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Bigscreen Beyond 2 Outsells Original in First Day, Surpassing Months of Beyond 1 Sales

From roadtovr

Bigscreen launched orders for its upcoming Beyond 2 PC VR headset yesterday, which is boosting field-of-view and clarity thanks to the inclusion of a new pancake lens design. Now, the company says that within a mere 10 hours of sales going live, Beyond 2 has already outsold the original Beyond by a significant margin.

In a series of updates on X, Bigscreen revealed just how well Beyond 2 was doing among PC VR enthusiasts.

“In just the first 25 minutes, Beyond 2 outsold the first day of Beyond 1 sales. In the first hour, we’ve doubled Beyond 1 launch day sales.” Bigscreen said early yesterday.

As the day went on, the company released more info on sales performance of Beyond 2 and its eye-tracking variant, Beyond 2e. And the most recent stat is pretty staggering.

“Within 10 hours of launch…Beyond 2 has sold more than the first FOUR MONTHS of Beyond 1 sales.”

Bigscreen Beyond 2 | Image courtesy Bigscreen

At the time of this writing, Beyond 2 and Beyond 2e are now quoted to ship in June 2025, already blowing past the first shipment batches, which were planned for April and May respectively.

But why the hype for Beyond 2? While you can read more about Beyond 2 here, including specs, it may come down to the easy upgrade pathway laid out by Bigscreen. Not only can Beyond 1 users purchase at a discount—$849 for Beyond 2 and $1049 for Beyond 2e—but it’s also backwards compatible with most Beyond 1 accessories, including the custom facial interface that’s required for Beyond 1.

Moreover, Beyond 2 packs in a new pancake lens design, offering up a wider 116-degree diagonal FOV, an adjustable IPD mechanism, and a lighter 107g design, with the 2e model adding AI-powered eye-tracking. It still has the same dual 1-inch 2,560 × 2,560 micro-OLED displays as the original Beyond, although its new lenses boast better clarity and FOV over the original.

Beyond 2 and 2e are priced at $1,019 and $1,219 respectively (or discounted for Beyond 1 owners). It was also unveiled alongside a new halo-style mount and Lightblocker facial interface, which is set to arrive in Q3 2025.

You can find all of that available for purchase over on the Bigscreen website.

PC VR Headset Bigscreen Beyond 2 Promises Big Boost to Field-of-view & Clarity, Launching Next Month

From roadtovr

Bigscreen today announced its next-gen Beyond PC VR headset, promising a big boost in field-of-view (FOV) and clarity thanks to the inclusion of new pancake lenses. Bigscreen is also making the slim and light headset more attractive to at-home and enterprise users too thanks to its new adjustable interpupillary distance (IPD) and a universal Lightseal facial interface.

Bigscreen is releasing two versions of its next headset—Beyond 2 and Beyond 2e. Unlike the ‘e’ naming scheme seen in Apple’s recent iPhone 16e, the ‘e’ in Beyond 2e denotes the inclusion of eye-tracking.

Beyond 2e contains everything Beyond 2 does, albeit with a very small eye-tracking suite, which is said to feature AI-powered computer vision for low-latency, privacy-focused tracking, and integrated with SteamVR, OpenXR, and platforms like VRChat, with a beta program launching in Summer 2025.

Bigscreen Beyond 2e | Image courtesy Bigscreen

The headsets are priced at $1,019 (Beyond 2) and $1,219 (Beyond 2e), although Bigscreen is discounting that for previous owners of the original Beyond, bringing them to $849 and $1049 respectively.

The company says the first batches are slated to launch in April, with an optional halo-style strap mount targeting a Q3 2025 release. Both Beyond 2 models will be available in three colorways: Carbon Black, Crystal Clear, and Nuclear Orange.

Like Beyond 1, the slim and light PC VR headset uses the SteamVR tracking standard, which includes support for SteamVR 1.0 and 2.0 base stations, as well as the usual cadre of SteamVR accessories, such as body trackers, and controller like Valve’s Index controllers (aka ‘Knuckles’).

