Das Headset von Lenovo wird zwischen 300 US-Dollar und 400 US-Dollar kosten und wird somit eher eines der günstigeren Headsets sein. Microsoft hatte veröffentlicht, dass die Headsets eine große Bandbreite an Spezifikationen abdecken sollen und somit jeder Kunde das passende Headset für die eigenen Bedürfnisse finden würde.
Während die Oculus Rift und die HTC Vive auf zusätzliche Hardware für die Bestimmung der Position im Raum (Positional Tracking) setzen, werden die Headsets für Windows 10 mit einem Inside-Out Tracking ausgestattet. Leider lässt Microsoft die neuen Headsets die Besucher der CES noch nicht testen, aber zumindest liegen die Prototypen aus. Die Bilder stammen von windowscentral.com:
3Glasses
Acer
Dell
HP
Auch wenn Geschmäcker verschieden sind, so wird das Headset von Acer wohl nicht das schönste Headset auf dem Markt werden. Die Designs der Virtual Reality Headsets von HP und Dell wirken doch deutlich schicker und weniger nach einem frühen Prototypen. Wir sind gespannt, wann wir mehr über die Spezifikationen erfahren werden.
We found out yesterday that Lenovo’s (still unnamed) VR headset is said to be surprisingly light and low cost, but after checking out the device ourselves, we found a hidden function that we wish was on every headset.
With the PSVR-like ‘halo’ head-mount of the Lenovo VR headset, the display enclosure hangs down from the forehead rather than being pressed against your face like a pair of ski goggles. Not only does that make it quite comfortable, but it also opens to door to a flip-up function that will make life wearing the headset much easier.
The Flip Factor
Putting on a headset only to realize you need to pick up a controller, find a pair of headphones, or answer your phone, is a pain. Sony’s PSVR has a retractable display enclosure which at least lets you peek out the bottom easily, but pointing your eyes downward at that angle gets uncomfortable after little more than a few seconds, and tilting your head (along with the heavy headset) up at an awkward angle to look at someone in the eye to talk them is no fun at all. The HTC Vive took at stab at the problem with a pass-through camera which lets you ‘see through’ the headset into the outside world, but the single-camera view lacks stereo depth (and is for some reason filtered with a silly stylized outline). In the end, the best solution to far to the ‘I need to look at something outside of my headset’ problem has simply been to remove the headset entirely.
As we got our hands on a design-prototype of Lenovo’s VR headset at CES this week, we found a handy feature that we hope to see replicated on headsets of the future: a simple hinge that allows the enclosure to easily flip up and down.
The prototype we got our hands on was non-functional, but the industrial design appeared surprisingly mature. The rear of the headband had a ratcheting tightener (similar to PSVR) to make sure the headset fits snugly as it rests mostly atop your forehead, using the back of your head as an anchor. Compared to other headsets out there, the Lenovo VR headset was surprisingly small; closer to Gear VR in size than PSVR or Vive. The fit was comfortable, but as a non-functional prototype—that probably isn’t equal to the final weight—it’s hard to say how representative it is of the finished product. Generally, we’ve liked the ‘halo’ head-mount design, and hope Lenovo can make it as comfortable as the PSVR.
Bring Your Own Audio
Sadly, the headset uses the BYOA (bring your own audio) approach, rather than an integrated audio solution like the Rift. The wrong pair of headphones could compromise the headset’s comfort. Whichever pair you decide to use, you’ll have to connect them to a 3.5mm headphone jack that’s on the bottom of the display enclosure. That seems like a fairly awkward place for the connection, as it puts the dangling cord possibly in the way of your hands. On the Vive, the audio connection is found behind the head, while PSVR places it on a small junction box along the headset’s tether.
Cameras and Connections
Thanks to the two cameras on the front, the Lenovo VR headset has inside-out positional tracking (so you won’t have to set up external sensors), but the headset still needs to be powered and get data back and forth to the computer, which is why you’ll find an HDMI and USB plug at the end of the cable. So far it seems these will go directly into the computer without any sort of breakout box, but Lenovo has been tight lipped on details beyond showing us the design prototype, though they have let spill that the headset will use dual 1440×1440 displays, besting the present resolution of the Rift, Vive, and PSVR. It’s unclear if the front cameras will be used for anything beyond positional tracking (like pass-through vision or gesture input).
