Some of the big box retailers have already published their Black Friday deals, but there are still a few to go leading up to the November 23rd sale. But before Black Friday and Cyber Monday even begin, you can get an awesome deal on a new Windows VR headset, including controllers.
Both items benefit from free shipping, and also free pickup from participating Walmart stores.
Image courtesy Microsoft
Lenovo Explorer is one of Windows “Mixed Reality” VR headsets, which packs on-board positional tracking thanks to the headset’s optical sensors. That means you don’t have to set up anything on walls to give you the room-scale experience like Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.
It does however require an adept PC to run though. You can check out our guide here to see if your computer is up to snuff to run the same graphics-demanding games that Rift and Vive can.
Like all Windows VR headsets, you can access hundreds of VR games through Steam including SUPERHOT VR, Beat Saber, Rec Room, and much more.
Lenovo Explorer Specs
Display
Size : 2 x 2.89″
Resolution : 2880 x 1440
Display Type : LCD
Lenses: FOV 110°
Refresh Rate: 90 Hz
Sensors
2 x Inside-out motion tracking cameras
Proximity
Gyroscope
Accelerometer
Magnetometer
Connectivity
Y Cable with video connection and USB 3.0
3.5 mm audio jack
Dimensions
Width : 185.1 mm / 7.3″
Length : 94.8 mm / 3.7″
Height : 102.1 mm / 4″
Cable Length : 4 m / 13.1 feet
Weight
380 g / 0.84 lb
Design / Material
Design : Front-hinged
Material : Plastic (main body)
Color
Iron Gray
Play Area Requirements
Room scale (min.) 3.5m x 3.5m / 11.5 feet x 11.5 feet
Update (October 22nd, 2018 – 10:52PM PT): A press release from Samsung today serves as the official announcement of the Odyssey+ and confirms availability in the US starting today from Samsung and Microsoft. The headset will be available “soon” in Korea, China, Hong Kong, and Brazil. To the dismay of enthusiasts, Samsung didn’t sell the prior iteration of the Odyssey in Europe, and the Odyssey+ seems destined for the same.
Beyond the details already gleaned from the headset’s product page, the announcement confirms that the headset has built in Bluetooth, meaning that the controllers will connect directly to the headset instead of relying on the host PC’s own Bluetooth connection (which required an additional dongle in the case of most desktop PCs). The controllers are “pre-paired” out of the box, Samsung says, making setup a bit easier still.
The announcement also indicates that the anti-SDE technology is “exclusive” to the Odyssey+. Samsung supplies displays to other VR headsets like the Rift and Vive, and this particular line makes it sound like the company plans to keep the anti-SDE diffuser for their own headsets.
Despite the listing, Samsung has yet to officially announce the headset or a release date. Although there’s a ‘Where to Buy’ button on the product page, no retailers are listed; it’s unclear when the headset will become available for purchase.
In addition to the price, the Odyssey+ product page reveals some interesting details. The headset has what Samsung calls an “Anti-SDE” display. It’s the same 1,440 × 1,600 (per eye) resolution as the original headset, but “effectively delivers over twice the pixel count,” according to Samsung. Fine print further specifies this claim (though not quite to our satisfaction):
Samsung Anti-SDE AMOLED Display solves SDE by applying a grid that diffuses light coming from each pixel and replicating the picture to areas around each pixel. This makes the spaces between pixels near impossible to see. In result, your eyes perceive the diffused light as part of the visual content, with a perceived PPI of 1,233PPI, double that of the already high 616PPI of the previous generation Samsung HMD Odyssey+ [sic].
It sounds like Samsung has embedded the displays with a diffuser which is designed to let light spill into the the unlit gaps between pixels, thereby hiding the screen door effect. We believe PSVR has used the same approach to great effect.
Image courtesy Samsung
However, Samsung’s claim that it doubles “user-perceived resolution” sounds misleading. The diffuser may reduce the screen door effect to a point that it looks similar to what would be seen from a display with twice the pixel density, but as far as we can tell, the perceived sharpness of the display (the aspect most associated with resolution) cannot be increased with this method. Hopefully Samsung will offer more specificity about what their anti-SDE tech does in the near future.
Aside from the anti-SDE display, the Odyssey+ also boasts improved ergonomics. In particular, Samsung notes that the nose guard has been widened to 40mm (from 32mm), and that the facial interface has been widened to 146mm (from 138mm). Both changes could help the headset fit more faces, and might make it easier to fit glasses inside. Samsung also says that new foam padding will make the headset more comfortable and help prevent fogging of the lenses.
