It would seem that the category of ‘Backpack PC’ for VR is rapidly becoming a “thing”. With announcements from HP, MSI, and Zotac earlier this year, now followed by Alienware.
A back-mounted PC for VR of course means that everything can be self-contained on the player, eliminating the restrictions of cables.
Revealed by AMD CEO Lisa Su at the E3 PC Gaming Show, the unnamed Alienware Backpack PC was seen with a sleek looking shell packing the AMD Radeon RX 480 video card. It was introduced as a “reference design,” with no launch or pricing details.
According to TechRadar, the design was done in collaboration with Zero Latency, who specializes in arcade-like free roam VR, and the hardware is based on the Alienware Alpha. No other specs, release dates, or prices, were announced, and no opportunity for weight or battery comparisons yet, but it does prove to be one of the most attractive looking VR backpacks shown so far.
This trend in portable VR with interest by major PC manufacturers is a good sign for the future of VR, where the dream is to have total untethered freedom. Whether ‘backtops’, integrated in-headset systems, or wireless connections dominate are the ultimate future of untethered VR, the demand is great and companies are continuing to try and experiment.