VR Enterprise

Pico 4 Enterprise All-In-One VR Headset Announced

October 20, 2022 From vrscout

The business-focused device features eye and face tracking as well as color passthrough technology.

Less than a month after the reveal of the Pico 4, Bytedance has unveiled yet another addition to its lineup of VR headsets, the Pico 4 Enterprise. The 6DoF all-in-one device features a number of similarities compared to its predecessor along with a few key upgrades catering specifically to businesses.

The Pico 4 Enterprise is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 chipset and features pancake optics, 4K+ level resolution, and a refresh rate of 72/90Hz. Similar to the recently-announced Meta Quest Pro, a curved cell battery is located on the back of the device, promising better weight distribution and an overall more comfortable fit.

Like the Pico 4, the Pico 4 Enterprise features motorized interpupillary distance (IPD) adjustment with the added bonus of automatically adjustable IPD powered by the headsets eye tracking technology (more on that shortly).

The Pico 4 Enterprise differentiates itself from the Pico 4 with its business-centric approach to VR. The headset features its own dedicated app store and enterprise OS, allowing developers to customize and manage content for employee use.

The Pico 4 Enterprise features eight onboard cameras for inside-out tracking. That’s three more than the Pico 4. Why the additional cameras you ask? Those are for the aforementioned eye and face tracking. There’s also support for hand and gesture tracking as well as color pass-through. The DDR 4 RAM featured in the consumer model has also been replaced with DDR 5 RAM.

Here’s a more detailed list of specs (as provided by VR-Compare):

Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2
Resolution: 4.3K
Refresh Rate: 72/90Hz
IPD Range: 62-72 mm hardware adjustable (automatic)
Weight: 586 g (1.29lbs)
Field-of-view: 105-degrees
Tracking: 6DoF inside-out, eye-tracking, hand-tracking, face-tracking
Controllers: x2 Pico 4 controllers
Audio: Integrated 3D spatial audio
Memory: 8GB DDR 5
Storage: 256GB
Ports: USB-C
Battery: 2-3 hours
WiFi: WiFi 6 802.11

According to reports, the Pico 4 Enterprise will be availabe for pre-order on November 1st for €899 ($900 USD) with plans to begin shipping in December. The headset will be available to select businesses in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

For more infromation visit picoxr.com.

Image Credit: Pico

This Bizarre VR Gas Mask Makes Breathing In VR More Difficult

May 13, 2022 From vrscout

The AirRes Mask can be used to simulate a variety of stressful and high-risk scenarios.

A research team working out of the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences in Austria has developed a unique accessory for the Meta Quest 2 VR headset that allows users to interact with the virtual world by simply breathing. The bizarre-looking peripheral can also be used to hinder the user’s breathing in order to simulate “adverse” environmental conditions, such as smoke caused by fire.

The AirRes Mask, as it’s referred to by the team, is composed of a standard half-face respirator equipped with a sensor and resistance disk. The device works by measuring the user’s breathing, allowing them to engage with the virtual world in a variety of unique ways.

In a video provided by the team, we catch a glimpse of the device being used to play the harmonica. Depending on the position of the virtual instrument and the force of the breathing, the user is able to trigger different notes. Later on, we see the user operating a virtual blowgun and blowing up balloons by carefully breathing into the apparatus.

As previously mentioned, the AirRes Mask can also be used to simulate breathing resistance in VR, allowing developers to safely immerse user’s in a variety of harsh environments. This is demonstrated with a firefighter simulator in which the user battles a raging inferno from within a confined space.

As the smoke begins to fill the room, the resistance disk restricts airflow through the mask to simulate smoke inhalation and a decrease in stamina. According to the research team, hindering a user’s breathing can increase their stress levels, further immersing the user in a variety of high-risk scenarios.

“Breathing resistance can provide feedback for simple actions such as blowing into wind instruments, or for more complex contextual information about environmental conditions or the state of the user’s virtual avatar,” said the research team in their full research paper.

“For instance, effects of virtual smoke or low stamina of the avatar can be expressed by the system as an increase in breathing resistance. We explore such action-based and context-based mappings of breathing interaction in a user study and investigate the system’s ability to precisely map a user’s breathing force to actions as well as its ability to provide noticeable variations in breathing resistance.”