Of course, you’ll need a VR-ready PC to use Bigscreen Beyond 2 and the required base stations. Click here to find out if your PC is ready.

Bigscreen Beyond 2 | Image courtesy Bigscreen

While we’re not getting a resolution bump with Beyond 2, since they contain the same dual 1-inch 2,560 × 2,560 micro-OLED displays as the original Beyond (2023), Beyond 2’s biggest improvement is undoubtedly the inclusion of new pancake lenses. The new lens design is said to boost FOV to a reported 116-degree diagonal over the original’s 102-degree diagonal FOV.

It’s also lighter too, weighing 16% less than the original Beyond, now at only 107 grams—notably lighter than standalone headsets like Meta Quest 3 (515g) or Apple Vision Pro (650g), as well as other PC VR headsets in the slim and light category, such as the upcoming MaganeX superlight 8K (179g).

Unchanged displays notwithstanding, Bigscreen says Beyond 2 has improved brightness and reduced glare by a good margin; the new pancake lens design features “dramatic improvements over Beyond 1 with total edge-to-edge clarity and a very large sweet spot,” the company says.

Bigscreen Beyond 2 | Image courtesy Bigscreen

And for the first time, Beyond 2 is introducing an adjustable IPD mechanism, which can be modified with an included tool. Visible markings on the inside of the headset show the current IPD setting in millimeters for both lenses, so users can dial in each lens independently for the best viewing clarity.

The company calls the new IPD mechanism “a major improvement” over Beyond 1’s fixed IPD system, which required selecting from 18 different sizes, and required users to scan their faces with an iPhone for the required custom facial interface.

And what about accessories? While Beyond 2 supports the same custom-fit cushions as Beyond 1, the headset is shipping with a universal-fit Lightseal interface, all of which ostensibly makes Beyond 2 more attractive to at-home users looking for better shareability as well as enterprise users.

To boot, many of the original Beyond’s accessories are said to work with Beyond 2, including its five-meter fiver optic cable, link box, Audio Strap, and soft stap. Notably, prescription lens inserts manufactured before 2025 for Beyond 1 will work with Beyond 2, however they won’t fit Beyond 2e. Prescription lens inserts manufactured in 2025 and onwards are compatible with Beyond 1, 2, and 2e, Bigscreen says.

The headset ships with an included soft strap, however Bigscreen is also launching a newly announced halo-style mount, shipping in Q3 2025, which the company says was inspired by night vision goggles.

Bigscreen Beyond 2 | Image courtesy Bigscreen

The halo mount features fine-tuned controls for tilt and eye relief and supports multiple configurations, including with the headset’s included lightseal, Beyond’s original custom facial interfaces, or none at all.

As a mount, and not a whole strap unit as such, the accessory is compatible with various strap solutions, including the included soft strap, Bigscreen’s Audio Strap, as well as third-party options. There’s no pricing yet, although we’re sure to learn more closer to its Q3 2025 launch.

Bigscreen Beyond 2 will be taking orders over on its website, which will ship from its Los Angeles, California factory to customers in the US, Canada, Japan, UK, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia. The company says it’s also planning to expand to countries such as South Korea, Mexico, Israel, and UAE sometime later this year.

