Acer today announced a new Windows “Mixed Reality” VR headset. Dubbed the Acer OJO 500 (pronounced ‘O-ho’), the new headset is packing a few features that seem to be making overtures to the commercial sector.
Seemingly taking a page out of Samsung’s playbook, the Acer OJO 500 includes a few features once exclusive to the Samsung Odyssey HMD: integrated audio and manual inter-pupillary distance adjustments.
Like Sensic’s enterprise-focused VR headset though, which is intended for VR arcades and parks, OJO 500 features a detachable design. Like Sensic’s enterprise headset, it’s principally created to quickly get more heads into headsets, letting you prep a few people with straps before you toss them into VR.
Acer is offering both hard and soft strap variants, the soft strap touted as machine washable—something that ought to appeal to out-of-home venues, as operators could have multiple headstraps in reserve, washing them periodically without need for downtime.
The display resolution hasn’t changed however, offering the same LCD screens at 1,440 × 1,440 resolution per display as their previous model (AH101-D8EY), running at 90Hz.
Acer says the OJO 500 will be available in North America in November, starting at $400; and in Europe, Middle East, and Africa in November, starting at €500.
While not specifically a “next generation” device, as claimed in the promo, this could signal that Acer is more closely dialing in on the lower-end commercial market. Since Windows VR headsets require very little setup, and also don’t require tracking basestations due to the on-board, inside-out optical tracking, they’ve found their way into arcade spaces such as the VR pop-up at the International Concourse at New York’s JFK Airport and in Beat Game’s newly announced dedicated Beat Saber arcade machines.
