After months of rumors and leaks, ByteDance-owned XR brand Pico has finally unveiled its latest VR headset, including the high-end Pico 4 Pro.(*4*)
The Cambria-based Oculus Quest 2 Pico 4 project, the Pico 4 Pro model promises to offer developers, businesses, and everyday users a premium VR experience that surpasses anything Pico currently offers (opens in a new tab).( opens in a new tab).( opens in a new tab). *4*)
According to Pico, the Pico 4 Pro VR headset (which looks a lot like the Pico 4) will deliver on its promise of a superior experience by using upgraded specs over its base model. Chief among these upgrades are the three infrared cameras inside the earphones that can track your eye movements.(*4*)
Just like we saw with our experience using PlayStation VR 2 to play Horizon Call of the Mountain, eye tracking can help make VR experiences much more immersive, as NPCs can react to where you look and even make contact. visual with you.(*4*)
Developers creating games for the Pico 4 and PlayStation VR 2 (as well as Project Cambria, which will also use eye tracking, according to Meta) can also use eye tracking to facilitate foveal rendering, which should make more impressive games possible without having to you need more powerful. (and heavier) hardware. (*4*)
(*4*)Meta may not have unveiled the helmet yet, but Project Cambria already has a rival. (Image credit: Meta)
As the developers of Moss: Book 2 explained to us, it works by reducing the processing power used by parts of the world the player isn't looking at, either blurring it or not rendering it at all, and focusing it on areas the players are looking at. If done correctly, the player won't notice it at all, except that the world is much richer in detail and larger than traditional VR games.(*4*)
Unfortunately, we'll have to wait a bit longer before we get our hands on the Pico 4 Pro (assuming it even launches in the UK, US and Australia after the base model rejected the latter two). (*4*)
Pico's September announcement focused primarily on the base Pico 4, with only a few sentences dedicated to the updated model. We didn't even get a price or release date for the Pro. Instead, Pico tells us we'll have to tune in to his AWE Lisboa presentation in October, with the event taking place on October 20-21.(*4*)
With Project Cambria (rumored to be Meta Quest Pro) due to be unveiled in early October at Meta Connect 2022, it's shaping up to be a busy month for VR. By the end of 2023, our list of the best VR headsets could really be different.(*4*)