It has been a tough month for Virtual Reality industry, but nothing that a great new headset could not wash off. One such comes from the imperial city of Prague, where VRgineers worked long and hard to give us the new XTAL VR headset, the first ever to feature AutoEye and Leap Motion tech.
The world needs more high-caliber VR eyewear, VRgineers figured. Their answer to this gap is the device that combines cutting edge features, great looks, and a splash of proprietary technology to spice things up. XTAL VR headset is tailored specifically for those who ask more from Virtual Reality – more accuracy, more pixels, superior FOV – designers and engineers alike. It is better equipped for industrial use, and the price of $5,800 reflects it.
Short for crystal, XTAL is. The name ‘symbolizes the new crystal-like polygon structure of the headset and our obsession with a crystal-clear image in VR’ according to VRngineers cofounder Martin Holecko. It also is not without importance that XTAL’s hometown is Prague, a city fabled for its culture of crystal shaping.
All the features that we have come to associate with best-in-class VR devices are here. The problem is how to pack it all in but still keep the weight – very important point for enterprises – below average. There is the now proverbial 170 degrees FOV going with superior 5K resolution. Non-Fresnel lenses also make themselves known from the get-go, while the built-in microphone is capable of transmitting VR voice commands. All of it packed into a stylish, neat, crystal-like case some 12% lighter than VRngineer’s previous model VRHero. The ease-of-wear is further amplified by face-friendly leather cushions.
But what sets XTAL VR headset apart is the very own AutoEye technology. It is hardly a secret that interpuppillary distance plays a crucial role for perceived image quality, yet it attracted little attention from VR headset creators. XTAL on the other hand automatically adjusts lens’ position to account for optimal IPD. AutoEye, in effect, crisps the image significantly and eases the user to user transition. Another novelty worth a note is again XTAL’s very own embedded Leap Motion feature. It is just as it sounds like, only better. The feature features the rather precise hand-tracking capable of running on bare hands alone. VR interaction stripped of additional gadgets.
How you present the product is comparatively important as what the product is. VRngineer’s CEO, Marek Polcak, makes the right kind of move here. ‘Over the last year’, he says, ‘we’ve invested hundreds of hours talking to our enterprise users across industries, gathering feedback’. ‘We firmly believe that XTAL will become an indispensable component of engineering, manufacturing, designing, and training processes, and enable you to do more while saving resources, money and time’.
And they sure mean it. Not only does XTAL VR headset come with quite superior hardware and features, the device also enjoys the attention of such software giants as Autodesk, ESI, or Dassault Systemes. Similarly, the deal with NVidia means that XTAL can deal with highly complex tasks that require the might of NVidia’s Quadro GPUs. VRngineers means business.