Specifications

  • Field of View: 116° diagonal
  • Weight: 107 grams
  • IPD: Adjustable, 48mm to 75mm (55mm to 70mm physically)
  • Resolution: 2,560 × 2,560 per-eye
  • Refresh Rate: 90Hz, 75Hz
  • 6DOF Tracking: SteamVR tracking
  • Tracking Requirements: SteamVR 1.0 and 2.0 Base Stations (not included)
  • Eye Tracking: Yes, on Beyond 2e
  • Full-body Tracking: Compatible with SteamVR trackers such as HTC Vive Trackers, Tundra Trackers (not included)
  • Controllers: Compatible with SteamVR controllers such as Valve Index Controllers (not included)

PC Requirements

  • Audio Input: Dual microphone array
  • Audio Output: Built-in on-ear speakers with the Audio Strap (not included)
  • Accessory Ports: 1 × USB-C
  • Cable: 5-meter fiber optic cable
  • GPU: Nvidia RTX 2070 or AMD RX 5700 XT or newer (DisplayPort 1.4 and DSC required)
  • CPU: Quad-core Intel or AMD
  • Ports: 1 × DisplayPort 1.4, 2 × USB 3.0 ports
  • OS: Windows 10 or Windows 11

McDonald’s Japan Launches Official ‘VRChat’ World, Tapping Into Japan’s Massive VTuber Trend

From roadtovr

When you think of corporate brand engagement in VR, Meta is typically the prime suspect. In the past, they’ve brokered exclusive deals with Wendy’s for a Horizon Worlds social experience, and KFC for its finger-lickin’ weird escape room. Now, McDonald’s Japan has opened its own little slice of brand engagement heaven in VRChat, underlining just how big the social VR platform has become in Japan.

Available from now until June 17th, the official McDonald’s Japan world isn’t particularly massive, only featuring a single room where you can munch on virtual fries and take photos at few of the virtual photo spots, which include a super-size fry container to climb into, virtual cardboard cutouts of various McDonald’s mascots, and floating promotional text with flying fries everywhere.

On the surface, it’s essentially the same sort of promotional brand experience you see pop up in Japan from time to time, albeit completely in VR. Under the hood though, it’s leveraging some of the most recent developments in getting Japan’s Gen-Z to the golden arches, mashing up Japanese virtual streamers (aka VTubers) and the country’s love for VRChat.

The world was built around McDonald’s most recent marketing campaigns in Japan, celebrating the release of its annual ‘Tirori Mix’ animated music video collaboration. First released in 2022, Tirori Mix mashes up vocals from beloved J-pop idols with an animated short that remixes the “Tirori” chime played in McDonald’s Japan restaurants when an order is ready. This year’s collab included Ado, YOASOBI, and Hoshimachi Suisei, which you can catch here.

But why VRChat and not Horizon Worlds? VRChat hasn’t released specific user stats, however Japanese users make up the top visitors to the the company’s website, according to Similarweb, accounting for over 33% of users. And there’s a good reason why.

Image courtesy Similarweb

Any random visit to VRChat can confirm just how big it is in Japan; it’s chock-full of Japanese language worlds—everything from recreations of the historic streets of Kyoto to more demure spots for community meetups—although one of the most important factors is VRChat’s support for user-generated avatars.

While anyone can create a unique avatar in a standard 3D modeling software like Blender and upload it to VRChat, or otherwise buy one, being able to have a persistent avatar across multiple platforms has increased the platform’s cross-promotion among Japan’s anime-garbed VTubers.

And VTubing is big business in Japan. Massive talent agencies like Hololive, Nijisanji and VShojo have essentially co-opted Japan’s long-engrained idol culture by recruiting, training, and managing this new subset of idols, which don full-articulated VR avatars.

Notably, Hoshimachi Suisei, who is featured in Tirori Mix 2025, is a one of the biggest Japanese language VTuber, who is not only the most popular Music VTuber in Japan at 2 million+ subscribers on YouTybe, but has also performed live concerts, appeared on TV, and even ranked on the Japanese music charts.

Image courtesy Hoshimachi Suisei

Meanwhile, Meta is fighting to gain consistent engagement in Horizon Worlds, which notably limits avatar customization and operates within a more closed ecosystem. To boot, in a bid to gain more traction among users, the company recently announced it was launching a $50 million creator fund to incentivize the creation of new and improved content in Horizon Worlds.

