will meet next month “to decide whether StarVR Corporation should cease to be a public company.”

Photo by Road to VR

In October of last year, Acer took over as majority stakeholder of StarVR with a $5 million capital injection, making for a total of $15 million set aside for the company to produce and market its wide FOV StarVR headset. An earlier version of the headset has found its way into Japan-based SEGA game centers, IMAX VR centres, and VR Park in the Dubai Mall.

In August the company unveiled StarVR One, the latest iteration of the headset which incorporates SteamVR 2.0 tracking sensors, new dual 1,830 × 1,464 AMOLED displays (3,660 × 1,464 across both eyes) with a 90Hz refresh rate, and optics providing a 210 degree horizontal FOV.

Last week, the company opened applications to developers looking to create for the $3,200 headset, which is aimed at commercial and enterprise use-cases.

Should the company be disbanded, the report maintains, StarVR employees will be incorporated into Acer.

The post Report: Acer Could Sell or Disband StarVR Soon appeared first on Road to VR.

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StarVR Available for $3,200, Developer Program Commences

Having revealed enterprise focused head-mounted display (HMD) StarVR One during the summer, StarVR Corporation has now launched its developer programme, alongside the final price for the device, $3,200 USD.

StarVR new1

To begin with, StarVR One isn’t going to be made widely available, production units are ready and will be made available to select partners. At that price StarVR will only be viable to larger developers and companies, putting it in close competition with VRgineers $5,800 headset ‘XTAL’.

While the XTAL HMD has a 170º field-of-view (FOV), StarVR One has a market leading 210º FOV combined with integrated eye tracking, and a VR-optimized AMOLED display serving up 16 million sub-pixels at a refresh rate of 90 frames per second (FPS). Included in the box for the $3,200 price is 1 x 5mType-C cable, 2 x 0.5m DP cable, 2 x 0.5m USB Type-A cable, 1 x power adapter, 2 x secure cable holder, cable adapter, and cable adapter anti-slip mat.

You may be surprised to know that controllers and tracking system are not included with the purchase. The headset will support SteamVR tracking versions 1.0 and 2.0. There will also be the StarVR One XT version with active optical markers for more tracking solutions, but as yet availability is still to be announced.

Zerolight

Development teams can now apply for the development programme, answering a few questions about the project they’re creating. If selected, they’ll then be given the opportunity to by the headset, download the SDK, as well as access the support forum and the StarVR community.

Currently, applications are open in the following regions: USA (except for Hawaii and Alaska), Canada; Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Norway, and Switzerland; China, Taiwan, and Japan.

Head to the official StarVR website to begin the process, and for any further updates from StarVR Corporation keep reading VRFocus.

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StarVR One Development Kit für 3200 US-Dollar

Werbung für Virtual Reality Hygiene

Mit der StarVR One will StarVR nun nicht mehr nur die eigene Software präsentieren, sondern auch andere Unternehmen sollen die VR-Brille für ihre eigenen Zwecke nutzen. Jetzt können sich Entwickler/innen für ein Development Kit registrieren, welches mit 3200 US-Dollar zu Buche schlägt.

StarVR One Development Kit für 3200 US-Dollar

StarVR One Development Kit

Die StarVR One besticht durch ein extrem großes Field of View von 210 Grad, welches keine störende Verzerrungen zu den Rändern hin haben soll. Zudem wird ein AMOLED mit 90Hz und RGB-Anordnung mit 1830 x 1462 Pixel Pro Auge für klare Bilder sorgen. Das Eye Tracking kann nicht nur für eine Auswahl im Menü verwendet werden, sondern auch Foveated Rendering wird möglich sein sowie eine automatische Anpassung an die Pupillendistanz. Dies kann besonders bei Vorführung von Vorteil sein, da Neulinge oft ihren IPD-Wert nicht kennen.

Aktuell kann die StarVR One nicht frei bestellt werden, sondern ihr müsst euch auf ein Headset bewerben. Beim Preis von 3200 US-Dollar ist nur die nackte VR-Brille enthalten, sie wird aber mit dem SteamVR Tracking 2.0  (und 1.0) kompatibel sein. Sollte euer Unternehmen also eine HTC Vive oder eine HTC Vive Pro besitzen, könnt ihr die StarVR One im selben Space verwenden. Plug-ins für Unity und Unreal und ein eigenes SDK stehen bereit.

Falls ihr jetzt Interesse an einer StarVR One bekommen habt, könnt ihr euch hier für ein Development Kit registrieren. Alle weiteren Informationen zur VR-Brille findet ihr hier.

 

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