The Game Developer Conference (GDC) is coming up next week, which could give ByteDance’s XR subsidiary Pico Interactive a perfect opportunity to showcase what, according to a recent trademark and leaked controller model, could be its next standalone VR headset.

A post by X user and serial sleuth @Lunayian shows a 3D model scraped from the Pico Connect PC client, ostensibly showing off the right controller for the alleged Pico 4S.

These look similar to the alleged Pico 5 controllers leaked on Chinese social media in September 2023, which are notably different from the Pico 4 controllers, as they omit the Quest 2-style tracking IR rings.

Lunayian noted late last week that Pico has also already trademarked the name Pico 4S, a naming scheme that may suggest more of a hardware refresh of the Pico 4 headset, which launched in Asia and Europe in October 2022.

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Still, a report from The Information late last year maintained that Pico was pulling the plug on its next consumer-focused Pico 5 VR headset in favor of competing with Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro mixed reality headset.

At this point, it’s anyone’s guess what the company has planned in terms of a potential Pico 4S, Pico 5, or what some rumors suggest could also include a Pico 5 Pro Max.

Despite wide-reaching layoffs at Pico, the China-based headset creator is going to have it usual presence at GDC 2024, which takes place March 18th-22nd in San Francisco. We’ll be reporting on all things XR coming out of GDC, so make sure to check back soon for the latest in games and hardware.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • xyzs

    I really do not recommend Pico to people who are hesitating with a Quest 2 or 3.
    The optics of the Pico 4 are really terrible and when you move your head, everything warps, and it really feels like nauseous. Also, the sweet spot is as narrow as fresnel lenses…

    The only things I liked with it were the motorized IPD adjustment (that’s not even important), and the OS that feels not that bad in terms of polishement compared to Quest OS, but the store was empty AF..

    I honestly don’t understand how some YouTubers claim it’s at the level of a Quest on the hardware ? It’s not.

    I am not even a pro Meta, I sold my Q2, because I thought I was no good enough to keep it, yet I was even more disappointed by my Pico 4…

    • YouTube “influencers” offer the best opinions money can buy.

    • kebo

      Sorry, I never experienced your described warping ever. Been using it for over a year now (mostly PC via VD). Lenses and resolution are superb. 300g weight at the front is better than Quest3.

      HOWEVER, onbaord computer is terrible. On paper it has got the same power as the Quest2 but the stand alone games are massevly scaled down. It all looks blurry compared to Quest2. Via PC it is ok of course. Perhaps the refresh with the new processor will fix it.

      • xyzs

        Look at a fixed spot then move your head with a circular movement, you will see what I mean.
        If I do the same with my quest, it’s much more stable, it doesnt feel like the spot shifts based on the angle of my head.
        This headset gave me a lot of nausea because of that (a tracking that is not on par is the worste).

      • ViRGiN

        the “no warping” is the same thing as with pimax, people _swear_ there are zero, then pimax themselves releases new headset and say they _fixed distortions_.

    • I HAVE to reply to this message.

      I’m an early VR adopter and have had them in all shapes and sizes (!) BUT the Pico 4 is my current daily driver – paid £278 for it a year ago secondhand.

      Tracking – superb.

      Fitting – comfortable and no issues with facial interface. I use a larger centre band headstrap but I use that on all my headsets.

      Audio. Not an issue for me as I only ever use BT headphones.

      Weight. Balanced very well.

      Image quality. As I said, daily driver. Better than Q2 (Q3 is not a valid comparison considering research/lead times) vertical FOV is definately better as well.

      Game compatibility. Steam compatible.

      I’m WELL pleased to hear there might be a P4/5.

      • xyzs

        Good for you man, I was warning potential customers who have stronger optics/tracking expectations, if you are happy with your Pico, then enjoy :)

      • Tanix Tx3

        I would add the reflection to the contra list.
        Compared with Q2 I would choose P4 without hesitate. Its an almost complete device with better specs.
        Compared with Q3 you have to figure out your focus first. Are you willing to pay significant more to get a complete device? Especially with PCVR focus you might need an more exvensive gpu to take advantage of the better codec. If you dont care about (IMO the better VR) PCVR, just enjoy Meta store or get an PSVR.