And while Meta may be after its own Gorilla Tag-style hit on Horizon Worlds in the short term, until it opens up avatar customization to include more than its standard avatars and pick-and-mix of accessories, it will have a hard time tapping into that sort of cross-promotional gold Japan’s VTubers have been so successful at driving.

Despite Years of Reports to the Contrary, PC VR Just Won’t Die—In fact, It’s Growing

From roadtovr

The XR landscape has changed significantly over the last five years with the flourishing of standalone headsets and new entrants like Apple and (soon) Google. Despite all of that, the PC VR platform has continued a slow but steady growth.

So much has happened in VR in last five years that if you had told me back in early 2020, I’m not sure I would have believed you.

After all, you’d have to say that Facebook is no longer called Facebook. And that the company went on to dissolve the ‘Oculus’ brand, which had long been the most recognizable name in the industry for enthusiasts and even outsiders. And you’d have to tell me that despite that, Facebook Meta still managed to turn its standalone Quest headset into the leading VR platform.

Not only that, you’d have to convince me that Apple would dive head-first into the market with its own headset… and it would cost $3,500! Oh and that Google would follow quickly behind with a complete Android XR operating system underpinning a flagship headset made by Samsung.

Not to mention Microsoft discontinuing its Windows MR platform and giving up on HoloLens (ok actually, that one I might have believed).

Despite all of this, the OG VR platform—PC VR—is still kicking, and has in fact continued to grow.

Monthly-connected Headsets on Steam Over the Last Five Years

Each month Valve collects info from Steam users to determine some baseline statistics about what kind of hardware and software is used by the platform’s population, and to see how things are changing over time, including the use of VR headsets.

The data shared in the survey represents the number of headsets connected to Steam over a given month, so we call the resulting figure ‘monthly-connected headsets’ for clarity; it’s the closest official figure there is to ‘monthly active VR users’ on Steam, with the caveat that it only tells us how many VR headsets were connected, not how many were actually used.

While Valve’s data is a useful way see which headsets are most popular on Steam, the trend of monthly-connected headsets is obfuscated because the data is given exclusively as percentages relative to Steam’s population—which itself is an unstated and constantly fluctuating figure.

If you looked only at the percent of VR users on Steam, you’d think the category must be shrinking.

But this isn’t the whole story. You need to take into account that the Steam population itself has grow a lot over the last five years. In fact, the Steam population has nearly doubled in that time.

To demystify the data Road to VR maintains a model—based on the historical survey data along with official data points directly from Valve and Steam—which aims to account for Steam’s changing population and estimate the actual count (not just the percent)—of headsets being used on Steam.

In this way we can see that the raw number of VR headsets in use on Steam has actually been slowly but steadily growing over time.

So the reality is that while Steam itself is growing faster proportionally than SteamVR users, the total number of VR users has been steadily climbing. Put another way: even though the percent of the Steam population using VR headsets is decreasing, from a developer standpoint, the number of potential VR customers has been growing.

This surely wouldn’t be the case if Valve hadn’t set up SteamVR from the outset as an open platform which any headset maker can opt into. There’s at least 24 different headsets in use on the platform each month, making SteamVR by far the largest and most diverse PC VR ecosystem.

PC VR no doubt also has Meta to thank for its continued growth after all these years and changes to the landscape. The wide availability and low cost of Quest headsets has brought many new people into the VR fold, and some of them wind up using the headset for PC VR too. Meta headsets account for a whopping 70% of monthly-connected headsets on Steam today.

What will the next five years hold for PC VR? We’ll see you in 2030 to find out!

Varjo is Moving Some Advanced Headset Features Behind a $2,500 Annual Paywall

From roadtovr

Varjo, the Finland-based maker of high-end XR headsets, announced they’re releasing a new paid licensing structure next month which will include some of XR-4’s previously free software features.

Many of Varjo’s headsets over the years have required a subscription of some sort, such as its fleet of enterprise-focused XR-3 headsets released in 2020. The company’s latest line of XR-4 headsets released in late 2023 without the need for a subscription however.

