JVCKenwood announced late last year that it was testing the XR waters with a new headset for enterprise users which boasts a wide field of view (FOV) and 2.5k per-eye resolution. Now the company says the device is headed to enterprise partners starting in late March.

Update (February 16th, 2021): According to press statement obtained by Mogura (Japanese), JVC is set to launch its so-called HMD-VS1W in late March of this year.

There’s still no clear pricing on the table—it’s listed as an “open price” product, which the company says does not have a manufacturer’s suggested retail price. This makes a certain amount of sense considering it’s an enterprise headset ostensibly targeted at the domestic market.

JVC also published a new video (Japanese) which we linked below. Don’t miss the spec sheet at the bottom of the article.

Original Article (November 20th, 2020): As first reported by Mogura (Japanese), JVC’s prototype uses a proprietary mirror display to achieve a 120-degree FOV, serving up 2,560×1,440 pixels per eye via dual 5.5 inch LCD panels. Using SteamVR tracking, the PC-tethered headset can make use of any compatible controller, such as Vive wands or Valve Index controllers.

The project, which has been in development by JVC’s projector team since 2018, is mainly targeting the simulator market, however the company also sees it being used in the construction and medical fields.

Image courtesy JVCKenwood, Mogura

As described by Mogura, it appears JVC’s mirror tech is similar to the birdbath optics type used in AR headsets like Nreal Light and Oppo’s recently revealed AR device, albeit on a much larger scale and FOV.

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Essentially, the idea is to allow users to retain a direct view (not passthrough) of instruments or gauges while large-format virtual imagery is projected where it needs to be, which in the case of a flight/driving simulator would be out the cockpit windows.

Image courtesy Mogura

In a Japanese language pamphlet, JVC says the unnamed prototype is capable of reproducing “clear images without the screen door effect you see through a [traditional] lens-type display,” and less color aberration too as a result. The company also says it features a wide eye box, which will allow users a greater physical range of wearing positions.

It’s unclear whether JVC is simply testing the waters to see if there’s enough demand, or going full steam ahead into production for the enterprise market. The company is holding meetings in early December in Japan, which interested parties can sign up for on Mogura’s website.

Although it’s clear JVC’s headset is a different beast from your average VR headset (or AR headset for that matter), take a look at the spec sheet below:

Specs

Resolution
2,560×1,440 pixels per eye （total 5,120×1,440)
FOV
Horizontal: 120°, Vertical: 45°
Frame Rate 60 or 72Hz
Display 5.5 inch LCD
Tracking
SteamVR Tracking
Connection
DisplayPort 2.0 (2), USB 2.0
Power Supply DC 12V 2A
Dimensions
278×137×130mm
Weight
530g (excluding strap & cable)
Newsletter graphic

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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.
  • Ron

    Jeezuz, that thing looks huge.

  • Nicholas

    Vertical fov at 45 degrees and 72 hz refresh rate… No thanks

    • TechPassion

      Not for typical users like we.

      • Rupert Jung

        So professional users love low resolution quality, higher latency and less fluid motion?

        • James Cobalt

          No, but this is passthrough AR. It’s a different experience (latency, for example, is much less of an issue) and use case. Compared to its contemporaries, this could be a far more immersive experience.

  • TechPassion

    Samsung Odyssey 2 with 2500×2500 per eye, OLED, wireless 5G, 400 grams. I am dreaming.

    • Zantetsu

      Irrelevant point unrelated to the article. You just like to spam about Samsung Odyssey every chance you get.

      One more time, and I will block you, forever. I think others would be well served to do the same.

      • Kay Becker

        That’s right – slaved to a brand but calls himself TechPassion lmao

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Again, Samsung hasn’t shown /said anything related to VR in over 1.5 year, last time they said sonething was may or june last year when they said they would show new VR hardware within a couple of months.. Yeah, I do hope they release a new headset which would be an enormous advancement over their current headset and even over the current G2. But I doubt we’ll be seeing something anytime soon.

    • kontis

      2.5k OLED panels of this size are not manufactured. Also Samsung uses pentile with only 2 subpixels, so even 2.5k AMOLED would have worse clarity than 2k Reverb LCD.