Lenses and (lack of) Adjustments
Inside the display enclosure are two large lenses. We didn’t have a chance to inspect them up close—and for that matter the design-prototype may not have been using the final lenses that will end up in the headset—but they appeared to be non-Fresnel lenses, which (if final) means the headset won’t see the same sort of Fresnel-induced light ray artifacts as found in the Vive and Rift. Situated between the lenses we spied an infrared sensor which will detect when your head is or isn’t inside the device, allowing the screen to turn off and applications to pause when you pop the headset off (or flip the enclosure up).
Beyond the ratcheting mechanism on the back of the headband, we found no other adjustments on the headset (like lens separation or eye-relief). The compact enclosure means the Lenovo VR headset might have a challenge fitting glasses inside.
Lenovo hasn’t announced a release date for their VR headset yet, but have said it will be priced between $300 and $400. From what we’ve seen so far of the hardware, the headset is quite appealing, but the real test will come once we get to try out a functional version of the headset to see if the company has nailed the rest of it.
Microsoft OEMs plan relatively low-cost VR headsets in 2017 supporting Windows Holographic. It's priced around $300 -- about half the cost of the first round of VR systems. Lenovo has taken advantage of CES 2017 to introduce the first one.
The first VR headset for Window’s recently announced Holographic platform is almost here, and according to a report by The Verge, it’s going to cost between $300 and $400 when it goes on sale later this year.
Ramping up for CES 2017 in Las Vegas, Lenovo has revealed their newest entry into the world of VR, a yet unnamed headset sporting an impressive dual 1440 × 1440 OLED displays, a PlayStation VR-style halo strap system, and dual cameras that allow for room-scale positional tracking.
Lenovo told The Verge the price of the new VR headset isn’t fixed just yet, but should be “closer to $300.”
Not much else is known about the headset, but Lenovo maintains they’ll be targeting a final weight of around 350g, about 200g lighter than the HTC Vive and 100g lighter than the Oculus Rift. The headset shown to The Verge wasn’t working, so no information is currently available on field-of-view or whether the impressive sounding dual 1440 displays really deliver a better picture than the specially treated, albeit lower resolution 1080 × 1200 dual OLEDs in both the Rift and Vive.
Lenovo’s headset, while not officially confirmed, looks to employ computer vision for the purpose of positionally tracking the headset, effectively letting you play in a room-scale area without the need of external apparatus/sensors like PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive currently use. If tracking proves to be reliable, Lenovo’s new headset could be a serious contender in the burgeoning VR hardware market.
In the initial announcement of the Holographic platform back in October, Terry Myerson, Microsoft executive VP of Windows and Devices, says that VR headsets created by OEMs conforming to the company’s new Windows 10-based platform “will be the first and only to ship with inside-out, 6-degrees of freedom sensors.”
More Windows Holographic headsets are said to come in 2017 from HP, Asus, Acer and Dell.
We’re currently at CES in Las Vegas, so check back for previews, hands-ons and all the latest AR/VR news.
Its the first week of January and as always CES starts the year of with a technological bang, with companies from across the globe gathering in Las Vegas to showcase their latest innovations. The main event doesn’t start for a couple of days, but that hasn’t stopped Lenovo unveiling one of its virtual reality (VR) offerings, a new head-mounted display (HMD) for Windows Holographic.
Shown to The Verge and Engadget, the HMD was only a prototype and non-functional, but it gives a much more accurate look at what the company plans to roll out. From the images one of the first design ques you may notice is that the Lenovo device does resemble Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) PlayStation VR somewhat. Rather than the triple strap design used by HTC Vive and Oculus Rift to fix the unit onto a users head, the headset is merely suspended on a hinge from the main plastic strap. This will allow users to quickly exit out of VR to check a phone for example.
Coming in at around 350 grams – significantly lighter than 550 grams for HTC Vive – the Lenovo model boasts a pair 1,440 x 1,440 OLED panels, higher than Rift and Vive, but as the unit wasn’t operational no actual comparisons could be made.
What the design does uniquely feature – and will likely be seen on more Windows Holographic models – are two forward facing cameras. These are there to provide inside-out room scale tracking for the headset, thus removing the need for external cameras or sensors like the Vive’s Lighthouse system. They could also provide mixed-reality (MR) applications somewhat similar to Microsoft’s HoloLens, just far more basic as there would be no holographic reprojection.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the headset – namely when it’ll be launched – but its should be sometime this year with a retail price between $300 – $400 USD. For any further details on the device and Lenovo’s VR plans, keep reading VRFocus.
Microsoft’s Windows Holographic VR headsets are going to run the gamut of specs like input, field of view, and resolution. Lenovo’s offering sounds like it might sit somewhere in the middle.