Now, Varjo says it’s introducing a new subscription affecting all new XR-4 and XR-4 Focal Edition headsets purchased after March 25th, which will kick off with two new tiers: ‘Varjo Base’ and the ‘Varjo Base Pro’ paid subscription.

Varjo Base is the free software suite, which includes core virtual reality and tracking features. Varjo Base Pro on the other hand is a paid subscription priced at $2,500 annually, or $5,000 for perpetual use.

Varjo Base Pro is packages to include more advanced mixed reality capabilities, such as chroma key, 3D reconstruction, and video post-processing, along with expanded tracking support, programmatic controls, and multi-app functionality. Notably, all XR-4 Secure Edition headsets purchased after March 25th will include a Pro license.

Granted, at $5,990 and $9,990 respectively, both XR-4 and XR-4 Focal Edition really only appeal to the highest-end PC VR prosumers and enterprise customers—which makes the price restructuring a little less of a blunt force trauma. Anyone who already owns the headset doesn’t need to pay for advanced features, with the ‘Pro’ price hike essentially only affecting deep pocketed enterprise users moving forward.

Here’s a breakdown, courtesy Varjo:

Varjo Base (free)

Varjo Base Pro (paid)
Virtual reality

Virtual reality rendering
Mixed reality – Video pass-through with Alpha mask
– Depth occlusion
Integrated microphone and speakers with DTS spatial audio
– Autofocus cameras (with Focal Edition)

– Chroma key
– Blend-control mask
– Video pass-through data stream
– Video post-process shader
– Environment cubemap for HDR lightning
– 3D reconstruction
– Programmatic control for camera settings
Tracking technologies – Varjo inside-out tracking
– SteamVR Tracking (depending on version)
– Varjo Controller tracking
– Varjo Markers
– Eye tracking for foveated rendering
– Automatic IPD adjustment
– Varjo Hand tracking

– Support for 3rd party tracking plugins
– Support for motion platforms
– Eye tracking for analytics and research
– Programmatic control for IPD adjustment
Productivity – Varjo Base desktop application
– Varjo Workspace

– Disable Varjo UIs and branding
Compatibility – OpenVR, OpenXR, Microsoft DirectX 11, DirectX 12, OpenGL, Vulkan

– Multi-app support

Pimax Shares Development Updates on Dream Air and Crystal Super Headsets

From roadtovr

Pimax has two PC VR headsets in development: the ultralight Dream Air and the wide field-of-view Crystal Super. The company recently offered an update on the development progress of both headsets, including an update on the shipping timeline of Crystal Super.

Pimax Dream Air Update

Image courtesy Pimax

Pimax Dream Air is the company’s first effort to build an ultralight PC VR headset. First announced in December with a price of $1,900, the headset is undergoing various tweaks as the company completes the prototyping phase and moves toward an expected May release date.

In its latest update on Dream Air, Pimax says it has added speaker pods to the sides of the headset for improved audio.

Image courtesy Pimax

The headset’s tether is also changing from a single cable that runs along the left side of the headset to a split cable that will run along both sides and then combine into one cable behind the user’s head. Pimax says this change will help with the balance of the headset.

Image courtesy Pimax

Pimax is also moving the Dream Air’s USB-C accessory slot to the bottom of the headset to make it more accessible for clip-on accessories like trackers. And the newest iteration of the headset’s design now includes vents for active cooling, as the compact headset and displays will have plenty of heat to dissipate.

The company also says it has an early prototype of the headset’s pancake lenses, and specifies that they have a concave front surface that helps expand the headset’s field-of-view. Between that and slightly canting the lenses and displays, Pimax says it expects the final field of view to be 105° horizontally rather than the originally announced 102°.

