Standalone VR On A Budget: Pico's 'Goblin' HMD

[kcarbotte]

Pico Interactive opened pre-orders for its entry-level standalone VR HMD called Goblin. The kit features a Snapdragon 820 SoC, 3GB of memory, and a 2.5K display, all for under $300.

Standalone VR On A Budget: Pico's 'Goblin' HMD : Read more

 

[bit_user]

Wait, so this isn't a Daydream HMD? If they're trying to launch their own VR platform, well I can't see how that could possibly fail...

 

[darth_adversor]

Unless I'm missing something, it's not a completely independent platform, it's Android (which is also why, I assume, there's no mention of Windows).

I like the idea of a standalone VR unit. I might pick one up for my son, if the reviews are generally favorable.

 

[bit_user]

Unless I'm missing something, it's not a completely independent platform, it's Android (which is also why, I assume, there's no mention of Windows).

I like the idea of a standalone VR unit. I might pick one up for my son, if the reviews are generally favorable.

Yeah, I saw that but opted not to update my post because my basic point stands: if it's not Daydream, then every app must be written to whatever proprietary API they're using. So, you're limiting yourself to apps written specifically for it.

Unless/until they support the Daydream APIs, that is. I wouldn't touch it, otherwise, as it would be a dead end.

If you want a standalone HMD, your best bet would be to wait until Lenovo's standalone Daydream HMD hits the market.

 

[Joe Black]

I saw this. It's nice, but honestly I do not consider VR without 6dof to be VR. More like something between the old 3D TVs and VR.

Somebody seriously needs to come up with an affordable 6dof tracking system and act as a supplier to generic VR HMD manufacturers. So that they can come up with integrated and optional extra solutions for their products.

Right now the visual fidelity is not nearly as important as good 6dof. And right now it's only available as proprietary solutions from HTC, Oculus and Sony.

 

[Malicex64]

I talked to these guys at their E3 booth yesterday. Everything that is going to be available for it is being developed in house, and using their own Eco-system. I wouldn't touch this thing with a 10-foot pole unless they have managed to get some super rockstar geniuses that are going to put out better titles than all of the other open systems (hint, they won't)

 

[bit_user]

I saw this. It's nice, but honestly I do not consider VR without 6dof to be VR. More like something between the old 3D TVs and VR.

Somebody seriously needs to come up with an affordable 6dof tracking system and act as a supplier to generic VR HMD manufacturers.

Google! Seriously, Google/Lenovo's new Daydream HMD has 6-DoF tracking. They call it "WorldSense", because it not only tracks your location within a room, but actually at world scale:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/google-daydream-vr-standalone-qualcomm-snapdragon-835-vr,34439.html

 

[bit_user]

Everything that is going to be available for it is being developed in house, and using their own Eco-system.

I'm guessing their plan B, which they'll probably activate way too late, is to add Daydream support for it. But if it lacks the sensors needed for 6-DoF tracking, then it'll lose out to Lenovo's Daydream HMD.

But even if they had the first Daydream HMD on the market, they still risk losing to Lenovo and other big players. Without hardware that has some truly unique features (and it sounds like theirs is basically just the Qualcomm reference design), it's hard to see how a small startup can hope to compete in this market.