      • Dusty Petes

        the 16.7% loss in (sub)pixels would be happily traded for a highly saturated OLED panel with amazing contrast. They could even diffuse lenses slightly to take away the miniscule screen door effect. But, this is Samsung and it will be a while for them to re enter VR after their first commercial failures with WMR

  • Lol, the pictures are stock images with the headset photosopped!

    • geronimo
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    • James Cobalt

      Kind of makes sense. Photoshop is cheap compared to photo shoots. Sets, models, lighting, makeup, photographer, and then photoshopping it all after the fact anyway.

  • Rudl Za Vedno

    Wow, that could be a game changer. JVC produces awesome DILA high end digital projectors aka they know how to produce super clear and sharp lenses. This thing might be awesome for flight sims and movie watching, but it’s not gonna be cheap, it’s JVC after all :(

    • kontis

      People used the same arguments for Carl Zeiss google cardboard adapter and its lenses were nothing special.

      These companies don’t have any unique lens secret sauce.

      • Rudl Za Vedno

        It all comes down to $$$ and weight as glass is heavy. Carl Zeiss (and other high end optics manufacturers) can easily make 170-210H super clear glass distortion free optics (currently used in 8K Xtal), but such custom made optics alone costs north of $1K plus you need auto IPD adjustment system to automatically apply custom distortion profile for each user. That’s why these enterprise hmds cost 5K and above. In short, it can be done today if money is no object.

  • VRgameDevGirl

    Of course. Not for your everyday consumer. Not interested.

  • Rupert Jung

    2560×1440, 60-72 Hz. External tracking. Good luck selling that 2021.

    • Anonmon

      In an industrial/professional environment, not having unnecessary
      cameras plastered all over a device constantly recording the insides of a
      room likely filled with things they’d rather not have recorded in any
      capacity is going to be nothing but a plus. On top of the fact there’s
      no competition when it comes to tracking accuracy, which you want the
      best of the best where it matters if you’re going to be selling in the
      professional market. Plus the option to develop your own internal
      hardware to go along with anything Lighthouse tracked off the shelf that
      are all being tracked concurrently by the same system.

      The other
      points however you’re right, why they won’t source superior displays to
      stick in I’ll never know, as that’s really the only major thing holding
      it back.

      • Rupert Jung

        >not having unnecessary cameras plastered all over a device

        Yeah, dozends of SteamVR sensors are much butter.

        > On top of the fact there’s no competition when it comes to tracking accuracy

        Well, I prefer the 99.9% tracking accuracy of inside-out and not having to deal with external base stations when taking the device to a presentation outside the company’s own VR cave. ;)

        Unfortunately there is no open alternative to SteamVR at the moment which can compete with Oculus’s Tracking.

        • Anonmon

          >Yeah, dozends of SteamVR sensors are much butter.

          Do you not know how Lighthouse tracking works, at all? They’re just photodiodes, neither expensive nor capable of doing anything other than react to some amount of light of a specific wavelength. Cameras, well I hope you understand what a camera is at least. In an environment where some professional group would rather not have cameras of any sort anywhere near whatever it is they’re working on, the security of not requiring cameras is going to be of major significance.

          >Well, I prefer the 99.9% tracking accuracy of inside-out and not having to deal with external base stations when taking the device to a presentation outside the companies own VR cave. ;)

          This continues to be such an idiotic rhetoric that I’m not sure how people who genuinely feel this way can function doing anything because it requires any amount of effort to do. If you can handle operating a modern computer and corresponding operating system environment, you can handle putting up a couple of camera stands and plugging in lighthouses if we’re talking the likes of trade shows.

          And who cares about being able to internally create hardware that practically “Just works” within the same tracking volume with exactly the same amount of tracking precision right? Why would a company want to create their own bespoke tracked tools that can be utilized alongside cheap off the shelf HMD’s and such to do literally whatever they would want to track things in 3D space for, without any desyncing issues or bloating the software requirements with a ton of different dependencies right?
          I hope you understand that inside-out tracking is utterly useless for tracking much of anything outside the immediate range of the tracking cameras placed at the front and sides of the headset, making it useless for much of anything that requires flawless tracking regardless of the orientation of the headset. To say nothing of the difficulties of integrating your own hardware when the tracking is largely dependent of complicated bespoke computer vision algorithms that are specifically tuned for whatever hardware (controllers mainly) is made for it, over something Lighthouse tracking where the sky is the proverbial limit.

