Gee whiz, those are some impressive specs…
During the very first Pimax Frontier event this week, Pimax announced the Pimax Reality 12K QLED a combination standalone and PC VR headset packed with a variety of potentially game-changing features.
Instead of LCD or OLED displays, Pimax chose to use dual 6K QLED displays, hence the name of the device. The headset features a variety of impressive technology, including Tobii eye-tracking, full-body tracking, and motorized IPD adjustment. The headset also boasts a 200Hz refresh rate when connected to a PC.
Pimax completely reimagined the lens design of the headset. Combining a Fresnel lens to handle the wider view and aspheric lens for the center, the company promises “edge-to-edge” clarity with little to no distortion. Pimax calls them “Bionic lenses.”
One thing that Pimax VR headsets are known for is their impressive FOV. The Pimax Reality 12K QLED comes with a killer 30-degree improvement, resulting in a massive 200-degree viewing angle. The vertical FOV has also been bumped up to 135-degrees. To put that number in perspective, the human eye features an average vertical FOV of 150 to 180-degrees.
There are four cameras located at the front edges of the headset, offering 6DoF inside-out tracking. These cameras are also used to track your motion controllers, which resemble Oculus Touch controllers. The cameras can also be used for hand-tracking if you prefer to ditch the controllers altogether.
Located at the bottom and on both sides of the headset are a number of cameras used for both facial and full-body tracking; something we haven’t seen on a standalone headset until now.
Powering the Reality 12K QLED is an internal Qualcomm XR-s SoC with optional PC VR connectivity through the headset dual DisplayPort 1.4 connections. The headset will support WiGig and Wi-Fi 6 wireless streaming, which is a big plus for gamers, and sets up Pimax’s vision of VR 3.0.
Of course, what’s the point of having a killer VR headset without killer VR experiences? Pimax has announced a new Pimax Store that will launch alongside the new headset. There you’ll be able to find a variety of VR experiences that take advantage of everything Reality can deliver. There’s also the Pimax VR Station, a “console dedicated to play VR.”
During the event, Gihad Chbib, CEO and founder of MobX Games (Everslaught), talked about his excitement regarding VR 3.0 and the new level of immersion the Reality 12K QLED headset will deliver, saying, “VR 3.0 is a super-exciting vision by Pimax that we are fully behind. I love the idea of “Naturalist”, constantly getting fooled into thinking that you’re really there, inside the virtual environment.”
Despite the new features, Pimax managed to make the Reality 12K QLED both smaller as well as lighter than previous VR headsets. That said, the Pimax Reality 12K QLED headset is going to come at a pretty steep price. The Reality 12K QLED base price will start at $2,399 and the SteamVR upgrade would be an additional $199.
To help offset that price, Pimax has announced a trade-in program where some existing Pimax owners can trade in their headsets for a pre-order discount equal to the original purchase price. You can find more details on that here.
According to Pimax, the Reality 12K QLED headset will start shipping in Q4 of 2022 with pre-orders opening in the upcoming summer. You can watch the Pimax Frontier Event here and learn more about the headset on the company’s website.
Feature Image Credit: Pimax
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