VR Eyeglasses – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

January 12, 2021

New Design Appears at CES 2021 for Panasonic’s VR Glasses

During CES 2020 one of the most surprising virtual reality (VR) related reveals came from Panasonic with its VR Glasses. Shown in early prototype form, for CES 2021 this week a slightly tweaked design has appeared alongside several specs.

Still, without a decent name, the new Panasonic VR Glasses have distinctly chunkier arms which look to house cameras as the company now states the device uses: “optical technologies used in LUMIX digital cameras.” Those bigger arms no longer tuck behind the ears like normal glasses, gripping the back of your head instead. There’s no mention if this is adjustable though.

In fact, overall details are still fairly sparse when it comes to the new design. Panasonic has said the VR Glasses feature 2.6K micro-OLED panels for each eye with High-Dynamic Range (HDR) capability. These come from Kopin which announced its Lightning 2.6K x 2.6K OLED display (2560 x 2560 resolution) last year. The duo-stack OLED has 10-bit colour control so users can enjoy UHD high-quality images without the dreaded screen door effect hampering the experience.

And just like before it’ll be employing acoustic technologies from its Technics audio products with an ‘original dynamic driver’. Whether this means built-in speakers or merely headphones remains to be seen – previous marketing images did show cabled in earphones.

Panasonic VR Eyeglasses — Panasonic VR Glasses CES 2020

The glasses will connect to either PC’s or 5G-capable smartphones to deliver content via a USB-C cable so you’ll be able to enjoy UHD visuals wherever you go. However, the design doesn’t support the wearing of actual glasses but there will be diopter adjustment options alongside that bridge wheel for adjusting Inter-Pupillary Distance (IPD). VRFocus found it work quite well when testing the prototype in 2020.

As for availability and price? Well, you’ll have to wait for those, Panasonic has yet to even indicate a possible release year let alone how much the VR Glasses will cost. Maybe it’ll do a 5G smartphone bundle like Neal Light? As and when further details are released, VRFocus will let you know.

May 26, 2020

Influx of Qualcomm XR2 Powered 5G XR Viewers are Coming

Technology isn’t quite there yet when it comes to a stylish pair of sunglasses which have virtual or augmented reality (VR/AR) tech built-in, but steps towards that end goal are being made. Today, Qualcomm has unveiled a selection of ‘XR Viewers’ which use its XR2 5G platform slated to arrive in the next 12 months.

Some of these have already been seen before, most notably the Nreal Light and the Panasonic UHD VR Eyeglasses which appeared during CES 2020 in January and XRSpace. What all of these represent is an immersive ecosystem of companies from smartphone makers to global telecommunications operators looking to drive a new category of headsets which are consumer-friendly.

All the XR Viewers are designed to tether to the latest 5G-capable smartphones powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 or 865 processors, thus providing quality XR content via 5G’s high bandwidth and low latency technology. Currently, XR viewer manufacturers include 3Glasses, iQIYI, Nreal, OPPO, Panasonic, Pico and Shadow Creator, while smartphone OEM’s who are participating are ASUS, BlackShark, OnePlus, OPPO, Smartisan, vivo and ZTE.

While devices like Nreal Light are slated for a 2020 release, Qualcomm expects most of these to arrive within a year, although some will likely be specific to certain markets like China. To ensure seamless connections for a consumer-friendly experience, Qualcomm’s XR Optimized Certification Program tests performance and validates compatibility between both devices, looking at head tracking, power, thermal, motion to photon latency and other variables.

“With the support of Qualcomm Technologies, we plan to optimize these VR glasses to work seamlessly with 5G-enabled smartphones,” said Michiko Ogawa, CTO, Appliances Company, Panasonic Corporation. “With a combination of 5G connectivity and compact, lightweight, ultra-high image quality VR glasses, we hope to deliver highly immersive experiences for live music & sports events in 2021 and beyond.”

At the same time Qualcomm has laid out its expectations for the future of this sector, envisioning that the tether will disappear within the next four years; devices wirelessly connecting to phones. While a full 5G standalone headset is somewhere between 5-10 years away.

As development continues and the XR Viewers come to market, VRFocus will bring you further updates.

January 15, 2020

CES 2020 Interview: Peeking Into Panasonic’s VR Eyeglasses

So was CES 2020 amazing for the virtual reality (VR) industry? There was some interesting tech shown but there wasn’t a lot of truly standout advancements. One that did gain a lot of attention was Panasonic’s VR Eyeglasses, a rather stylish looking device which could actually make VR look cool. VRFocus managed to not only demo a prototype model but also spoke with Panasonic’s Makoto Morise to learn more about the project.