Image courtesy Pimax

Field-of-view isn’t the only thing that could increase, however. The company says it’s still choosing between two candidate displays. Both are micro-OLED with identical resolution. But one of the panels (from Sony) has “better optical qualities,” according to the company, but also a higher price tag. If the final version ends up using the Sony panel, Pimax says it could increase the cost of the headset “a tiny bit.”

While it’s nice to see the field-of-view go up, potentially changing already-announced specs and prices with little more than two months before the headset is supposed to ship seems to reinforce longstanding criticism that the company often gets ahead of itself in planning and execution.

Speaking of the headset’s purported May release date, Pimax indicates in this latest update that it expects to have a “proper working demo unit [of Dream Air]” in April, one month before the headset is expected to ship. And in May, the company says it’ll have a “public event” to showcase the headset.

The video concludes with the company saying, “we are fine-tuning the final parts and at the same time also minimizing the risk for delays. The Dream Air is on the way and we’ll be showing it publicly soon.”

Pimax Crystal Super Update

Pimax Crystal Super | Image courtesy Pimax

Crystal Super is the company’s latest large form-factor PC VR headset which aims for a wide field-of-view (130° horizontal) and high resolution (3,840 × 3,840).

Crystal Super was originally announced in April, 2024, with an expected release date of Q4 2024. In the recent update, the company shares its latest projections for the headset’s release date: the end of March for the 50 PPD version and mid-April for the 57 PPD version.

Pimax says that early versions of the Crystal Super are in the hands of ‘beta testers’ who have been providing feedback. Based on that feedback, the company is seemingly regressing the Super’s headstrap design to something closer to its prior headsets: a simple over-the-head strap (instead of a horizontal strap with ratcheting adjustment) and a larger facepad for better weight distribution.

Image courtesy Pimax

The company also addressed newly imposed tariffs that the US has placed on products from China. Pimax says it will eat the cost of the tariffs for any orders placed before they were announced (February 4th). However, the company suggests that the tariffs will increase the cost of its headsets in the future.

Lauded VR Storytelling Studio Astrea Releases Latest Project on Quest & PC VR

From roadtovr

Astrea, the studio and publisher behind a host of VR narrative experiences, including Spheres, Astra, and Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom, has released an interactive VR experience on Quest and PC VR headsets that lets you embody passengers on a train, and help them face pivotal moments in their lives.

Called The Passengers, the four chapter, 40-minute interactive experience allows you to become one of four characters, experiencing their internal monologues and interacting with the environment with both your hands and voice.

Developed by Canada-based studio Couzin Films and France-based Les Produits Frais, The Passengers tells each story with a variety of styles, offering different visuals such as oil paint, watercolor, pencil, colored pencils, and immersive video.

“In this experience, you can be each one of the four passengers who all have their own personal quest. The course of each story is affected according to what they say, where they look, and what they do with their hands. You are one deciding all of that. The characters were created by volumetrically scanning the four actors. They were then rigged and animated through motion capture.”

While The Passengers is new to consumer headsets, it’s actually been on the international festival circuit since 2021 shortly after its completion.

The experience won the Best Immersive Experience – Fiction award at the Canadian Screen Awards (2022), and was selected as a finalist at the Prix Gémeaux (2022), Prix Numix (2021) and the VR Experience of the Year at the VR Awards (2021).

You can find The Passengers on the Horizon Store for Quest 2 and above, and Steam for PC VR headsets, priced at $5.

Somnium Space Announces New Pricing for VR1 Lineup, Putting Entry-level Headset North of $3,000

From roadtovr

Somnium Space, the Czechia-based social platform creator, has raised prices on its enthusiast-grade PC VR headset, Somnium VR1, something the company says was done to “maintain the highest quality standards.”

The company announced last month it was paring down the number of previously offered configurations of Somnium VR1 alongside the news that, after January 16th, 2025, it was going to raise prices on its three remaining variants—but not by how much.

