Lenovo has launched an enterprise-focused mixed reality headset as it looks to help businesses of all sizes explore the possibilities of the metaverse.
The ThinkReality VRX all-in-one headset features a Snapdragon XR platform, pancake optics, quad front-facing cameras with 6DoF tracking, and dual high-resolution pass-through cameras.
“Our customers are looking for reliable, flexible, and scalable gateways to the growing Metaverse business. They need enterprise-class solutions for the new realities of working in hybrid scenarios and virtual environments,” said Vishal Shah, general manager of XR and Metaverse, Lenovo.
Pancake Optics (Folded Optics)
With color pass-through functionality made possible by "pancake glasses," Lenovo's new release seeks to combine virtual and augmented reality in a slimmer mixed reality device.
Pancake Optics (Folded Optics) keep the lenses small while focusing on the user. Using polarization, these lenses can control passing light beams, then take each color and reflect it multiple times, returning the color, then the image, to the wearer at the proper focus with a fraction of the lens distance.
Unlike Meta's recently released Quest Pro or ByteDance's Pico 4, Lenovo's ThinkReality VRX is "the virtual reality solution for workers everywhere," according to the company.
Lenovo notes that the device can offer options "from improving the efficiency of employee training and virtual collaboration to expanding design and engineering tasks in 3D, XR (extended reality) is becoming more important than ever for companies that allow hybrid workers to do more.
Lenovo says that with the help of VR, businesses experience four times faster soft skills training, a 275% increase in soft skills confidence, and a 43% reduced risk injury rate.
Lenovo's ThinkReality VRX headset will be available as Early Access units in late 2022 and will launch globally in early 2023; however, pricing information will remain undisclosed until launch.