Varjo, the Finnish hardware manufacturer behind some very expensive (and highly regarded) virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) headsets, has begun teasing something new is in the pipeline. So far the only information available is via a brief mention of a launch event that takes place in a couple of weeks.
Over on its website, Varjo simply states: “This is the one you’ve been waiting for. Join us for a live event on Thursday October 21st, and witness the unveiling of our most highly anticipated product release yet.” There’s the option to signup and register for the launch event which begins at 12:00 pm ET/5:00 pm BST where Varjo co-founder & CTO Urho Konttori will reveal all.
Currently, Varjo has two products available for enterprise use cases. The VR-3 is priced at $3,990 USD (inc. a 1-year Varjo subscription) whilst the XR-3 comes in at a substantial $6990 (inc the subscription). So that gives you an idea of where Varjo has positioned itself in the market. Could this “highly anticipated product release” be a new headset and if it is where is it being positioned?
Varjo has built its business around very high-end hardware, with both headsets featuring the company’s “human-eye resolution” Bionic Display, a combination of two screens. A small central 70 PPD uOLED with a 1920 x 1920 px per eye resolution, with a secondary peripheral 30 PPD LCD, at 2880 x 2720 px per eye. They also feature eye-tracking, Ultraleap hand tracking, and more. So whatever the new product is, if it is hardware it won’t be cheap and cheerful.
The website does feature a singular image of someone wearing a headset but it does look exactly the same as Varjo’s other products. If it isn’t a headset then there’s always software. Although that’s more unlikely considering Varjo’s last major announcement in June was for Varjo Reality Cloud.
Whatever it is, the timing couldn’t be better. HTC Vive has its “Go with the Flow” event on 14th October whilst Facebook Connect is being held on 28th, making for an exciting few weeks for the XR industry. Could Varjo steal some of Facebook’s thunder? As further details come to light, VRFocus will keep you updated.