Image courtesy Samsung
It seems likely that Samsung will want to launch the Odyssey+ ahead of the holidays. The company’s developer conference coming up at the beginning of November seems like a likely time to do so, if not sooner.
Every month we aim to round up each and every VR game release for you in one single place — this is September’s list. Don’t worry — we’ll continue highlighting the best ones at the end of each week too.
August was a huge month for VR. Between Firewall Zero Hour, Electronauts, Torn, and plenty others there was certainly something for everybody regardless of your chosen platform. Now with September right around the corner, it’s time to take a look at what’s coming down the line next.
And if you’re a VR game developer planning to release a game soon — let us know!You can get in touch with me directly by emailing david@uploadvr.com or hit all of the editorial team by emailing tips@uploadvr.com. Please contact us about your upcoming releases so that we can know what you’re working on and include you in release lists!
Rift, Vive, and Windows VR Game Releases For September 2018
We would love to include mobile releases, but there is very little visibility about what’s coming to Gear VR, Go, or Daydream and it’s difficult to track releases accurately by date. That being said, if you have a mobile VR title in the works with a specific launch date or window, let us know!
Acer today announced a new Windows “Mixed Reality” VR headset. Dubbed the Acer OJO 500 (pronounced ‘O-ho’), the new headset is packing a few features that seem to be making overtures to the enterprise sector.
Seemingly taking a page out of Samsung’s playbook, the Acer OJO 500 includes a few features once exclusive to the Samsung Odyssey HMD: integrated audio and manual inter-pupillary distance adjustments.
Image courtesy Acer
Like Sensic’s enterprise-focused VR headset though, which is intended for VR arcades and parks, OJO 500 features a detachable design. Like Sensic’s enterprise headset, it’s principally created to quickly get more heads into headsets, letting you prep a few people with straps before you toss them into VR.
Acer is offering both hard and soft strap variants, the soft strap touted as machine washable—something that ought to appeal to out-of-home venues, as operators could have multiple headstraps in reserve, washing them periodically without need for downtime.
Image courtesy Acer
The display resolution hasn’t changed however, offering the same LCD screens at 1,440 × 1,440 resolution per display as their previous model (AH101-D8EY), running at 90Hz.
Acer says the OJO 500 will be available in North America in November, starting at $400; and in Europe, Middle East, and Africa in November, starting at €500.
While not specifically a “next generation” device, as claimed in the promo, this could signal that Acer is more closely dialing in on the lower-end enterprise market. Since Windows VR headsets require very little setup, and also don’t require tracking basestations due to the on-board, inside-out optical tracking, they’ve found their way into arcade spaces such as the VR pop-up at the International Concourse at New York’s JFK Airport and in Beat Game’s newly announced dedicated Beat Saber arcade machines.
Samsung appears to be developing a followup to its Odyssey VR headset which launched late last year. A ‘Samsung HMD Odyssey+’ sporting a new model number has appeared in FCC documentation, suggesting that the device is nearing a launch-ready state.
While Samsung has had a strong presence in the mobile VR space for many years thanks to its Gear VR headset, the company launched its first PC VR headset, the HMD Odyssey, back in November of 2017 as part of Microsoft’s Windows VR platform.
Now an improved version of the headset appears to be in the works. FCC documentation filed by Samsung reveals a headset called the HMD Odyssey+, sporting model number XE800ZBA (the original Odyssey is XE800ZAA).
A draft label shows the Odyssey+ name and model number | Image courtesy Samsung
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is tasked with certifying products with electromagnetic emissions to be safe and compatible with regulations. Products utilizing radio, WiFi, infrared, etc. need certification before they can be distributed for sale. Certification by the FCC marks one step closer to the launch of consumer electronics product.
Specifications found in the Odyssey+ documentation, which may not be final, don’t show any obvious major changes from the original model, with the Odyssey+ apparently featuring the same 1,440 × 1,600 resolution per eye and 110 degree field of view. However the display is indicated as ‘AMOLED+SFS’; it isn’t clear what SFS stands for in this case, and we haven’t seen that acronym used regarding the original headset. One guess is that it could be related to the ‘Anti SDE’ technology that Samsung has been working on.