    • Sorry, but I strongly disagree. The first thing I noted when using the Pico 4 was finally the comfortable lenses, after using countless Fresnel lenses, this was the headset I said “Finally”, a VR headset worth using for hours.

      • ViRGiN

        aaand you got stuck in SteamVR forever.

        • No, I use both standalone and PCVR games. Also 8K 3D interactive content from Pico Video.

          • ViRGiN

            What makes “8K 3D interactive content” actually interactive? How do you actually interact with anything in the video thanks to pico?

          • You can take out a virtual DSLR camera from your wrist and actually make photos to the things happening on the video (they will be saved on the gallery of Pico 4). On other part of the video a person learns you how to make a fire on the wild, and you have to do it to the video switch to another scene! And other things they allow you or ask you to do while playing the documentary. It’s amazing, and the quality awesome.

    • GordonFreeman

      You must have received a different product to me then, yes the library is a little lacking but understably as its software store hasn’t been around as long but new games are continuing to be added.
      As for the optics, these are the best I have seen up to until the Q3.
      No warping issues either, your IPD settings must have been out of wack and nothing close to the Fresnel lenses you compare them to.

      I would like to know who all these supposed YouTube Pico 4 fanboys are as all I hear are usually people like yourself bashing it. Almost like Meta paid a bunch of people to keep the competition down as it was not made available in the US.

      Just saying.

      • xyzs

        I am not bashing anything, I just give my disappointed user feedback with facts.
        Not sharing the same opinion as yours is not called bashing, it’s called simply having a different appreciation….

        Just saying.

        • ViRGiN

          I’ll upvote this, but it’s strange how this statement you are not applying to my opinions.

        • Sion12

          Not bashing, but anyone disagree with my opinion is hater fanboy because my opinion is the truth.

    • xyzs

      A mob of pico devs decided to attack this comment because truth hurts their business it seems…

      • Christian Schildwaechter

        Or your personal experience doesn’t qualify as universal truth.

        • xyzs

          An answer in less than 7000 characters, it’s rare.

          • Christian Schildwaechter

            After some (valid) criticism, I now try to keep them below 1500 characters. And in this case I didn’t need to add a lot of context.You did all the hard work by disregarding the reasonably argued responses contradicting your comment as fanboyism, implying that your bad experience must be apply for everyone and is therefore the only honest answer.

          • xyzs

            No fanboyism on my side, I have only an old Quest 1 lol. I sold my Quest 2, and didn’t get the Quest 3 or Pro…
            I just explain how bad quality are Pico headset in my experience compared to the most popular one that is an easy reference: the Quest.
            End of the story.

      • ViRGiN

        It’s definietly not devs, it’s certainly people who bought one exclusively for SteamVR and were happy with mild and unpolished updates that were obvious to expect from Meta headsets going forward at the time before Quest 3 existed.

        Nobody sane ever purchases Pico for the past half a year, unless they are extremely strapped for cash (and then buy humble bundle on steam) and then go online defend how superior Pico is because it costed them $100-$150 less (imported from abroad, with no warranty, all joy measured exclusively through PCVR wireless streaming).

        From my experience, most Pico owners do realise it’s complete crap; there is nowhere near the level of fanboyism like with peemax crystal.

  • Nevets

    It’s a strange situation isn’t it, to think of why might take the plunge on a small (sales-wise) competitor when there’s one other incumbent on the market with a solid ecosystem. Sure, if you hate Meta then you could give it a go, but hardly anybody would do that unless they’re very cashed-up. The average Joe who doesn’t have multiple wads of $400 lying around will need to make the best purchase the first time round. I don’t like Meta too much (don’t hate them like some though), but I’d choose Meta’s newest headset every time…for now.

