Sharp is crowdfunding an odd light-weight tethered PC VR headset that may additionally hook up with one in every of its smartphones.
Referred to as Xrostella VR1, the headset options twin 2160×2160 LCD panels paired with “light-efficient” pancake lenses with a 90-degree discipline of view, two grayscale fisheye monitoring cameras, and one shade passthrough digicam. The included controllers, in the meantime, appear to resemble Quest 2’s however with extra hefty monitoring rings and included hand grip straps.
Sharp says the headset’s “physique” weighs simply 198 grams, making it lighter than any delivery headsets besides Bigscreen Past 2 and Shiftall MeganeX.
IPD adjustment between 58mm and 71mm is supported, in addition to diopter adjustment from 0D to -9.0D.
Whereas Xrostella VR1 is primarily designed for PC VR, Sharp says it can even be appropriate with its AQUOS sense10 smartphone, projecting the telephone’s show onto a set digital display. Extra smartphone fashions will probably be “expanded sequentially”, the corporate claims.
Sharp Is Making A Hybrid Haptic VR Glove & Controller
Sharp is making a hybrid VR glove and controller, combining tactile suggestions with buttons and a thumbstick, although hasn’t but determined whether or not to promote it.
It is unclear precisely who Xrostella VR1 is meant to be for.
We have not seen a serious VR headset use solely two monitoring cameras because the Home windows MR headsets that got here earlier than HP Reverb G2, as this method severely limits the monitoring vary of the controllers. It is also uncommon for a headset to solely use one digicam for passthrough, as this ends in a whole lack of right depth and scale.
Additional, the dearth of eye monitoring and hand monitoring means the headset in all probability will not enchantment to many VRChat customers, whereas the slender discipline of view and mediocre decision will not enchantment to simulator followers.
In fact, it is considerably untimely to evaluate the product proposition right here with no worth. If obtainable at a low value, Sharp may very well be aiming to supply a form of “ultralight headset for the remainder of us”. However that appears unlikely.
Sharp says it can crowdfund Xrostella VR1 on the Japanese platform GREENFUNDING later this month. It is unclear why an organization of Sharp’s measurement is crowdfunding quite than simply launching, however it might be a mechanism to gauge curiosity earlier than taking the chance.