The specs also mention ‘Wider Eye box, Wider Part of Nose, Anti-fog’, which may be the crux of the Odyssey+’s improvements, suggesting lenses with a larger ‘sweet spot’, a more comfortable nose opening, and features to reduce lens fogging. Indeed, a comparison of an image from the Odyssey+ documentation and the original Odyssey appears to show some differences in the headset’s nose area:
Some differences in the nose area can be seen between a diagram of the Odyssey+ (left) and original Odyssey (right) | Images courtesy Samsung
Interestingly, the Odyssey+ specs note platform support as ‘Windows MR / Steam VR’, while official specs of the original Odyssey don’t mention SteamVR at all. It’s most likely that this is simply a reference to the official Windows Mixed Reality plugin for SteamVR, which makes Windows VR headsets compatible with many SteamVR titles, but there’s a small chance that the Odyssey+ could offer native SteamVR compatibility out of the box.
Aside from the publicly available documentation, Samsung, like many companies, has submitted a Confidentiality Request to keep the following FCC documents out of the public eye:
External photos
Internal photos
Test set-up photos
User manual
The original Odyssey headset has been critiqued for its hit-or-miss ergonomics, and it’s possible that there are changes to the fit and form of the Odyssey+ that aren’t reflected in the specs. We’ll have to wait and see. We’ve have reached out to Samsung for comment concerning the yet to be revealed headset.
Every month we aim to round up each and every VR game release for you in one single place — this is August’s list. Don’t worry — we’ll continue highlighting the best ones at the end of each week too.
And if you’re a VR game developer planning to release a game soon — let us know!You can get in touch with me directly by emailing david@uploadvr.com or hit all of the editorial team by emailing tips@uploadvr.com. Please contact us about your upcoming releases so that we can know what you’re working on and include you in release lists!
Rift, Vive, and Windows VR Game Releases For August 2018
We would love to include mobile releases, but there is very little visibility about what’s coming to Gear VR, Go, or Daydream and it’s difficult to track releases accurately by date. That being said, if you have a mobile VR title in the works with a specific launch date or window, let us know!
A beta version of Windows 10 now includes support for a pass-through video mode for Windows VR headsets, allowing users to look out at the world around them through the headset’s on-board cameras.
This week Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17723 to users who are part of the Windows Insider Program. The update includes a new feature for Windows VR headsets called ‘Mixed Reality Flashlight’. Activated either through a voice command or a controller shortcut, the Mixed Reality Flashlight makes two circular video windows into the real world appear before the user; each window is positioned based on where the user is pointing their controller. The video seen through the windows comes from the headset’s on-board cameras, which have up until this point been reserved solely for inside-out tracking. The HTC Vive and Vive Pro have a similar function, though it goes widely unused, likely due to the ‘tron mode’ filter which is applied by default and low resolution.
Seen in action in a video by YouTuber ‘NXTwoThou’ below (loud volume warning), the pass-through video is monochrome, likely because the cameras on the headset don’t have any color sensors (in order to devote as much of the camera sensor as possible to resolution and dynamic range which is important for the inside-out tracking). Microsoft says the video portals are “low-latency,” but doesn’t offer more detail.
It isn’t clear why they decided to show only a small portion of the view at once, and to attach the position of the view to the controller instead of directly to the user’s head. It could be explained by not wanting the user to easily see the entire edge of the video feed at once (which could be cropped smaller than headset’s full field of view). So far Microsoft hasn’t said anything about being able to use the video feed for augmented reality purposes, something that HTC has begun experimenting with on the Vive Pro.
Pass-through video is a convenient way to find your headphones, controllers, etc without removing the headset. While almost all of the Windows VR headsets have a handy flip-up visor which lets you easily take a quick peek into the real world, the Samsung Odyssey will surely enjoy the Mixed Reality Flashlight feature as it lacks the flip-up visor.
If you want to preview the update you can join the Windows Insider Program to update to Build 17723, otherwise you’ll get the update later when it launches widely through Windows Update.
The monthly Steam hardware survey is out again, and while June hasn’t revealed any major upsets in the balances of usership between HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, the survey shows that Windows “Mixed Reality” VR headsets are making slow, but steady headway on the platform.
Each month, Valve runs the survey among Steam users to determine some baseline statistics about what kind of hardware and software is used by the user population, and to see how things are changing over time; that includes which VR headsets are connected to users’ computers. Participation in the survey is optional.
Referring to last month’s survey, which saw Rift and Vive numbers at close to parity, Windows VR headsets reported on the platform have gone up about a half percentage point—not a big change by any means, but a continued march forward for the class of VR devices manufactured by HP, Dell, Lenovo, Samsung, Acer, and Asus.
Most of the headsets (excluding Samsung Odyssey) boast the same basic hardware specs: inside-out optical tracking, dual 1,440 × 1,440 LCD panels, 90Hz refresh, and around a 100 degree field of view.