The Chinese company revealed its first VR headset shortly ahead of CES 2017 in Las Vegas this week. As reported by The Verge and Engadget, Lenovo brought a non-functional prototype to its event, where it announced its line-up of products for 2017. No one can attest to how well the headset actually works, but its spec sheet leaves plenty of room for discussion.
Lenovo’s headset looks very similar to the white device here seen at Microsoft’s announcement last year
On the outside, Lenovo’s currently unnamed device looks similar to Sony’s PlayStation VR in design, with a ring that sits on top of the user’s headset to keep the weight off of the face like on the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Lenovo reportedly claims it will be lighter than the two headsets too, weighing in at 350g compared to the Rift’s 470g and the Vive’s 555g. A latch on the front lets the display swing up and out of the user’s view for quick access to the real world.
You’ll also notice the two front-mounted cameras, which are said to provide the inside-out tracking that Microsoft promised each of its headsets would support back in October. While these remove the need for external tracking sensors like Vive’s base stations or the Rift’s constellation trackers, it’s impossible to tell just how well it works until we see a working version for ourselves.
That said, Lenovo itself does have experience in this field, having released the first phone to support Google’s Project Tango 3D mapping cameras last year. That’s different tech to what the company will be using here, though.
Despite being inside-out tracked, the headset will require you to be wired to a Windows 10 PC. We don’t know the length of the cable, which will limit room-scale capabilities.
For display, Lenovo’s currently unnamed device has two 1440×1440 OLED panels which, again, we can’t really comment on until we’ve seen it running, though could end up besting Rift and Vive’s displays.
Tellingly, the headset is said to cost between $300 – $400, and will be closer to the lower end of that scale, according to the reports. Last year Microsoft told us that its VR headsets would start at $300, so this could be one of the lower-end devices we see, though we don’t know about specs like field of view and input just yet. We’ll likely find out in the near future; Lenovo says the device will ship this year.
A Lenovo representative apparently told The Verge that its headset, along with all other Windows 10 headsets, will run Windows Store applications on a virtual screen similar to PlayStation VR’s cinematic mode, or Microsoft’s own Xbox One streaming app for Rift. Selected HoloLens software is reportedly also due to be ported to the headsets.
Lenovo also has a new VR ready laptop, though the video below only shows the Oculus Rift, and not its own headset. The Legion Y720, as it’s called, features NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1060 card, 16GB of RAM and an Intel i7 processor.
Most interestingly, the laptop apparently boasts Lenovo’s own software that not only lets users watch 2D content on a virtual screen, but also play some non-VR games inside a headset by launching them through the company’s own entertainment hub. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was shown, for example, running in VR with head movements replacing the function of the right stick on a gamepad. The company calls this ‘VR Upscaling’. The troubles with playing games not designed for VR inside a headset are well-documented, so, just like the headset, it remains to be seen how useful a tool this will be.
Wir hatten im letzten Jahr berichtet, dass Microsoft sich einige Partner für neue Virtual Reality Headsets für Windows 10 ins Boot geholt hat. Nun wagt Lenovo den ersten Schritt und zeigt das Design des kommenden Virtual Reality Headsets des Unternehmens.
Lenovo VR
Aktuell hat Lenovo noch keinen Namen für das neue VR Headset verkündet und es gab auch keine Demonstrationen des Produktes. Lenovo lässt aber verlauten, dass das neue Headset mit zwei OLED Displays ausgestattet werden wird, welche jeweils eine Auflösung von 1440 x 1440 Pixel bieten. Die Oculus Rift und die HTC Vive setzen nur auf 1200 x 1080 Pixel pro Auge. Theoretisch sollte also der Bildeindruck bei dem Headset von Lenovo besser sein, doch in der Praxis muss sich dies erst noch beweisen. Wie das Beitragsbild bereits vermutet lässt, wird das Headset von Lenovo auch deutlich leichter als die HTC Vive werden. Das neue Headset soll nur 350 Gramm auf die Waage bringen und die Halterung scheint vom PlayStation VR Headset inspiriert zu sein, welches sich sehr komfortabel tragen lässt.
Außerdem setzt das Headset von Lenovo auf ein Inside-Out Tracking Verfahren und somit ist keine zusätzliche Kamera für das Tracking nötig. Laut Lenovo sollen alle Windows 10 Anwendungen in einem virtuellen Kino nutzbar sein. Ob das Lenovo Headset auch mit Steam funktionieren wird, bleibt abzuwarten. Wir gehen aber davon aus, dass weder Steam noch Lenovo auf diese Möglichkeit verzichten werden.
