Category: Varjo Technologies

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VR Company Varjo Announces Series B Investment

Varjo Technologies is working on developing a virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) headset designed to bring human-eye resolution for VR to industry. The company has now announced a $31m (USD) Series B investment, led by Atomico, which is aimed at bringing the device to market.

The Series B investment will be used to scale Varjo’s current hardware and software teams from its current 80-person team to over 200 in the next 12 months, and will also be used to finance the global launch of Varjo’s first product.

Varjo AR

The aim to produce an industrial grade VR/MR headset that lets professionals in sectors from aerospace to architecture work in human-eye resolution in VR or MR, when designing new products. The headset can be integrated with the world’s most popular 3D engines and software tools. The Varjo headset has been created to allow for high levels of precision and visual fidelity.

“We hope that the impact of our hardware and software platform on industry will be as profound as the introduction of the Graphical User Interface,” said Varjo co-founder and CEO, Urho Konttori. “At Varjo we’re extremely proud to welcome Atomico, Europe’s most experienced VC, and industry icon Siemens, to our mission of launching a new era of immersive computing for professionals.”

“The resolution of VR devices on the market today is a fraction of what the average human eye can see,” said Atomico founding partner and CEO, Niklas Zennström. “Until we met Varjo’s visionary founders and experienced their superior product firsthand, we thought that VR was still at least 10 years away from being truly useful for professionals. It’s because of Varjo’s world class team that industries such as automotive, engineering, aerospace, architecture, construction, industrial design and real-world training simulations won’t have to wait that long to be able to utilize the technology for their business-critical use cases.”

Varjo AR

Varjo is planning on launching the headset in Q4 of 2018, with an AR/MR add-on to the headset available on 2019. For future coverage of Varjo, keep checking back with VRFocus.

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Varjo Reveal New Add-On For High Quality Pass-Through AR

Finnish technology company Varjo Technologies, came out of nowhere last year when they revealed they were working on a new virtual reality (VR) headset which claimed to match the same resolution as the human eye. Dubbed the bionic display, the headset is planned to become available to enterprise users later this year. Now thought, the company have announced a new add-on for the headset which will bring with it high-quality pass-through augmented reality (AR) capabilities.

Varjo AR

Showcasing the reveal of the add-on during this weeks AWE 2018 conference, the company is targeting maximum quality visuals for their new add-on. The version shown off in tech demo – which is available to view below – showcases the unit housing a pair of 4K camera with lenses that match the headset’s own. This allows for a 95-degree field of view with support for stereoscopic pass-through video at 90Hz. Currently the device has around 40ms latency with the team hard are work to bring that down to a single digital before the add-on launches.

The released video from Varjo shows an impressive demonstration of the new add-on at work, with the start of the video claiming it was shot entirely through the prototype in real-time. The result is a mixed reality (MR) showcase of a range of high quality 3D assets as the user is being walked around them. Though the showcase is visual stunning and a testament to the level of detail that Varjo are hoping to achieve it is still only prototype footage meaning anything can change between now and release.

Varjo AR

Another then the demonstration given to attendees at AWE 2018 and the release showcase, there is not much information available for the new AR add-on. Varjo seem as always to be committed to deliver a high quality product aimed at the enterprise market and should the add-on deliver on that promise, Varjo may very well be on to a winner.

Varjo is hoping to release the new AR add-on to their headsets sometime in 2019 with the final release of the bionic display VR headsets planned for later this year. VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on both of these products in the future so make sure to stay tuned for more.

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Varjo Raises $8.2M Investment to Further Develop “Human Eye-resolution” Headsets

Varjo Technologies, a Helsinki-based startup known for its ‘human eye-resolution’ display intended for VR headets, today announced it’s closed an $8.2M Series A funding round that aims to support the upcoming launch of Varjo-branded enterprise VR/AR/XR products.

The Series A was lead by European venture capital fund EQT Ventures Fund, followed by Lifeline Ventures Fund III, The Venture Reality Fund, private investor John Lindfors, Foobar Technologies, Presence Capital Fund I, Bragiel Bros I, and Sisu Game Ventures.

With its eye on producing its own enterprise-facing headsets housing what Varjo calls a ‘Bionic’ display, the company says a Varjo-branded VR/AR/XR products will begin shipping to professional users in late Q4, 2017.

comparison showing standard VR headset display next to Varjo’s 20/20 prototype, image courtesy Varjo

“Varjo is fast growing from a startup to a best-in-class global supplier of VR/AR headsets,” said Urho Konttori, CEO and founder of Varjo Technologies. “We are now moving past research into the development stage and are so glad to achieve this in collaboration with EQT Ventures. We clicked the moment we met with them – the team literally started on go-to-market strategy during our first meeting. With EQT Ventures, we not only have a VC, but a true partner in growth.”

Varjo calls their prototype “20|20”, saying that it’s specifically designed for professional users and with resolutions more than 70 times beyond any currently shipping or announced head-mounted display.

Varjo’s prototype hiding inside of an Oculus Rift, image courtesy Ubergizmo

Tech Crunch got a hands-on with an early demo of Varjoi’s tech back in June, which packed a pair of high-resolution Sony MicroOLED displays measuring 0.7 inches diagonally, boasting 3,000 pixels per inch (PPI). As a significant jump from Oculus Rift of HTC Vive‘s 447-461 PPI, the chief complaint with these microdisplays is they typically don’t provide an acceptable field of view (FOV) for the purposes of VR, but Varjo says their upcoming VR headset will ultimately deliver an 100 degree FOV, just shy of the Rift or Vive’s 110 degree FOV.