The slow uptick in Windows VR users is likely tied to the individual headsets ever decreasing price. At the time of this writing, a new HP VR headset and a pair of motion controllers can be had for as little as $200 on Amazon, or $250 lower than its MSRP. Many of the Windows VR headsets retail for a similarly deep discount now, outside of the Samsung Odyssey, which regularly sells for slightly less than its $500 MSRP.
Rift owners still running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, beware. Oculus is changing both its recommended and minimum supported OS to Windows 10 on Rift, something the company says will come when Rift Core 2.0 is pushed out to the stable branch sometime later this year.
Oculus says in a blogpost that Windows 7 and 8.1 aren’t losing support entirely, but users “may not be able to use many new and upcoming features and apps. We encourage everyone who isn’t already running Windows 10 to upgrade now to avoid missing out on what’s next.”
There is some pretty salient reasoning behind this: the company reports that 95% of “most active Rift owners” currently run Windows 10. Not only that, Microsoft has phased out mainstream support for both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 now, with 8.1 losing mainstream support as of January 9th, 2018.
Rift Core 2.0 is currently an opt-in beta which puts a few important quality-of-life issues at its core; a customizable Home experience with collectibles, app and window multitasking via Oculus Dash, and Oculus Desktop’s mirror monitors.
Here’s the company’s general warning to users still running Windows 7 and 8.1:
Rift owners whose PCs aren’t running Windows 10 may find their systems are incompatible with some new apps and games. You’ll still be able to get the same VR features and functions you have today, including things like responding to platform notifications, interacting with friends on the platform, managing your device, and running VR apps that don’t require Windows 10. You can still use Windows 7 and Windows 8 with most of Rift Core 2.0’s core functionality, but things like Oculus Desktop require Windows 10, as does the ability to run Dash as an overlay.
Windows 10 has always been a minimum OS for the full functionality of Rift Core 2.0 while in beta, so it makes sense that Oculus would officially have to pull the band-aid off of Windows 7 and 8.1 users eventually.
Oculus hasn’t changed its minimum or recommended hardware specs, which you can see below. If you’re worried your system doesn’t reach the minimum, you can always use Oculus’ compatibility check tool for extra assurance.
Die virtuelle Version des Spieleklassikers Catan VR von Experiment 7 erschien im März im Oculus Store für Oculus Rift und Gear VR sowie kürzlich für Oculus Go. Nun deutet eine neu erschienene Steam-Seite auf einen baldigen Release für HTC Vive und Windows-VR-Brillen hin. Zusätzlich soll es möglich sein, mit der HTC Vive dank Crossplattform-Support mit bereits veröffentlichten Versionen zusammenzuspielen. Als weiteres Schmankerl ist das Aufbauspiel zudem vom 7. Juni bis zum 11. Juni kostenlos mit der Oculus Rift im Oculus Store spielbar.
Catan VR – Baldige Veröffentlichung für HTC Vive und Windows-VR-Brillen auf Steam
Eine seit Kurzem veröffentlichte Steam-Seite kündigt die nahestehende Veröffentlichung von Catan VR für HTC Vive und Windows–VR-Brillen an. Ein genaues Datum wurde zum aktuellen Zeitpunkt leider noch nicht veröffentlicht. Auch der Preis ist momentan noch unklar. Da das digitale Brettspiel im Oculus Store für 14,99 Euro erhältlich ist, dürfte sich es auch auf Steam zu ähnlichen Konditionen zu erwerben sein.
Dagegen bekannt ist bereits der Fakt, dass die Steam-Version des Spiels Crossplattform-Support erhält. Dadurch wird es den Spielern erlaubt, sich mit Strategen von bereits veröffentlichten Versionen von Catan VR an den digitalen Tisch zu setzen. Bisher wurde der Crossplay-Support nur für die HTC Vive bestätigt, jedoch sollte das Feature vermutlich auch für Windows-VR-Brillen gelten.
Catan VR – Vom 7. Juni bis zum 11. Juni kostenlos mit Oculus Rift spielbar
Gute Nachrichten gibt es auch für Besitzer einer Oculus Rift, denn wer den virtuellen Aufbauspiel-Klassiker bisher noch nicht angespielt hat, erhält nun die Möglichkeit dazu im Oculus Store. Dort ist Catan VR vom 7. Juni bis 11. Juni kostenlos spielbar. Um die kostenfreie Spielperiode zu nutzen, ist es nötig, den VR-Titel über die Oculus-Desktop-App herunterzuladen.