Panasonic VR Eyeglasses

It was four years ago that VRFocus first reported on Panasonic developing a head-mounted display (HMD) with a kit which connected to a PC whilst employing glasses like ergonomics for wearability. That initial glasses like aesthetic has proven to be a core design choice with the latest CES 2020 design looking like some high-tech sunglasses.

It’s the look of the headset which has attracted such interest from media and consumer alike, moving away from the often bulky VR devices currently seen on the market. Yet there compromises with the design such as 3DoF, instead of 6DoF, limiting user interaction for gaming purposes. On the other hand, the headset features a 2k micro OLED display for each eye, offering 4K content consumption of standard and 360-degree videos.

There are other interesting design choices such as the IPD adjustment, the eye cowling to avoid light leakage and the use of Technics audio for high fidelity sound. Check out VRFocus’ hands-on article to see what we thought of the early prototype.

Panasonic VR Eyeglasses

Morise, Industry Alliance and Partnership executive at Panasonic R&D Company of America was on hand to chat about the prototype and detail a little more information about this new product and its debut showcase at CES 2020.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Panasonic’s VR Eyeglasses as development progresses and keep an eye out for further CES 2020 interviews coming in the following days.

January 14, 2020

Hands-on With Panasonic’s VR Eyeglasses: A Stylish Step Forward

One of the biggest announcements relating to the virtual reality (VR) industry during CES 2020 came from an unexpected source, Panasonic. The company revealed a device currently called ‘UHD VR Eyeglasses’ – a snappy title if ever there was one – which promises not only a rich visual experience for the wearer but also a fashionable take on strapping technology to your face.

Panasonic VR Eyeglasses It’s certainly the design which has caught most people’s attention, offering what many hope VR headsets will become in the future, trendy and compact devices which don’t look like monolithic stones. Whilst augmented reality (AR) headsets have gone down the glasses design path due to the nature of that particular technology, the same can’t be said for VR headsets which do need a design overhaul yet are limited due to lenses, displays and other factors.

Panasonic had two units on display at CES 2020, the working prototype and one designed to portray the final unit weight. The reason for this is that the working model was hooked up to a PC with a myriad of cables, adding extra weight and pull. This meant holding the VR Eyeglasses to your face instead of neatly resting on the face. It’s a prototype after all.

On first inspection, the headsets’ fit and form factor bode well with the rubber eye surround neatly fitting around each eye. Not only did it feel comfortable but there was no light leakage whatsoever, ensuring the display didn’t have to compete with unwanted rays which could affect the image quality. A novel little feature was the manual IPD adjustment controlled via a bar across the bridge. This could be twisted to widen or narrow the glasses accordingly. It wasn’t too fiddly to use (even with the cables and weight) although, those with large hands and stocky fingers may find the process a little more awkward.

Panasonic VR Eyeglasses

It’s also worth noting the VR Eyeglasses won’t support wearing actual glasses due to the design. The prototype did have a range of removable lenses which sat just behind the rubber cowling to cater for those that did. This will most likely be the path Panasonic chooses when catering for glasses although the company did note a final decision had yet to be made.

The VR Eyeglasses are a combination of Panasonic and Kopin technologies, with the latter providing the display panels. A 2k micro OLED panel is used per eye offering Ultra HD quality (UHD) and it certainly shows, with very crisp, vibrant video footage. Due to the size of the panel, the field of view (FoV) is far narrower than other VR headsets, offering an almost square image. The final model will use a wider panel to help improve the FoV.

Complimenting the screen will be Panasonic’s audio expertise, provided by its Technics team. The final version will have the audio provided by in-ear headphones but for the prototype small external speakers were used instead, so we’ll have to wait and see how that turns out.

Panasonic VR Eyeglasses

So how will the VR Eyeglasses work without the PC? Well, in one of the arms will be a USB-C connector which can either go to a smartphone or an external battery/processor unit – sounding similar to Magic Leap 1. No details have been mentioned at this time apart from a brief mention of 5G connectivity which was a hot topic at CES 2020 and likely so next year as well.

When it eventually comes to buying and using the glasses that’s where the real disappointment starts to set in. Offering 3DoF, Panasonic isn’t aiming the device at the consumer market as some sort of Oculus Go competitor by the looks of it. Applications will be focused towards enterprise use cases such as entertainment consumption whilst travelling.

Testing the VR Eyeglasses a couple of days after the hype certainly felt a little underwhelming, as they’re really just a fancy video viewer. With no mention of a controller or what sort of content platform would support the device, the brief demo created more questions than answers – which will probably come at CES 2021.