HP has announced a May launch window for the Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition. Priced at $1,250, the headset builds on the existing Reverb G2 with eye, mouth, and heart rate sensors, along with an improved tightening mechanism for the headstrap.

Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition is HP’s enterprise-focused version of the Reverb G2 headset. The company says that the added sensors—for eye, mouth, and heart rate tracking—will allow the headset to offer a better VR experience for both the user and for observers wanting to collect analytical data about the user’s experience. HP claims the sensors are built with privacy in mind.

“HMD firmware safeguards sensor data at every moment of capture and no data is stored on the headset. HP Omnicept powered applications help ensure the capture and transfer of data comply with GDPR and keep user data confidential,” the company says.

Image courtesy HP

Aside from these features, we’re looking largely at the same foundation of the original Reverb G2 [our review], which offers impressively sharp displays and great integrated off-ear audio:

Resolution 2,160 × 2,160 (4.7MP) per-eye (LCD)
Refresh Rate 90Hz
Lenses Single element Fresnel
Field of View 114° diagonal
Optical Adjustments IPD
IPD Range 60–68mm
Connectors USB-C, DisplayPort, Power
Cable Length 6m
Tracking Quad on-board camera (no external beacons)
Controllers Reverb G2 controllers
Audio Off-ear headphones
Microphone Yes
Pass-through Cameras Yes

One other quiet but welcomed change to the Reverb G2 Omnicept is a new way of adjusting the headset’s side straps; while the original has finnickey velcro straps on the sides, the G2 Omnicept has a single dial on the back of the headset for tightening the side straps.

Image courtesy HP

The Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition has a release date scheduled for May and a price starting at $1,250.

Omnicept SDK

Alongside the headset, HP also detailed the Omnicept software, which is a layer on top of the sensors which allow for interpretation and integration of sensor data into VR applications. While the ‘Core’ Omnicept SDK can be used for free by developers, deployed applications making use of the Omnicept SDK require additional payment and licenses based on the use-case:

Core Academic Developer Enterprise
Software Price Free Free for educational use (2% revenue share for profit) 2% revenue share $1,500
Inference Engine SDK No Release 1 – cognitive load (new features coming in the future)
HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition Simulator Yes
Eye-tracking API Yes
Pupillometry API Yes
Lower Face Camera API Yes
Heart Rate API Yes
Pulse Rate Variability API No Yes
Developer Support Online self-help Premium support
Country Availability  68 countries (same as headset) USA, Canda, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Australia
HP Omnicept SDK Free to download 30 day free trial
Software License Free perpetual developer’s license Free perpetual developer’s license. 2% revenue share if used for profit 2% revenue share perpetual developer’s license Perpetual developer’s license & 5 run-time licenses included. Enterprise Service Pack purchase required for first year.

HP says the Omnicept features are supported across both Unity and Unreal Engine.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Charles

    Neat. Still waiting for the OLED version.

    • dk

      oled with rgb stripe matrix …$1800 at least :P

    • Cless

      I won’t buy a vr headset that isn’t oled when I have one from 2016 that already is, it’s just that simple…

      • brandon9271

        Odyssey?

      • Charles

        You should upgrade to the 2018 Odyssey+. It’s the best OLED headset.

        • Cless

          Not a bad idea! I think I will wait until next month and see if by any chance HTC has something interesting or even relevant (I doubt it though..).

      • Fredrik Pettersen

        I have both HTC Vive Pro and HP Reverb G2. For me Reverb have by far the best picture for VR. Having no screen door effect, no jagged pixels and no god rays is a game-changer. You can effortless
        study details and textures on objects far away in the distance, and details in the foreground convey that much better and interesting. Colors are vibrant and response time is impeccable.

        I had a more immersive experience playing Half-Life: Alyx on Reverb than my first play through on the Vive. Both HMD systems with Valve Index controllers. Although Reverb has a LCD screen contrast between bright and dark environments are excellent. Killing face hugging spiders in pitch black with a flashlight-mounted gun is beautiful and thrilling at the same
        time. I have fallen in love with VR all over again with HP Reverb G2.