The company is so far staying mum on any other specifics surrounding their headset.

The post Varjo Raises $8.2M Investment to Further Develop “Human Eye-resolution” Headsets appeared first on Road to VR.

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This Startup Aims to Deliver a VR Headset with ‘Human Eye Level’ Resolution

Varjo Technologies, a Helsinki-based startup now out of stealth, recently demonstrated what it calls the world’s first human eye-resolution headmounted display. Intended for its own swath of Varjo-branded headsets, the new display configuration promises “unprecedented resolution of VR and AR content limited only by the perception of the human eye itself.”

According to a hands-on by Tech Crunch, the headset packs a pair of high-resolution Sony MicroOLED displays measuring 0.7 inches diagonally that boast 3,000 pixels per inch (PPI)—a significant jump from Oculus Rift of HTC Vive’s 447-461 PPI. Microdisplays don’t typically provide an acceptable field of view (FOV) for the purposes of VR, but Varjo is combining a few methods to provide the pixel-dense picture to an entire 100 degree FOV.

As reported by Tech Crunch, these microdisplays “fill up about a 20-degree field of view which is reflected off of mirrors in the headset while the wider scene is displayed on a more normal resolution display in the background.”

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image courtesy Ubergizmo
image courtesy Ubergizmo
image courtesy Ubergizmo

Codenamed 20|20, Varjo (meaning ‘shadow’ in Finnish) built their early prototype inside of a hacked Oculus Rift by a team of optical scientists, creatives and developers who formerly occupied top positions at Microsoft, Nokia, Intel, Nvidia and Rovio.

Billed as a “bionic display,” the prototype shown to Tech Crunch featured a “fixed focus display” that was set at the center point of the users vision, but the company says its currently building systems that will dynamically adjust the microdisplay-reflected image to your gaze thanks to the future addition of integrated eye-tracking technology.

conventional VR resolution (below), Varjo’s resolution (above)| image courtesy Varjo

For now, the headset is destined for professional users, as the technology will no doubt require a top-in-class computer due to the graphical constraints of delivering rendered images that can make use of the display’s high pixel density. It’s also difficult to say how a hardware-based solution will stand up to everyday use since it requires lenses to physically move every time your eye shifts position.

Comparative matrix Effective resolution Field of view
Varjo 20|20 70 MP 100°
Oculus, Vive 1.2 MP 100°
VR in 5 years * 16 MP 140°
HoloLens 1 MP 32°
ODG R9 2 MP 50°
Meta II 1.8 MP 100°
* Prediction 2016 by Oculus Chief Scientist Michael Abrash at Oculus Connect 3

“Varjo’s patented display innovation pushes VR technology 10 years ahead of the current state of-the-art, where people can experience unprecedented resolution of VR and AR content limited only by the perception of the human eye itself,” said Urho Konttori, CEO and founder of Varjo Technologies. “This technology, along with Varjo VST, jump-starts the immersive computing age overnight – VR is no longer a curiosity, but now can be a professional tool for all industries.”

The high resolution display technology will be shipping in Varjo-branded products specifically for professional users and applications starting in late Q4, 2017.

The post This Startup Aims to Deliver a VR Headset with ‘Human Eye Level’ Resolution appeared first on Road to VR.

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Varjo Announces “20|20”: a Human Eye-Resolution Headset Display

Varjo Technologies, a Finnish company that’s recently emerged from stealth, has revealed what its been working on, a new display for virtual reality (VR) headsets with a claimed resolution the same as the human eye. It’s been dubbed “20|20”.

Current headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, whilst high-quality, can suffer from a ‘screen-door’ effect because of the distance of the display from the eye’s – this was more pronounced in earlier models like the Oculus DK1/DK2. The resolutions equate to around 1.2 MP says Varjo, while its new display has a resolution of 70 MP creating far greater clarity to improve immersive experiences, whilst keeping the same 100-degree field of view (FOV).

Varjo 4K cinemascope stills 3

Codenamed “20|20” after perfect vision, the company’s prototype is based on technology created by a team of optical scientists, creatives and developers who previously worked at top tech firms like Microsoft, Nokia, Intel, Nvidia and Rovio.

Even with the announcement Varjo has kept further details on the new display fairly quiet, simply it combines a context display, focus display, optical combiner and gaze tracker. It also uses foveated eye-tracking, a process VRFocus has covered before to help reduce processing requirements, which is possibly why the company claims such a high MP.

“Varjo’s patented display innovation pushes VR technology 10 years ahead of the current state of-the-art, where people can experience unprecedented resolution of VR and AR content limited only by the perception of the human eye itself,” said Urho Konttori, CEO and founder of Varjo Technologies in a statement. “This technology, along with Varjo VST, jump-starts the immersive computing age overnight – VR is no longer a curiosity, but now can be a professional tool for all industries.”

It will being shipping: “Varjo-branded products specifically for professional users and applications starting in late Q4, 2017,” so check back with VRFocus as further details emerge.

Comparative matrix Effective resolution Field of view
Varjo 20|20 70 MP 100°
Oculus, Vive 1.2 MP 100°
VR in 5 years * 16 MP 140°
HoloLens 1 MP 32°
ODG R9 2 MP 50°
Meta II 1.8 MP 100°
* Prediction 2016 by Oculus Chief Scientist Michael Abrash at Oculus Connect 3