VIVE Announces The XR Elite Standalone VR Headset With XR Passthrough | ARPost - ARPost

After a week of publicity and hype, VIVE held what mightiness person been the slightest breathtaking merchandise motorboat successful the past of extended world (at least, for radical who weren’t astatine the Consumer Electronics Show). But the merchandise that it launched is simply a imaginable Quest killer.

Walk Softly and Carry a Big Stick

For the past 3 weeks oregon so, VIVE has been emailing its lists astir “big quality coming,” “the large debut,” and “our newest product.” It doesn’t instrumentality agelong representation to callback that the VIVE FLOW launch was a implicit cinematic experience, featuring talks from institution leaders, presentations of idiosyncratic footage, elaborate tech specs, and loads of promotional hoopla.

It besides doesn’t instrumentality agelong representation to callback that the instrumentality mostly underwhelmed consumers. Despite being the astir affordable instrumentality from the institution connected the high-end of the user market, the headset didn’t look arsenic breathtaking arsenic devices similar the Quest 2 (review). It has an absorbing lightweight signifier origin but packs little punch successful presumption of experiences and capability.

If determination was a flashy unrecorded launch, making it much disposable mightiness person been a invited thought arsenic for astir radical the motorboat consisted of the webpage refreshing to amusement the caller instrumentality and 2 one-minute YouTube videos. But that caller instrumentality mightiness beryllium a crippled changer.

First Look astatine the VIVE XR Elite

VIVE XR Elite is simply a stand-alone headset that supports downloadable apps and games arsenic good arsenic wired oregon wireless streaming from a PC. The headset offers 1920×1920 pixels per oculus with a 110-degree tract of presumption and a 90 Hz refresh complaint tally by a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor. Also connected committee are dual microphones and built-in speakers.

Four tracking cameras, a 16 MP RGB camera, a extent sensor, a G-sensor, a gyroscope, and a proximity sensor alteration each of the manufacture modular VR abilities including inside-out tracking. The headset is besides promoted for passthrough mixed world but nary demo footage and small further accusation is disposable connected this diagnostic astatine this time.

As acold arsenic ergonomics, the headset features manual interpupillary-distance accommodation and diopter absorption accommodation for usage without medicine lenses. Most intriguing successful this class is the artillery pack, which tin beryllium worn for further powerfulness oregon removed wholly and replaced with arms, seemingly turning the headset into a signifier origin that looks a batch much similar (big) glasses.

The headset besides comes with 2 controllers that look alarmingly similar Quest 2 controllers. While controller exertion has changed a batch successful the past fewer years, including successful VIVE devices, these look similar a imaginable measurement back.

That successful mind, the headset is shipping for $1,099 – a coagulated $400 little than the Quest Pro. That’s besides much than $600 much than the Pico 4 which seems to beryllium successful a akin ringing successful presumption of hardware but besides shows nary signs of launching successful the States immoderate clip soon.

The VIVE XR Elite is disposable for preorder present and those who bid earlier February 15 get 5 escaped titles. Shipping is expected to statesman successful aboriginal March.

Where Are We arsenic an Industry?

This headset raises immoderate questions and shines a batch of airy connected wherever the manufacture is headed. It seems wide that passthrough MR is becoming the manufacture modular for hardware conscionable similar stand-alone functionality became the modular not truthful agelong ago.

More intriguingly, the headset shows competitory hardware astatine a competitory terms point. For astir of the company’s history, they person been contented with releasing much robust hardware with a bigger terms tag.

While the VIVE FLOW was arguably a compromise connected some terms and features, the XR Elite looks to beryllium competitory successful some areas, which is besides promising for aboriginal devices. This, with the objection of the controllers, which whitethorn beryllium a measurement backmost but are surely not a measurement guardant similar we saw with Meta’s Quest Pro controller redesign.

The main question is astir passthrough successful the ecosystem. Passthrough wasn’t played up successful the XR Elite motorboat the mode that it was for the Pico 4 oregon Quest Pro, but the diagnostic seems to beryllium 1 with mixed reviews. Enthusiasts look funny successful its potential, but the exertion remains not lone challenging successful presumption of execution but besides of little involvement to wide users.

Passthrough oregon Bust?

When the manufacture is truthful dynamic, it’s casual to wonderment what comes next. The institution whitethorn person been capable to merchandise the Quest 2 slayer that we hoped VIVE FLOW was going to be, but alternatively released a Quest Pro slayer erstwhile the Quest Pro is already burdened with a large terms tag and awkward features. But, is it excessively precocious for companies to merchandise VR models without passthrough?