Now, the company has released that updated pricing info (excluding local taxes), which amounts to a €500 – €700 increase over previous prices:

Edition Features Previous Price (EUR excl. taxes) USD New Price (EUR excl. taxes) USD
Visionary Edition VR, eye-tracking €2,499 ~$2,600 €2,999 ~$3,090
Titan Edition VR, eye-tracking, hand-tracking €2,899 ~$3,020 €3,399 ~$3,500
Ultimate Edition VR, eye-tracking, hand-tracking, MR passthrough €3,499 ~$3,659 €4,299 ~$4,425

The company says in a blogpost that the price hike is due to additional production costs:

These changes reflect the complex production processes and our unwavering commitment to delivering the best PCVR experience possible. High-quality materials, intricate designs, and rigorous quality control result in additional production costs, including the inevitable scrap of some expensive components to meet our standards. Our dedication to uncompromising quality ensures that each VR1 headset is a masterpiece, designed to exceed your expectations.

Originally offered in seven different consumer variants, the company has since discontinued its Classic Edition, Striker Edition, Specter Edition, and Translucent Edition—also likely done to slim down production costs.

Previously, Somnium Space’s entry level offering was its Classic Edition, which as its ‘barebones’ PC VR headset, didn’t include eye-tracking. That was priced at €1,900 (~$1,980 USD), which (like the table seen above) doesn’t account for local taxes.

Image courtesy Somnium Space

Additionally, the company says it’s now adjusting its delivery timeline for new orders of Somnium VR1, with the updated delivery window slated for March–April 2025. Somnium Space maintains it’s working to reduce the delivery window to “just two weeks from order to shipment by mid-2025,” which includes most of Europe, the UK and US as supported shipping regions.

If you’re looking to learn more about Somnium VR1, make sure to check out our hands-on from the company’s annual Somnium Connect event last July.

Somnium VR1 Specs

  • Display: QLED Mini-Led Fast LCD – 2,880 × 2,880 per-eye
  • Field of view: 130° horizontal, 105° vertical. The VR1 can render up to 140° horizontally, though the actual FOV may vary slightly depending on face and eye shape.
  • Refresh rate: 72 Hz, 90 Hz, upgradeable to 120 and 144 Hz (experimental)
  • Local dimming zones: 576 per eye
  • Eye tracking: 120 Hz, with an open-sourced algorithm that can be used and modified for any use case
  • Connectivity: USB-C, DisplayPort 1.4, 3.5mm audio jack
  • IPD Range: 57 to 76 mm

Pimax Raises Another $13.6M to Accelerate the Development of Its VR Headset Business

From roadtovr

Pimax, the Chinese startup known for its wide field-of-view (FOV) PC VR headsets, has secured an additional ¥CN100 million (~$13.6 million USD) in an extension to its Series C funding.

According to an initial report from 36Kr (Chinese), the investment round was led by Zhuji Jingchuang Rong Investment Co, and supported by previous investor Ivy Capital, which took part in the company’s $20 million Series B in 2020. This brings to company’s overall outside investment to $82.7 million, according to Crunchbase data.

Pimax says its latest funding round will allow it to further expand its R&D group in the US, and establish a new R&D group in Europe. The 36Kr report maintains Pimax’s customer base is largely outside of China, accounting for as much as 80% of the company’s headset sales.

“This is mainly due to the company’s continuous R&D and innovation capabilities, complete product matrix layout, and mature overseas market strategy,” Pimax founder Robin Weng told 36Kr. “It is also due to the general trend of the global high-end VR market entering a stable and rapid growth track.”

Since its founding in 2015, Pimax is best known for its wide-FOV PC VR headsets, such as its latest ‘Crystal’ series headsets. The company has also shown increasing interest in the burgeoning slim and light headset category with the announcement of Dream Air in December, a slim and feature-rich PC VR headset.

Dream Air | Image courtesy Pimax

Priced at $1,900 and expected to release in May 2025, the company also announce an optional puck-style compute unit ‘Cobb’, which houses a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset for standalone VR.

