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Home » VR’s Game Changer, Varjo Drops World’s First Human Eye-Resolution VR Headset

VR’s Game Changer, Varjo Drops World’s First Human Eye-Resolution VR Headset

$5995 Virtual Reality Headset Incorporates State-Of-The-Art Technology Including 60-PPD Resolution Bionic Display™, Integrated 20/20 Eye Tracker, and Compatibility with World’s Most Popular 3D Software Engines & Tools; Designed Solely For Industrial Use Cases

February 19th, 2019 – Helsinki – Varjo™, the technology leader in industrial-grade VR/XR headsets, today announced the world’s first human eye-resolution virtual reality device, the Varjo VR-1. The VR-1 is designed solely for professionals in industrial design, training and simulation, architecture, engineering and construction. Using VR will be key for these professionals in coming years to radically shorten design life cycles, saving time and money, and make training more effective in realistic immersive environments. VR-1 is the only device that makes that possible in 20/20 vision and unmatched visual fidelity.

Screenshot compares actual eyepiece resolutions of HTC’s VivePro (left) with that of Varjo’s VR-1 (right)

Varjo’s first headset has a resolution of more than 60 pixels per degree, which is 20X+ higher than any other VR headset currently on the market. VR-1 also comes with world’s most advanced integrated eye tracking, enabling high-precision analytics and interaction with human-eye resolution VR content.

Varjo’s first product utilizes acclaimed optics and patented technology that have been developed over the past two years by the company’s team of 100+ engineers, developers and designers with backgrounds at Nokia®, Microsoft®, NVIDIA® and Intel®. Varjo has also collaborated with world-leading Early Access partners, including AirBus®, Audi®, Bohemia Interactive Simulations™, Foster & Partners®, Saab®, Sellen®, Volkswagen® and Volvo®, to optimize the VR-1 for their respective use-cases.

Varjo will begin sales and shipping of the VR-1 immediately in 34 countries in North America, and Europe as well as Hong Kong. Retailing at $5995 USD with an additional yearly service license of $995 USD, VR-1 is only available for businesses and academic institutions and is designed to support the most demanding use scenarios where visual fidelity is paramount. Examples include training pilots in realistic virtual scenes, and allowing designers to create and interact with true-to-life VR prototypes, translating into faster turnarounds and massive savings in time, work and modelling and development costs.

“Premium cars can only be made with premium tools. To design in virtual reality, we need the high resolution of the Varjo device. With this high resolution there is a seamless transfer between the real world and the virtual world,” said Jan Pflueger, Coordination Augmented & Virtual Reality at Audi.

Key features of the Varjo VR-1 include:

  • Revolutionary Bionic Display. See and create details that were previously unseen. Varjo’s Bionic Display™ sets a new standard for high-end professional VR work with iconic human-eye resolution visual fidelity, where every detail, shape, contour, text and surface of a design comes into never-before-seen focus.
  • Industry-leading 20/20 Eye Tracker. With a sub-degree accuracy, Varjo’s proprietary 20/20 Eye Tracker is the most advanced and powerful stereo eye tracking technology ever integrated into a VR headset – delivering unmatched precision and accuracy for interactivity, data collection and analysis in human-eye resolution.
  • Photorealistic virtual workflows. Supporting major professional 3D software tools and engines (already including Unreal®, Unity®, Autodesk® VRED®, PREPAR3D, ZeroLight, and VBS Blue IG), VR-1 takes graphics to new heights in real-life visual fidelity. A powerful Varjo SDK also enables integration to custom 3D engines.

Varjo has raised a total of $46M USD in funding to start production and global shipping of the VR-1, in cooperation with the world’s leading Original Device Manufacturing partner, Flex®. Later this year, Varjo will introduce a Mixed Reality Add-on to the VR-1, enabling seamless transition between real, virtual and augmented content.