        • Cless

          I really, really wish I could say the same… For me, when side by side, not having almost perfect blacks is pretty much a must. It just triggers an immediate “You have a TV strapped to your face” feeling that 100% of the times breaks immersion for me. Similar to when you try to play games on a very sunny room with a very glossy screen.

          • Fredrik Pettersen

            I understand and respect your concern. I was thinking the exact same thing before transition from Vive Pro OLED over to Reverb LCD, but in my experience, the blacks are more than adequate. You can get a sense of being surrounded by pitch black. In addition, there is no light bleeds when bright surfaces shine in the dark.

            All I am saying if you have not already give Reverb or upcoming headsets with same or similar display a chance. If you have 2016 HTC Vive, you will experience a big leap in picture quality and immersion. For me at least there is no going back to my previous headset.

            A gradual more visually appealing VR experience for enthusiasts like you and me is vital for technology improvement in the VR industry.

  • TechPassion

    Still waiting for regular HP Reverb G2 head strap with dial at the back and a compact face pad which is not pressing on tempel.
    What HP did in 700 USD G2 is a failure.

    • valdes

      I own the reverb G2, Valve Index and Quest 2. The Reverb G2 is the most comfortable… no particular pressure on tempe. Overall less pressure than other headset.

      • TechPassion

        It does not press on temples only for very thin face people. Normal, typical people have that problem. Not talking about wide/fat face people. Normal average people. Also, the gasket is too far from the lens.

  • Ad

    New strap, and sell it with knuckles and base stations for $1,000. I would buy one right now if I could use it with my steamVR tracking set up.

  • FairlySadPanda

    Yet another bespoke SDK for face/eye tracking?

    This feature is never coming to consumer VR if these companies cannot agree on common standards.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      I think that’s all part of the OpenXR framework.

  • Andrew Jakobs

    Oh why still the ugly fresnellenses, that’s a problem that should be able to get fixed by now. You have clearlens mods for headsets like the Vive Pro which appearantly are perfect these days, without any problems.

    • david vincent

      “why still the ugly fresnellenses”
      Clear lenses come with a lot of dynamic distortion (eye-position dependant distortion), a huge and often overlooked flaw which can cause discomfort and VR sickness.
      From what I know, Fresnel lenses are mainly used to minimize that.

      • From Alan Yates of Valve;

        “Just understand first that the frensel lenses were specifically designed to minimise some dynamic distortions that we know can cause discomfort and motion sickness. The frensel lenses were not selected for low mass, low cost, hiding subpixel structure, filling SDE or any of the other crazy conspiracy theories I have read. They were the only practical lens technology for hitting the overall set of optimisations we wanted, especially minimising eye-position dependent distortion with a single element. They are not “cheap” lenses and need special equipment to make well. They are lower mass than the “equivalent” non-frensel profile lens, but that is mostly a happy coincidence, if a conventional lens could achieve the same performance in the axes we care about we’d happily tolerate the small mass increase for the reduced stray light and easier moulding. Our goal was to have lenses that worked well for everyone, from the least sensitive to the most easily nauseated. Some people just don’t perceive pupil swim, at least not until you tell them what to look for, and some people once they see it can’t unsee it and it ruins all HMDs with swimmy optics forever for them. Most concerning is that swimmy HMDs cause nausea at an almost subconscious level, you don’t need to perceive it for it to make your experience using the HMD unpleasant.”

  • Andrew Jakobs

    Now that looks like a much better headstrap, I love the headstraps with a dial to tighten it, that’s one of the things I love about my Vive Pro.

  • Wild Dog

    And obviously, they weren’t ready to improve the controllers enough to add finger tracking.

  • This is very interesting for the enteprise market, and the price is also very good

  • Mr. Cat

    I got excited for a second thought it was a G2 pro with improvements to fov, controllers, sweet spot, ect. Nah It’s just a G2 with bunch of gimmicks glued to it, and for business use only. Great.