We’ve seen our fair share of bizarre multi-sensory technology in the past, from a haptic feedback device that utilizes ultrasonic transducers to simulate the feeling of spiders crawling on your face to a location-based experience that lets you smell the inside of a tree. The AirRes Mask offers yet another way for developers to immerse VR users in their experiences via multi-sensory technology.

In addition to entertainment, the device could prove immensely useful for training purposes. The technology offers companies and organizations a way to efficiently simulate stressful and even potentially dangerous scenarios without risk to the trainee.

For more information on the project, read the team’s full research paper, AirRes Mask: A Precise and Robust Virtual Reality Breathing Interface Utilizing Breathing Resistance as Output Modality.

Image Credit: Salzburg University of Applied Sciences

Meta’s Next VR/AR Headset Will ‘Replace Your Laptop’

April 28, 2022 From vrscout

Zuckerberg shares more information on the company’s upcoming XR headset ‘Project Cambria.’

During a Q1 2022 earnings call, Meta (formerly Facebook) co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared new information with investors regarding its next headset which is scheduled to launch sometime this year.

During the meeting, Zuckerberg confirmed that the device, codenamed ‘Project Cambria,’ is designed primarily for “work use cases” as opposed to gaming and entertainment. This lines up with past statements in which Meta confirmed that the upcoming XR device is by no means a successor to the Quest 2.

Zuckerberg hopes this XR device will one day replace your laptop or conventional work setup by offering a more attractive mixed reality workspace powered by VR/AR. In addition to these XR tools, the previously-mentioned face and eye-tracking will offer more realistic and expressive avatars, allowing for more natural interactions during virtual meetings.

Originally announced at the Facebook Connect event in 2021, Project Cambria promises a higher-end experience compared to that of the Meta Quest 2. This includes eye and face tracking, improved ergonomics, and enhanced mixed reality capabilities such as high-res colored Passthrough.

With Meta Quest 2 sales through the roof, it makes sense that Meta is looking to mix things up with its next device rather than cannibalize its own hardware lineup. Thanks to robust VR coworking apps like Horizon Workrooms, we’ve seen just how powerful Meta’s Passthrough technology can be as a productivity tool. We can only imagine how Project Cambria’s improved colored passthrough and face tracking capabilities will impact the future virtual coworking.

During the call, Zuckerberg also revealed that Meta’s VR/AR revenue is up 31%, driven largely by the massive success of the Quest 2. For more information on Project Cambria check out our previous coverage here. You can also check out the full earnings call here.

Image Credit: Meta

Giant VR Robots Are Building Railways In Japan

April 26, 2022 From vrscout

Could VR-powered humanoid robots be the future of heavy construction?

Over the years we’ve seen a number of major corporations try their hands at marrying VR technology and robotics, from VR convenience store employees and a remote-controlled bomb squad bot to a rather unsettling headset that uses a robotic arm to hand-feed delicious candy. And that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Earlier this month, JR West—a major railroad transportation company operating out of Japan—revealed plans to use giant VR-powered robots in the construction of future railroad lines. The multifunctional railway heavy equipment is comprised of a railroad construction vehicle merged with a humanoid heavy robot, resulting in a sort of blue-collar Transformer.

First reported by Mynavi, the mechanical contraption was developed in collaboration with Nippon Signal, a railway signal technology company, as a way to increase productivity while improving workplace safety. According to JR West, VR-enabled robots will reduce on-site accidents, such as electric shock and crashes, by removing the need for direct human intervention.

The system is surprisingly straightforward. Operators sit in the driving cab and use an HP Reverb G2 VR headset to view the world from the perspective of the robot. A large control panel is used to operate two mechanical arms equipped with dual clamps, allowing users to interact with various machinery in detail. Operators will supposedly be able to feel the weight of objects as they work, offering a more intuitive and natural experience.

JR West is currently in the process of testing its heavy equipment robot before making the technology available for use in the Spring of 2024. While designed for railroad construction, it’s easy to how the system could be adapted to serve other practical use-cases throughout a variety of industries. The company’s VR robot could theoretically be used for operating on powerlines, demolition, roofing and high-rise work, and various other high-risk scenarios.

For more information on JR West’s heavy equipment VR robot visit here. You can check out more images below:

Image Credit: JR West