“The entire Varjo team has been hard at work for 2+ years to make nothing less than the best headset on the planet,” said Urho Konttori, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Varjo. “Nothing has been left to chance, nothing has been compromised and we are delighted that the response from our partners has been overwhelmingly positive. VR-1 marks the start of a new era in virtual reality for professionals.”

“The incredible visuals provided by Varjo VR-1, combined with the industry-leading graphical power of Unreal Engine 4, show an exciting future for high-end visualization,” said Simon Jones, Director of Unreal Engine Enterprise at Epic.

“Varjo is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in VR fidelity,” said Timoni West, Director of XR Research at Unity Technologies. The text quality, combined with eye tracking, makes this the first headset to move us closer to virtual reality feeling real. With such high graphical fidelity, we’re really proud that Varjo chose Unity as their development platform of choice for their headset.”

“We are proud to announce the support of Varjo VR-1 for Autodesk VRED software, the leading product visualization and prototyping application for automotive designers and engineers. Combining the world’s first human-eye resolution VR product with the VRED high-fidelity rendering allows our joint customers to experience and evaluate virtual prototypes with an unprecedented level of detail and realism. This is another great step towards holistic digital product review by enabling proper VR HMI Experiences within the digital prototype of a vehicle, ” said Lukas Fäth, Product Manager at VRED, Autodesk.

“Varjo and NVIDIA have a long history of working together to reach new heights in visual fidelity for professional VR,” said David Weinstein, Director of Professional Virtual Reality at NVIDIA. “Varjo’s device makes the most out of NVIDIA RTX GPUs, enabling human-eye resolution graphics quality in VR for the first time.”

A wide range of partner quotes and endorsements may be found at www.varjo.com/testimonials.

Varjo Technologies Oy is based in Helsinki and is creating the world’s best hardware and software for groundbreaking VR/AR/XR computing devices, merging the real and digital worlds seamlessly together in human-eye resolution.

Varjo is a trademark of Varjo Technologies, Oy – All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are hereby recognized and acknowledged.

For further information, please contact Varjo Technologies PR Counsel

Jonathan Hirshon at jh@horizonpr.com

 

Detailed Technical Specifications for the Varjo VR-1 include:                                                        

Resolution:  

Bionic Display™ with human-eye resolution (over 60 PPD / 3000 PPI)

Combining 1920×1080 low persistence micro-OLED and 1440×1600 low persistence AMOLED

Optics:  

Dual lens design combining different refractive index lenses for minimal color aberrations, zero ghost rays, and minimal reflections. Each surface coating has been methodically designed to maximise brightness and clarity of the light fusion needed to achieve human-eye resolution.

Colors:

Contrast ratio at over 10 000:1 enabling the deepest blacks

Individually calibrated colors, delivering outstanding accuracy & image quality

Eye tracking:

20/20 Eye Tracker™ with industry-leading accuracy and precision even with eye glasses

Automatic IPD adjustment

Field of view:  

87 degrees

Connectivity:  

Thin and light optical fiber cabling of 10-meter length with USB-C

Link Box for easy connection with PC

Tracking:

Compatible with SteamVR™ Tracking V1.0 and V2.0

Comfort & wearability:

Active airflow system

Detachable head strap & adjustable headband

Easily replaceable face cushions in two different sizes

Can be used with glasses

Weight:

605g (including headband 905g)

Mixed Reality:

Upgradeable with Varjo’s Mixed Reality Add-on, available in 2019

Community & Partner Links

How Sony’s New Virtual Sound Technology Can Change How We Hear Films

Kami Asgar and Jessica Parks are post-production heavyweights who work with major studios, namely Sony. As a sound designer (Asgar) and as a post executive (Parks), their collective resume touches on everything from Apocalypto to Grandma’s Boy to Venom.

Parks has recently shifted her focus from supervisor to hands-on sound design, and we talk about how it’s never too late to pivot on your career path and find the thing you love doing wherever you are in life.

Click on this link to read the rest of the article on No Film School’s site.

