Somnium Space, the Czechia-based company behind the upcoming Somnium VR1 headset, announced that orders for its long-awaited PC VR headset will be opening on June 20th, coming first to reservation holders.

It’s been a long time coming for Somnium VR1, which we last saw at CES 2023 when the company showed off a dev kit version of the headset. If you’re memory is fuzzy, at the time Somnium, which also runs its own social VR platform Somnium Space, was also hoping to release a standalone version of the headset at some point. Due to supply chain constraints though, the company decided to sideline the standalone version to focus on the soon-to-release Lighthouse-tracked PC VR headset.

We’re getting very close to that now; in addition to the order date announcement, the company detailed its full line-up, which includes eight variants available for order starting on June 20th:

  • Classic Edition
  • Visionary Edition (Eye-tracking)
  • Striker Edition (Hand-tracking)
  • Titan Edition (Eye/Hand-tracking)
  • Specter Edition (Mixed Reality + Hand-tracking)
  • Ultimate Edition (Mixed Reality + Eye/Hand-tracking)
  • Translucent Limited Edition (Mixed Reality + Eye/Hand-tracking)
  • Military Edition – TAA Compliant (Mixed Reality + Eye/Hand-tracking)

That’s a pretty hefty launch lineup, however VR1 is built with modularity in mind, allowing users to choose what factory-installed modules they want, with the Classic Edition starting at €1,900 (~$2,060 USD).

Somnium VR1 | Image courtesy Somnium Space

Check out the specs below, noting that optional add-ons to the base version are highlighted in red:

Display
Type
QLED Mini-LED Fast LCD
Resolution
2 x 2,880 x 2,880 pixels
Brightness 210 nit
Local Dimming 20000:1 (HDR)
Color Gamut 100% NTSC
Refresh Rate
72 Hz / 90 Hz / 120 Hz / 144 Hz (Experimental)

Optics
Lens Type
Dual-lens aspheric modules (two lenses per eye-box)
Peak Fidelity 35 PPD
Coating
Anti-reflection & Anti-scratch coating
Field of View (FOV)
Horizontal: 130°, Vertical: 105°
Diopter Lenses (Optional)
Magnetically attachable, from VR Optician
Pass-through Cameras (Optional)
2 X 12 Mpx 4,056 x 3,040 (foveated transport), FOV 125° x 100°
Eye Tracking (Optional)
120Hz single-point calibration, VR & XR foveated rendering, Gaze analysis, heat-map visualization
Hand Tracking (Optional)
Ultraleap 170° x 170° FOV, 120Hz refresh rate
Interpupillary Distance (IPD) Adjustment
Manual 58 mm – 76 mm

Dimensions & Weight
Dimensions (excl. headstrap)
191 mm x 124 mm x 94 mm (W x L x H)
Weight (incl. headstrap)
700g – 850g (depending on variant)
Material
IR-transmissive matte polymer with anti-fingerprint surface texture

Connectivity
Cable
Single all-in-one USB Type-C, 6 meter (20 ft) hybrid ADC cable, DisplayPort (32 Gbps), USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), Power functionality
Modes
Native wired PC Mode (Lossless), Native SteamVR & OpenXR support
Audio
3.5 mm Headphone jack, High-quality stereo
Ports
3 x USB-C (3.2 Gen 2) 10 Gbps for external accessories, 3.5 mm Headphone jack
Anchor Points
4 modular customizable and 30 printable anchor points, M2.5 imbus flat head screws
LEDs
2 x Programmable RGB status LEDs
Headstrap
Double-knob memory foam adjustable headstrap
Positional Tracking
Lighthouse Based tracking

The company says it will begin sending out a limited number of emails each day to reservation holders, following the chronological order based on their reservation date.

Notably, each reservation holder is eligible for one purchase, which can include multiple VR1 units, essentially allowing the user’s unique ordering code to be used once to limit queue jumpers.

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There isn’t a time limitation when you must make your purchase, the company says, which was designed to give customers time to complete purchases later, however units are on a first-come, first-serve basis.

If you haven’t reserved already, new reservations are being accepted up until July 10th. The company will be opening orders to everyone on July 12th alongside its full-day Somnium Connect event in Prague, Czechia. There, the company will be holding presentations, demos of Somnium VR1, and a keynote speech by Artur Sychov, Founder & CEO of Somnium Space.

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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.
  • Charles U. Farley

    Lighthouse tracking? Seriously?

    • lolol
      Right …??

    • XRC

      its a cost effective solution for small companies who potentially don't have the resources in-house to develop their own inside out tracking system. Much simpler to leverage Valve's lighthouse tracking which is royalty free to the manufacturer.

      HTC are currently manufacturing 2.0 base station in Taiwan after Valve passed the batton, high-end headsets (Varjo, xtal, Pimax, Somnium, Bigscreen) using lighthouse so it's still a thing

      • Charles U. Farley

        I know exactly what it is, I'm a developer. What I don't understand is why anyone would pay that much money for a behemoth of a shitty headset that still requires lighthouses. If you have lighthouses, just buy a Bigscreen Beyond for fuck's sake.

        • XRC

          As a developer you then understand that the Beyond is a niche product with its own limitations (smaller field of view, poor edge to edge clarity, excess glare and lack of ventilation) that some are not prepared to live with, regardless of tracking system.

          It's a very cool product but not for everyone, myself included.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          But the bigscreen beyond is fitted only for one specific person. This one also apearantly has a 130 degree VOF.

        • Jayden Rayne

          i very much so prefer lighthouse due to how much accuracy you lose in non lighthouse tracking bigscreen shitbond requires a facial scan that only specific iphone users can do

  • $2K+ for a Lighthouse-tracked PCVR HMD ….
    In 2024, no less. lol
    Hard.
    Pass.
    []^ (

  • ViRGiN

    YouTubers are ready for weeks long coverage how awesome it is, and how much you need one if you're pcvr enthusiast and value high end pcvr visuals with display port.

    but r2vr isn't ready to even mention that somnium space, their metaverse, has been averaging like zero users for years now. I smell advertisements coming here soon.

  • Derek Kent

    Cool more mediocre, wired, shitty black level LCD crap. got it.

    • polysix

      Don't mind the wire AT ALL (coming from wireless PCVR on quest pro) a cable solves so many issues from latency to weight to GPU saving… but I agree about the crappy LCD. Completely pointless product at this price with LCD. LCD destroys VR.

  • polysix

    Anyone even THINKING about paying this much for an LCD based HMD must be a complete fool! LCD is no good for VR, everyone knows it, the only reason we let SOME HMDs get away with it (Q3) is cos it's dirt cheap.

    PSVR2 is way better for actual VR immersion even with (non micro) OLED and will soon work on PC and costs 1/4 what this costs.

    This product, needing as many add ons as it does, coupled with useless LCD which has done nothing good for VR since they started falling back on it is pretty much dead in the water.

    • Moi

      psvr2 has lots of mura, less subpixel because of non-rgb, much more persistence blur than most lcd-hmds even on lowest brigness levels and could not use sharper pancake lenses because it would have gotten to dimm all because of old samsung oleds!!!

      it would have been a much better, smaller hmd with pancake lenses and a good lcd….