    • Arno van Wingerde

      If you hate meta, it is most likely for its widely reported infringes on personal data… in that case Pico will not be much of an improvement, unless you for some reason prefer a Chinese firm with the Chinese government behind it over an American firm with the American government behind it…

    • Christian Schildwaechter

      Quest 3 removed the pancake lenses as a main reason to pick a Pico 4, making the more balanced headstrap the remaining difference. But few even have the choice. Meta sells headsets in only 20 countries in North America, Europe, Australia/New Zealand plus Japan/Taiwan/South Korea. Pico sells in Europe, several Asian countries, but esp. China with 1.4bn people, ~18% of the world’s population. Neither officially sells in similarly large India, but there both the Meta and Pico services are at least reachable, making importing feasible, while a Quest is pretty useless in China without access to Meta servers.

      A Pico 4S might target mostly those that can’t get a Quest 3 by closing the gap. Pico could upgrade the SoC to the XR2 Gen 2 after its six months Meta exclusivity ends in April, or rebrand their Pico 4 Pro/Enterprise with integrated eye tracking as a bridge to an upcoming Pico 5 targeting AVP. There are also still use cases where a Pico makes more sense than a Quest, mostly for businesses due to Meta’s restricted licence, e.g. prohibiting location based services or anything involving VR cloud streaming. But the main market for Pico will be China and Asia in general for some time, which should be large and exclusive enough to keep development going.

      • Nevets

        Interesting points about the markets.

  • ViRGiN

    these guys, deze nuts

    i can already predict MRTV is going to love these!

  • Andrew Jakobs

    4S can mean anything, from a more budget version or a more advanced version with standard eye-/facetracking like the 4 Pro, but at the price of the regular 4.
    I do hope they’ll release these controllers also for the regular version, but it’s a shame the didn’t include handstraps by default.
    Just bought a regular Pico 4 a couple of weeks ago, haven’t gotten around to actually using it yet, apart from setting it up.

    • Arno van Wingerde

      Andrew: what is the point of a Pico 4 now that it seems to be abandoned and its hardware is better than Quest2 but worse than Quest3? and has hardly anything on it that Quest does not? Are you just collecting them?

      • Andrew Jakobs

        PCVR? Still about 200 euro’s less as the Q3 (actually tge fifference us much higher as you also need to buy a better headstrap with the Q3, the default strap is a joke). And it’s still a great headset.

  • I may be wrong, but I remember that the rumor said that Pico 5 was canceled, but a refresh of the Pico 4 was still planned because at that point it was already almost done, so the company would have shipped it anyway. Does someone else remembers it?

    • Tanix Tx3

      Dont remember reading that, even if its just another rumor.
      I wait till its available, hopefully together with quest lite, than compare and decide.
      Its an individual process, also depending on my already bought hardware and how good any headset fit with that. Only tech specs doesnt guaranty the best choice.

    • ViRGiN

      I don’t remember that, but I do remember the viagra-sized excitment for rumoured native 4k displayport connection LMAO

  • ViRGiN

    We won’t see new PCVR Meta games, because PC in general is married to Steam, it exists for far too long for anyone else to ever catch up and have ANY incentive for people who had their accounts and accumulated games for one-two decades already.
    And the worst thing is, all that Gayben wealth is kept to himself. He don’t invest into anything, he doesn’t employ army of people, none of that. He has a an armada of yachts worth 1 billion dollars.
    Meta, or just about any company ever, has done more than Valve has ever done and ever will for humanity.

    UEVR is for burned out PCVR SteamVR users who like to cosplay VR. It’s fine for VR tourism, but UEVR offers nothing I want out of my games. It’s been kinda done before with VorpX, and it was actually universal rather than universal to Unreal Engine, but it’s still not good enough. You do need some source code to make proper VR changes; that’s why DrBeef old VR ports are far more enjoyable than anything UEVR has to offer.

    • Tanix Tx3

      I agree with the pointed disadvantage of steam store, but beside this I doubt an many store vr market for PCVR would do us any good.

      I think you underestimate UEVR. I played some games already with similar immersion as ‘real’ vr games. Its possible to get even better results with the UEVR plugin system.
      How many vr games with only xbox controller support are out there? With an good profile UEVR can already do better than this.
      The visual quality is IMO as good as vr games with UE engine are expected to be.