Pimax today updated their “8K” headset Kickstarter page to announce that pre-production units of the 200-degree field of view headset, dubbed M1, are now shipping to a handful of closed beta testers. The company says 10 of the Pimax 8K testing units will go out in total, which will proceed the general launch to backers.
Update (05/31/18): Pimax announced they’ve begun shipments of the Pimax ‘M1’ test headsets to a select number of backers/influencers. The company previously slated shipments for ‘this month’, and they’ve just made the deadline. It’s uncertain who the testers are, but we expect to hear and see some hands-ons from the community before the rest of the Kickstarter backers receive their units.
The original article follows below:
Original article (05/17/18): Following a lens design issue that delayed the release of M1 to testers last month, Pimax is finally getting their promised pre-production “8K” VR headset out the door. Pimax said previously that beta testers would be picked from a pool of Kickstarter backers that were ‘trusted community leaders, professional reviewer, or both.’, likely gunning for the highest social media presence possible.
Pimax “8K” features dual 3,840 × 2,160 resolution panels, one per eye, boasting a 200 degree field of view.
The company says its latest update “we are very confident about M1. The plan is to start the shipments [to general backers] in June if the testers give the green light. As always, we will take the suggestions from the community into consideration to finalize Pimax 8K.”
Both the “8K” and “5K” headsets are slated to ship in the same time frame, the company says. Pimax maintains that “8K is stable at 80Hz,” and that the team is still trying to improve the refresh rate. “The worst case is 80Hz when we start to ship. 5K can reach 90Hz,” Pimax says.
As for the headset’s ergonomic controllers, the company says working prototypes will be ready in June/July, slated for a Q4 shipping window.
The company states that accompanying Lighthouse base stations will ship in October, and their own optical tracking, dubbed, Pi-tracking is still in testing however.
As for the many modules promised to backers, which includes things such as hand-tracking, eye-tracking, inside-out tracking, wireless transmitter, and scent simulation modules, the company says their top priority are both hand-tracking and eye-tracking modules.
While you wait for “8K” final impressions from selected beta testers, check out our hands-on with the latest publicly shown prototype at CES this year.