While Pimax has garnered an impressive amount of funding over the years, and largely delivered on its most important promises, the company has some notable challenges ahead.

In November, Pimax introduced a new payment model moving forward, allowing customers to buy their headsets at a lower price and try either its Crystal Light or soon-to-launch Crystal Super risk-free for 14 days. Instead of buying a headset at its full MSRP, the new structure puts requires the user to make an additional one-time payment after the trial period in order to gain continued access to the headset’s required software.

While the program was initially announced to include a 10-day trial period, the company quickly changed course to offer an additional four days after community backlash, and also an ostensible realization that it was obligated to offer 14 days as per consumer protection laws in the EU and UK.

More recently, the announcement of Dream Air seems to continue Pimax’s tendency to reveal new products before delivering on those it has previously announced. Revealed back in April 2024, the company’s Crystal Super headset was originally planned to release sometime in Q4 2024, however that was delayed to Q1 2025.

First batches containing the QLED 57 PPD optical engine are expected to start shipping at the end of January, with additional optical engines slated to release in March and April, the company tells us in a recent Q&A.

As for Dream Air’s separate compute unit, Cobb, Pimax says its has “no exact ETA,” as the company still wants “to add some features that we did not communicate in our Frontier announcement.” Based on Pimax’s past approach, it’s possible we may hear additional announcements before Cobb reaches consumers.

Vision Pro Knock-off Gets High Praise From Former Quest Engineer

From roadtovr

Wait, Apple Vision Pro doesn’t come in black, does it? Nope, but Play For Dream MR does. And with what some are calling the ‘Android Vision Pro’, owing to its Android-based OS, Play For Dream seems to have turned some heads at CES 2025 this past week.

Initially launched in Asia last year, China-based headset creator Play For Dream had its sights on bringing the heavily Vision Pro-inspired mixed reality headset to the West. Launching a Kickstarter campaign in September, Play For Dream MR went on to garner $2,271,650.00 Hong Kong dollars (~$292,000 USD).

Play For Dream MR has packed in a laundry list of modern XR features, including a Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset running Android 15, dual 3,840 × 3,552 micro-OLED displays (90Hz), eye-tracking, auto IPD adjustment, wired and wireless PC streaming, and also a Quest Pro-inspired rear-mounted battery and Touch-style controllers.

In short, the headset appears to have it all—even Vision Pro’s user interface.

Design inspirations aside, former Quest engineer Amanda Watson got a chance go hands-on with Play For Dream’s MR headset, noting in an X post it was “absolutely the best all around HMD demo I saw on the floor today.”

“It is quite literally an ‘Android Apple Vision Pro’. but the execution was excellent. Great performance, optics, UI and media capture/playback features,” Watson continues, who departed Meta in 2022.

During her time at Meta/Oculus, Watson worked on a number of Quest-related projects, including both the tethered Link and the company’s Wi-Fi streaming tool, Air Link. At one time, she was the sole developer of Air Link for 13 months prior to its release. So when Watson says something is good, it probably is.

“It has USB and wireless PCVR streaming (I tried USB) — this was more [work-in-progress] quality (frame rate and latency) compared to other features, but it’s a relatively recent feature [as I understand it]. The basics like controller motion were nailed down and resolution was solid.”

Image courtesy Play For Dream

Furthermore, Watson reports its Touch-style controllers were “also very good. They said hand tracking exists, but they didn’t demo it.” Notably, the headset’s pancake lenses had “excellent distortion correction,” which Watson says is “the biggest thing to me personally.”

Established in 2020 under the name YVR, Play For Dream has already launched two generations of standalone VR headsets, its YVR 1 and YVR 2, both of which were released in China in 2022.

Play For Dream MR doesn’t have a firm release date or pricing yet, however the company has said it will come in under $2,000. For more, check out Play For Dream’s website for detailed specs and ordering opportunities when they arrive.