Enterprise

Get Those Vive Focus 3 Pre-orders in Starting This Week

June 8, 2021 by GenVR

HTC’s first Vivecon event last month officially revealed the Vive Pro 2 and Vive Focus 3 headsets, showcasing the company’s intentions to deliver both consumer and enterprise compatible devices. While the Vive Pro 2 is now available, its all-in-one (AIO) sibling is due for release later this month, with pre-orders for the EMEA region going live later this week.

Unlike other standalone virtual reality (VR) headsets the HTC Vive Focus 3 is very much geared towards businesses, so the general public won’t be able to get their hands on HTC’s next-gen HMD. Companies that do want to order the new headset can place their pre-orders from 10th June, with the official launch scheduled for 24th June. The Vive Focus 3 retails for £1,272 GBP/€1,404 EUR.

In comparison to the previous Vive Focus model, the new design is far more compact and sleeker in appearance, looking much more professional in the process. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Platform the Vive Focus 3 provides users with 5K resolution visuals from dual 2.5K displays running at a smooth 90Hz refresh rate. And to help users feel even more immersed in a VR experience the headset boasts a 120-degree field of view (FoV).

When it comes to comfort and user-friendliness the Vive Focus 3 has a rear-mounted battery for even weight distribution, it can be swapped out for longer sessions or charged to 50% capacity in just 30 minutes. Users will also be able to adjust the interpupillary distance range between 57mm to 72mm plus the facial interface can easily be removed via a quick-release button for easy cleaning or swapping for a new one.

New open-back speakers featuring a pair of dual drivers help to deliver spatial audio without touching your ears. And a new headset also means new controllers, with each 6DoF controller having a built-in battery providing 15 hours of use per charge. And in the future the Vive Focus 3 will support hand tracking.

To complement the hardware the Vive Focus 3 will also feature the all-new Vive Reality System 2.0, providing a more streamlined and professional ecosystem for enterprise customers. For continued updates on the latest HTC Vive HMD models, keep reading VRFocus.

Vive X Report Highlights Continued Strength of Investments in UK XR Tech

June 7, 2021 by GenVR

Today, HTC Vive in collaboration with Immerse UK have released the UK Immersive Tech: VC Investment Report, providing a deep-dive into 31 XR startups who have managed to raise significant amounts of investment. The report not only looks at how some of these companies achieved their success in a difficult market but also highlights investor interest in enterprise-focused technology.

Investment in the XR industry has ebbed and flowed over the years with significant interest in and around 2016, whilst a couple of years later it declined due to the initial hype wearing off. Yet initiatives like HTC Vive’s Vive X programme has continued throughout, supporting over 100 companies in the process. In this first report, Vive X and Immerse UK have produced looking at the UK’s immersive sector and how despite the pandemic have managed to thrive.

“Firstly, despite its drawbacks for the overall economy, the immersive sector has been well placed to benefit from the global pandemic. Lockdowns all over the world have led to consumers looking to virtual worlds to spend more of their leisure time and connect with others,” says Dave Haynes, Director of Development Ecosystem & Vive X EMEA in the report. “Whilst, workers and their employers have thrown out old ways of working, turning to technologies such as VR to collaborate, design together or host and attend virtual events.”

Regular readers of VRFocus will notice some very familiar names among those listed, each involved in very different segments of the industry. Anything World, for example, enables creators to bring 3D models to life simply using their voice, whilst Bodyswaps focuses on soft skills training, its most recent module is a job interview simulator.

Anything World – Total financing £600K
Bodyswaps – Total financing £549K
FitXR – Total financing £6.91m
FundamentalVR – Total financing £7.6m
Gravity Sketch – Total financing £4.25m
Loveshark – Total financing undisclosed
Maze Theory – Total financing £1.85m
Poplar – Total financing £2.75m
Ultraleap – Total financing £63m
VividQ – Total financing £6.5m

Immerse UK’s 21 XR Startups to watch

Beem
Darabase
Dubbl
Edify
Evidential Reality
Factory 42
Generic Robotics
GiveVision
Holoxica
Igloo Vision
KageNova
KIT-AR
Masters of Pie
Rescape Innovation
RETiniZE
REWIND
Tiny Rebel Games
Virti
VU.CITY
XR Games
XYZ Reality

The report also conducted a survey of 50 UK-based investors who had a positive outlook for the next 12 months. Out of those surveyed, 63% think overall investment will increase with a notable lean towards enterprise VR/AR.

As UK-based XR companies continue to make strides in the industry, VRFocus will keep you updated.

