The State of Mobile VR and AR Headsets in 2018

Written by Brooks Canavesi on March 7, 2018. Posted in IoT

There was no shortage of VR- and AR-related news in 2017, from hardware releases to interesting technology developments to company acquisitions. According to Digi-Capital’s new Augmented/Virtual Reality Report Q1 2018, VR and AR are on their way to approach up to $90 and $15 billion revenue respectively within the next 5 years, reaching an install base in the high tens of millions to over 100 million by 2022 for the combined VR and AR headset market. To better understand the road ahead, as well as the groundwork the year 2017 laid for the future of VR and AR experience, we can examine the current state of mobile VR and AR headset, which represent the focal point of most consumers’ attention.

More Choice and Better Headsets

For a long time, consumers interested in VR and AR had very little choice how to experience the wonders of virtual worlds. There was either the basic Google Cardboardheadset, which, while interesting and affordable, also made VR look like a gimmick because of its flimsy nature and narrow field-of-view, or the three musketeers of VR: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR—all three of which cost several hundreds of dollars and require additional expensive hardware to work. There were also various AR apps for smartphones, such as the wildly popular mobile game for iOS and Android, Pokémon Go, with its location-based augmented gameplay elements. Pokémon Go was released in July 2016 and quickly became a viral hit, but no other AR game or app has since then managed to come even close how Pokémon Go was popular at the height of the global craze that followed its release. Even though many people have yet to get used to writing “2018” instead of “2017,” we’ve already seen several major hardware announcements from established players and newcomers alike.

HTC Vive Pro VR

On January 8, 2018, HTC announced an upgraded version of its HTC Vive headset, which debuted on April 5, 2016. The most notable improvement is the increase of the headset’s resolution by 78 percent, from 1080 x 1200 per eye to 1400 x 1600 per eye. The new resolution puts the HTC Vive Pro VR ahead of most competing headsets, including the Oculus Rift or Windows Mixed Reality headsets. Other improvements include a pair of high-fidelity headphones and a redesigned head strap that is supposed to make the headset feel less front-heavy and more stable. Also added are dual microphones and dual front-facing cameras, which allow game developers to experiment with new gameplay mechanics. The HTC Vive Pro VR keeps compatibility with both 1.0 and 2.0 SteamVR tracking. Together with the HTC Vive Pro VR, the company has also announced its own wireless adapter for both the original HTC Vive headset as well as the upgraded version. The adapter relies on Intel’s WiGig technology to transmit data over the 60 GHz band, avoiding issues with interference and low latency.

Oculus Go and Mi VR

2018 is shaping up to be a great year for mid-range VR headsets. At Qualcomm’s CES 2018 press conference, Facebook VR VP Hugo Barra shared news on the company’s $199 standalone headset, the Oculus Go, which is built by Xiaomi and features the same processor as the LG G6 and the original Google Pixel: the Snapdragon 821. Xiaomi will be selling a China-specific version of the Oculus Go headset, called Mi VR, but it seems that the two versions will have identical hardware specifications. Both the Oculus Go and the Mi VR would fill the gap between the $129 Gear VR, which is limited to Samsung devices, and the likes of the Oculus Rift and the PlayStation VR. Google and Lenovo have also announced a standalone VR headset to be released in 2018, the Mirage Solo, but it’s expected to be priced between $300 and $400, making it far too expensive for most people with a casual interest in VR.

Pimax 8K

All current virtual reality headsets could use a resolution boost, and that’s exactly what Chinese startup Pimax offers with its massive 8K VR headset. Built to support the mainstream content currently available in the market, the Pimax 8K features two 4K displays and boasts a field-of-view of 200 degrees while promising only 15 ms latency. “Pimax 8K is a cutting-edge virtual reality device designed for VR futurists. Our goal is to create an intuitive VR without the shade of the headset, and sharp enough that you won’t be disturbed by pixels,” states the company in its Kickstarter campaign, which has earned it over $4 million from almost 6,000 backers, which is more than even Oculus VR’s initial crowdfunding campaign. Pimax is also selling a smaller version of the same headset, with the 5K resolution. The company claims that 5K is enough to eliminate the screen door effect, which is the ability to see the fines lines that separate individual rows of pixels when wearing a VR headset or sitting too close to a monitor. Given how successful Pimax’s Kickstarter campaign was, it seems that there’s a huge market for high-resolution VR headsets. Even though we are still 20 years from ideal VR resolution, according to Jason Paul, the General Manager for VR Strategy at NVIDIA, the resolution of current popular VR headsets is high enough to make consumers interested in the technology, and 8K VR headsets such as the one from Pimax can go a long way in helping VR become mainstream.

Intel Vaunt Smart Glasses

By far the most interesting AR announcement so far, one with the potential to fill the massive hole left after the spectacular failure that was the Google Glass, came from Intel. The company has demonstrated a pair of smart glasses, called Vaunt, that don’t look like smart glasses at all, which is the most remarkable thing about them. Intel seems to understand that people won’t suddenly find it socially acceptable to wear a massive computer on the head just because we now have the technology that makes it possible to project tweets right in the center of the eyeball. Instead, Intel’s smart glasses actively try to display as little information as possible and contain as little technology as possible—no speaker, no microphone, and no camera. The glasses house a suite of electronics designed to power a very low-energy laser that shines a red, monochrome image with a resolution of 400 x 150 pixels onto a holographic reflector on the glasses’ right lens, and this image is then reflected directly onto the retina. “We had to integrate very, very power-efficient light sources, MEMS devices, for actually painting an image. We use a holographic grading embedded into the lens to reflect the correct wavelengths back to your eye. The image is called retinal projection, so the image is actually ‘painted’ into the back of your retina,” explained Jerry Bautista, the lead for the team building wearable devices at Intel’s NDG. Intel’s plan is to first allow developers to get their hands on the Vaunt smart glasses before shipping the glasses to consumers. The company hopes to create a thriving AR ecosystem and refine their hardware platform so that other hardware manufacturers could adopt it and improve upon it. If they succeed, AR could experience a renaissance.

Windows Mixed Reality

“The biggest advance was arguably Windows Mixed Reality: a VR platform built into Microsoft’s Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, supporting headsets that don’t need external cameras or markers,” wrote senior reporter at The Verge Adi Robertson. Windows Mixed Reality works with Windows Mixed Reality headsets, which were launched in cooperation with Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and other major hardware manufacturers. The headsets initially started at $399, but Microsoft has recently discounted many of them by 50 percent on Amazon, making its VR platform more accessible than ever. Also included in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update was the Mixed Reality Viewer. “By simply using the camera on your PC, you can see 3D objects mixed into your actual surroundings – people, places, things, or anything you can imagine,” Microsoft explained.

The Groundwork Has Been Laid; Content Needs to Follow

With the selection of VR and AR headsets being broader than ever, and with the support for VR and AR content being integrated directly into the Windows operating system, the only area where VR and AR need to catch up is the selection of interesting content users can enjoy. VR versions of popular PC and console titles such as Doom, Fallout 4, and Skyrim, have successfully demonstrated how immersive and extensive VR experiences can be, but they also felt like compromises held back by the current hardware and the limited experience of game developers. The good news for all fans of VR and AR is the fact that several companies with deep pockets are willing to bet on the success of this emerging market segment and finance the development of VR and AR apps and games to escape the supply and demand circle, where there is insufficient demand because there are not enough interesting products on offer.