NJ – Governor Murphy signs $14B Incentive Program Bill – the NJ Economic Recovery Act of 2020

 Film tax credits — amending existing programs to include provisions for so-called New Jersey film partners and New Jersey film-lease partners and allowing an additional $200 million of tax credits annually over 13 years.

Click this link if you want to read the full article on the Lexology site. http://bit.ly/35NtDx6

Film Commish announces date for production restart

In her December 18, 2020 news update, MOME Commissioner Anne del Castillo announced that the Film Office is now accepting permit applications for production activity that begins on July 27th.

She also announced awards now (Awkwafina) and more. To read all of the Film Commish’s bloggy sort of news column, click here.

Stimulus Offers $15 Billion in Relief for Struggling Arts Venues

The coronavirus relief package that Congressional leaders agreed to this week includes grant money that many small proprietors described as a last hope for survival.

For the music venue owners, theater producers and cultural institutions that have suffered through the pandemic with no business, the coronavirus relief package that Congress passed on Monday night offers the prospect of aid at last.

To read the full article on The New York Times’ site, click here.

If you want to start production, here’s the latest news from the Mayor’s Office

Phase 4 production guidance is available on the Film Permit website. All production activity, whether it requires a Film Permit or not, must comply with New York Forward Industry Guidance.

For more information see, please refer to the State Department of Health’s Interim Guidance for Media Production During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Please review the guidelines and FAQ before submitting permit applications. The Film Office is operating remotely, so please allow additional time for Film Permit processing.

The above paragraphs contain links to the various FAQ – just mouse over the relevant words.

Nikon to Stop Making Cameras in Japan

Nikon has fallen on hard times as of late as its camera sales have cratered, and now there’s a new indicator of how dire its financial situation is: the company is reportedly pulling the plug on making cameras in Japan after over 70 years of doing so.

To read the full article on Petapixel’s site, click here.

NVIDIA Uses AI to Slash Bandwidth on Video Calls

NVIDIA Research has invented a way to use AI to dramatically reduce video call bandwidth while simultaneously improving quality

What the researchers have achieved has remarkable results: by replacing the traditional h.264 video codec with a neural network, they have managed to reduce the required bandwidth for a video call by an order of magnitude. In one example, the required data rate fell from 97.28 KB/frame to a measly 0.1165 KB/frame – a reduction to 0.1% of required bandwidth.

To read the rest of this article on Petapixel, click this link.

 

 

 

Union Health Plan Dodges Film Workers’ Suit Over Virus Relief

Law360 (October 9, 2020, 5:22 PM EDT) — The Motion Picture Industry Health Plan’s board can’t be sued under ERISA for allegedly flouting its duties when it relaxed plan rules in response to COVID-19, a California federal judge has ruled, nixing a proposed class action filed by two cinematographers who still couldn’t qualify for benefits.

In an order entered Thursday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted the board of directors’ motion to dismiss Greg Endries and Dee Nichols’ Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit accusing board members of breaching their duty to treat all plan participants fairly.

Endries and Nichols, members of Local 600 of the International Cinematographers Guild, said in July that the board left them and others “out in the cold” in its attempts to address the problems COVID-19 caused for plan participants.

But Judge Klausner agreed with the board’s contention that the case, which alleged a fiduciary breach, should be tossed because plan administrators don’t act as fiduciaries when they amend health care plans.

Read the full article on the Law360 site by clicking here.

Russo Brothers Received Close to $50 Million From Saudi Bank

Anthony Russo and Joseph Russo photographed at the PMC Studio in Los Angeles for the Variety Playback Podcast.

The Russo brothers, directors of the all-time top grossing film “Avengers: Endgame,” quietly secured a roughly $50 million cash infusion for their production company AGBO from Saudi Arabia earlier this year, multiple sources tell Variety.

In a deal brokered and closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the Russos received the investment from an undisclosed Saudi bank in exchange for a minority stake in the brothers’ Los Angeles-based shop.

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