Vive Focus 3 is HTC’s New Business AIO Headset With 5K & 120° FoV

May 11, 2021 by GenVR

The time has finally come for HTC Vive to reveal what its been teasing these last few weeks. As expected it’s a new all-in-one (AIO) headset designed for the enterprise market, the Vive Focus 3. The third-generation of HTC Vive’s standalone Vive Focus product line, the new device strikes a very different aesthetic to its predecessor, the Vive Focus Plus.

As a standalone headset for companies looking for the best quality virtual reality (VR) experience with any cables, the Vive Focus 3 certainly has the stats to raise a few eyebrows. Offering users 5K resolution from dual 2.5K displays with fast-switching panels combined with real RGB subpixels, there shouldn’t be any worry when it comes to the screendoor effect. This is in addition to a 90Hz refresh rate and a wider 120-degree field of view (FoV) to make collaborating with colleagues even more immersive.

The images showcase a radically overhauled design, with the magnesium alloy frame 20% lighter and 500% stronger than traditional plastics. There’s a new strap design with the weight balanced for premium comfort. Part of that is thanks to the rear-mounted battery which can be charged to 50% in 30 minutes plus there’s a power indicator so you know how much charge is left. And for the first time ever, the Vive Focus 3’s battery is swappable, so users can keep a spare on charge for those longer VR sessions.

Other features include a manual inter-pupillary distance adjustment between 57mm to 72mm, quick release magnetic front and rear face gaskets for easy cleaning, and new open-back speakers featuring a pair of dual drivers. Built into the side arms, the speakers are contact free so users can still hear the outside world whilst a special audio privacy setting means that VR meetings can’t be heard by others in the room.

All of this is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 platform with the Vive Focus 3 able to provide accurate inside-out tracking for its four cameras which utilise an AI algorithm. Rounding out the feature set are a new pair of 6DoF controllers which have built-in batteries providing 15 hours of use per charge. HTC Vive has also confirmed that Vive Focus 3 will support hand tracking in the future.

“Vive Focus 3 heralds a new era of business VR – crafted for stunning visuals while also being durable and lightweight, with superior comfort and ease of use. Our new VIVE Business solutions make it easier than ever for an organisation to use VR, so whether it’s a small start-up or a multinational, everyone can benefit from the transformative potential of VR.”

As an enterprise-only device, the Vive Focus 3 will go on sale from 24th June, retailing for £1060 GBP/ $1300 USD/ €1180 EUR – the price includes 24-month Vive Business Warranty and Services. Don’t forget to check out HTC’s other new headset, the Vive Pro 2, and for further updates from ViveCon 2021 keep reading VRFocus.

Magic Leap 2 Rollout Begins Late 2021, General Availability Early 2022

April 22, 2021 by GenVR

Mixed Reality (MR) headset manufacturer Magic Leap didn’t have a particularly great 2020, even though it raised $350 million USD, as there were layoffs and CEO Rony Abovitz stepped down. Now with ex-Microsoft and Qualcomm veteran, Peggy Johnson at the helm the company is looking towards a brighter future, confirming Magic Leap 2 is on the way with the initial launch beginning later this year.

Magic Leap enterprise — Magic Leap One. Image credit: Magic Leap

Talking to Protocol this week, Johnson said the Magic Leap 2 will be focused on enterprise customers with those part of the early adopter programme gaining access to the new headset in Q4 2021. This will then be followed up by a general release in Q1 2022.

While no images or detailed specifications have been released just yet for Magic Leap 2 Johnson did have this to say: “For frontline workers, the product has to be something comfortable that they can wear all day long. So we’ve made the product half the size, about 20% lighter. But most importantly, we’ve doubled the field of view.” She went onto comment: “That’s a hard thing to do. The optics around that are complex, but we have a very talented engineering team.”

Making the product lighter and more convenient will be an important step when it comes to offering a product that can offer a better experience than Magic Leap’s competitors. The main one is Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 which recently secured a $22 billion deal with the US Department of Defense to supply soldiers with augmented reality (AR) headsets based on HoloLens technology. Even though Magic Leap lost that deal it will continue to look at the military sector. “I think our next-generation product hits all the right feature sets that are needed for soldiers to wear the device for longer periods of time. It needs to be comfortable indoors, outdoors and [in] all types of environments,” she mentions.

It’s certainly a focused shift away from the gaming apps that Magic Leap One has seen appear. Studios like Resolution Games have released titles such as Glimt: The Vanishing at the Grand Starlight Hotel and Angry Birds FPS: First Person Slingshot whilst BBC Studios and Preloaded have taken a more educational route with BBC Earth – Micro Kingdoms: Senses.

Hopefully, the new Magic Leap 2 will offer a lower price point allowing more companies to get involved in AR and the possibilities it brings. For further updates from Magic Leap, keep reading VRFocus.