Leider wird das System wohl ohne einen Controller auskommen müssen, denn Lenovo hat bisher keinen Controller angekündigt. Dies ist natürlich problematisch, denn viele neue Virtual Reality Spiele setzen auf Motion Controller. Es bleibt zu hoffen, dass Microsoft und Lenovo noch eine Lösung hierfür präsentieren werden. Der angepeilte Preis spricht aber dafür, dass das Headset zunächst ohne Controller ausgeliefert werden wird. Lenovo versucht im Preisbereich zwischen 300 US-Dollar und 400 US-Dollar zu bleiben. Ein Datum für die Veröffentlichung der Hardware nannte das Unternehmen noch nicht.
Microsoft hatte in diesem Jahr angekündigt, dass es im kommenden Jahr viele neue Virtual Reality Headsets für Windows 10 geben wird. Microsoft wird diese Headsets aber nicht selbst produzieren, sondern die Headsets kommen von HP, Lenovo, Dell, Asus und Acer. Das Besondere an den Headsets ist, dass sie direkt von Windows unterstützt werden und keine zusätzliche Software benötigen. Außerdem sollen alle Headsets über ein Inside-Out Tracking-Verfahren verfügen und somit muss keine Kamera für das Tracking aufgestellt werden. Nun gibt es auch weitere Details zu den Spezifikationen.
Erste Daten zu den neuen Windows 10 VR Headsets
Microsoft hatte bereits verraten, dass die neuen Virtual Reality Headsets bei 300 US-Dollar starten werden. Natürlich sollte man bei diesem Preis keine Oculus Rift oder HTC Vive Qualität erwarten und dies wird auch aus der Übersicht der Spezifikationen deutlich. Die günstigsten Headsets werden wohl mit einem LCD Display mit 60 Hz auskommen müssen und schaffen eine Auflösung von 1080 x 1200 Pixel pro Auge. Die Auflösung deckt sich also bei den günstigsten Headsets mit der Auflösung der Oculus Rift und der HTC Vive, doch das LCD Display könnte für eine verschmierte Sicht beim Bewegen sorgen.
Viel Interessanter sind aber die Angaben für die teureren Headsets. Hier verspricht Microsoft eine maximale Auflösung von 1440 x 1440 Pixel pro Auge, eine Bildwiederholungsrate von 90 bis 120 Hz und die Verwendung eines OLED Displays. Zusätzlich zeigt die Übersicht auch, dass uns Motion Controller erwarten. Technisch gesehen könnten die neuen Headsets in der höheren Preiskategorie also die Oculus Rift und die HTC Vive schlagen. Doch wie wir wissen, sind reine Spezifikationen nicht alleine für die Magie verantwortlich.
Mit einer großen Bandbreite an Headsets für jeden Geldbeutel könnte Microsoft den richtigen Weg einschlagen. Letztendlich kann der Nutzer entscheiden, wie viel Geld ihm eine bessere Erfahrung wert ist. Außerdem sollten die Headsets vermutlich auch mit dem Rivvr System kompatibel sein und somit könnten die Headsets zukünftig von den Kabeln befreit werden. Aktuell sind alle Headsets mit einem Kabel versehen.
Just what is virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR)? These definitions were a topic of discussion in a couple of talks at the recent Develop:VR event that VRFocus was in attendance at.
It seems that Microsoft too are wondering, and with a new year bringing not only new innovations with their Hololens technology, not to mention their new series of Windows 10 virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) the tech giant has released a new video explaining all the various terms for VR experiences.
If you wondered what the differences in all these terms essentially boil down too Microsoft is here to explain the progression from Mobile VR to ‘World Scale’. For more Hololens news and updates from VRFocus check out our Hololens section, here.
Microsoft has confirmed that development kits of VR headsets for their Windows Holographic platform are in the works and will make their debut at GDC 2017 in March.
Today Microsoft confirmed that VR headsets from major manufacturers are set to launch in 2017. These headsets are said to be compatible with Windows Holographic, the AR/VR/MR extension of Windows 10 which will allow for immersive windows computing.
In order the develop made-for-Windows Holographic experiences, developers will need to know what hardware they’re targeting, and soon they’ll be able to thanks to development kit hardware that Microsoft announced will be made available to developers starting in March at GDC 2017 in San Francisco.
Details on the dev kits are scarce at the moment, but the company is soliciting developer interest via this survey form which aims to gather basic info from developers interested in the Windows Holographic dev kit.
The hardware could be based on a Microsoft-created reference platform, or could come from one of the major computer makers—Asus, Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo—whom the company says is creating VR headsets which will launch in 2017 for Windows Holographic.