        • He has a point.
          The lighthouses even that they could be hackex, would not provide any data leak. Cameras for other side could means a terrible thing. Just look what just happened with CDPR

      • Dave

        You actually think this thing will sell? LOL! The specs are wholly inadiquate, it just amounts to a flashing letterbox. If they were serious it would be 90Hz and at least 100 degrees vertical, no need to look past that.

  • Psycold

    So much for hmd’s becoming smaller and sleeker.

  • Dave

    I’m confused, this is a VR headset right, not AR? Still the specs seem pretty standard and nothing to write home about. I mean if you have (any) Pimax or G2 you are covered anyway.

  • mellott124

    I saw this at the last I/ITSEC. It was pretty cool. Wide FOV and imagery wasn’t bad. It’s meant as an AR simulator HMD for overlaying virtual out the window views on the real world like a mock cockpit. They could get traction in the military space with this headset. Problem is that’s a small space.

  • oomph

    wonderful specs

  • Simon Vermette

    120 degrees, try again

  • Rudl Za Vedno

    Only 45V FOV! WHY??? Would it be so hard to design 5120x2160px 140H FOV/120V FOV headset?

    Why no big tech company wants to build something like Pimax Artisan with better screens/lenses and better production quality for consumers?

    • Lloyd

      It’s already there it’s called PIMAX 8KX – I know over the years it’s become a bit of the ‘headset that can’t be named’ but it’s matured into the real deal. Every day I experience wide FOV (about 140 degrees on it’s ‘normal’ setting with amazing detail, great colours and no distortion). It’s just no one seems to want to talk about it anymore – I don’t care really because I’m there, exactly where I wanted to be with VR.

      • Lloyd

        Replying to my own message because I can’t seem to edit it – I clearly didn’t read the whole of your post (hands up)!!!!

      • Charles

        I returned my Pimax 5K+ years ago. If they really fixed the distortion issue, then I’ll consider any future OLED headset they come out.

      • James Cobalt

        That’s not an AR headset though. AR headsets tend to have very low FOVs due to the way their optics work.

    • Lhorkan

      You do realize this is an AR HMD, right? It’s definitely an extra degree of complexity compared to just putting the screens directly in front of your eyes.

    • Arturs Gerskovics

      45 FOV and 60-72hz refresh rate. I wouldnt buy it for $100

  • Lhorkan

    Having an AR headset with external tracking is definitely something I’m interested in. I’m working on AR software for use on ships, and inside out tracking gets confused in rough seas, or at night. Too bad this won’t be available outside of Japan!

  • Which type of company uses VR in activities?
    I saw some interesting aplications but none so powerful that looks like a company would invest thousands of dollars to get each glass

  • Jeff Courtney

    If it’s not over 300 price then I’d likely invest. Jvc is cool. Wider fov and high resolution too. I have that and more on Pimax 5k plus but would definitely like this for those mixed reality cameras on the hmd. Eliminating any need of external sensors.

  • TechPassion

    Do they think so-called “Enterprise” are dumb people? HP Reverb G2 is better than this low-resolution, low-framerate crap. Somebody buying this must be not informed or dumb.

  • Jeff A Courtney

    By industry availability and standards…Pimax is affordable, ahead of its time and available via their site,Amazon,eBay or private sellers. Xtal,starvr and this Jvc is still way to much money and way behind in tech. Pimax needs to join mixed reality and drop external sensors. Come out with a stand-alone and make a 10k with fov of 130,150,170 and actual 200.

    • Jesustilloves

      With that said they have artisan for only 450 and it has a fov larger than any other non Pimax competitor. Not including xtal,starvr and jvc who is not even affordable or available. Jvc seems like they might be eventually affordable and available. Pimax is really a unique company.