VRgineers, a Czech Republic-based startup building enterprise VR headsets, today announced a more advanced version of their wide field of view (FOV) professional headset XTAL. The new version, which features a wider FOV thanks to a new pair of non-Fresnel lenses, will be making its debut at CES 2019.
The upcoming version is said to incorporate proprietary non-Fresnel lenses that the company says will deliver “the clearest, most immersive VR experience to date.” With the new lenses come a reduction in distortion, improved FOV, a picture increased by 50 percent, and an eye box size expanded by 20 percent.
The headset is touted for its pair of 2,560 × 1,440 OLED displays, delivering what the company now claims is a 180 degree diagonal field of view—10 more degrees than the penultimate version.
The most recent hardware revisions brought automatic IPD adjustment, an embedded Leap Motion sensor for wide FOV hand-tracking, and reduced weight and size.
“XTAL’s new non-fresnel lenses will deliver a wider field of view and binocular overlap, a bigger sweet spot, and much less distortion compared to the existing model,” explained Marek Polcak, CEO & Co-Founder of VRgineers. “This is critically important to our customers. When prototyping a new automobile design, for instance, they’ll be able to see more of the vehicle at once, and come closer than ever to a true-to-life image. We’ve getting ever closer to our goal – which is to make virtual reality indistinguishable from reality itself.”
VRgineers are showing XTAL at the Showstoppers press event at CES 2019, taking place in Las Vegas on January 8th, 2019.
The company is specially targeting the professional and enterprise sectors with XTAL—at $5,800 so much is clear. The company is taking orders for XTAL as of today; XTAL professional support package customers that purchased the previous version can upgrade their device free of charge via a lens-swap program.