VR Veteran Studio Behind ‘Bigscreen’ Unveils Thin & Light PC VR Headset ‘Beyond’

Preorders start today at $999

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The team behind social VR viewing app Bigscreen today unveiled a thin and light PC VR headset that not only promises a few intriguing enthusiast-grade specs, but also a custom-made fit based on a 3D scan of your face. In short, it’s a big first for the VR veterans, who are responsible for one of the most beloved VR content viewing platforms.

Called Bigscreen Beyond, the $999 headset presents an interesting set of features which are squarely aimed at PC VR enthusiasts: dual OLED microdisplays offering 2,560 × 2,560 per-eye resolution, pancake optics, and 6DOF SteamVR tracking support.

The company is billing the tethered PC VR headset as the smallest and lightest of its kind, weighing in at just 127 grams and measuring less than 1-inch at its thinnest point.

Image courtesy Bigscreen

Bigscreen Beyond starts pre-orders today, priced at $999. Ostensibly, Beyond is targeting PC VR users who likely already in the SteamVR ecosystem but want something thinner and lighter than the last generation of headsets, such as Valve Index. Notably, the headset doesn’t include the requiste SteamVR tracking base stations or SteamVR-compatible controllers like the Valve Index controller or HTC Vive wand—you’ll have to purchase those separately.

The reasoning: Bigscreen founder and CEO Darshan Shankar says the VR software studio wanted to build “the VR headset we wanted for ourselves.”

“Today’s leading VR headsets have doubled in weight compared to headsets from 2016. We built Beyond because we felt VR was too heavy, bulky, and uncomfortable,” Shankar says. “We invented new technologies to increase comfort, and developed ultra-high-end components like OLED microdisplays and pancake optics to increase immersion. To deliver the best software experience for watching movies in Bigscreen, we also had to build the best hardware with Bigscreen Beyond.”

Image courtesy Bigscreen

Like many forthcoming VR headsets, Beyond is able to slim down thanks to the inclusion of pancake lenses, which Bigscreen says are a three-element optical design composed of glass, plastic polymers, films, and coatings.

Paired with two OLED microdisplays, each with a resolution of 2,560 × 2,560 pixels, Beyond boasts a high fill-factor with its 7.2-μm wide pixels and RGB stripe subpixels, resulting in what the company says eliminates the screen door effect—when the non-illuminated spaces between pixels make it seem like you’re viewing VR content through a screen door.

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Resolution alone doesn’t tell the whole story, although for reference Valve Index is 1,440 × 1,600 per-eye, Meta Quest Pro is 1,920 × 1,800 pixels per-eye, and Pico 4 is 2,160 × 2,160 pixels per-eye.

Another one of Beyond’s big enthusiast-grade features is owed to Bigscreen’s ability to customize the fit of the headset to each user, which will be done by doing a one-time scan of the user’s face using an iPhone XR or more recent Apple mobile device. The dedicated Bigscreen scanning app is said to measure the shape of the user’s face and the position of their eyes, which allows the company to form a facial interface a unique to the individual and determine interpupillar distance.

The hand-washable facial interface is said to provide “even weight distribution, zero light leakage, and aligns the eyes and optics correctly.” Additionally, glasses wearers will have to spring for custom prescription lenses that magnetically fit into Beyond, as glasses do not fit inside the small form factor.

Although it ships with a soft strap, users can also spring for the optional audiostrap. We haven’t confirmed pricing for that yet, however we’ll update once we do.

Image courtesy Bigscreen

Granted, some things we’d consider ‘nex-gen’ are notably missing from Beyond, such as eye-tracking, face-tracking, optical 6DOF tracking, and the ability to use it wirelessly. As the first VR headset from a long-time VR veteran though, Beyond does check a lot of boxes for users such as simulator fans, and anyone looking for a better long-term VR media viewer.

Bigscreen Beyond is slate to ship in waves based on region. Preorders, which are fully cancellable and refundable up until shipping, are set to ship in the United States sometime in Q3 2023.

Second wave shipments will begin in Q4 2023 in Canada and Europe including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, and Belgium. A third wave of will come sometime in late 2023, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand. The company says Beyond will be available in more countries and regions in 2024.

Check out the spec sheet below:

Bigscreen Beyond Specs

Display Resolution 5120 x 2560 pixels (2560 x 2560 per eye) cloed at max 90Hz
Field Of View (FOV) 93° HFOV x 90° VFOV
Pixels Per Degree (PPD) 28°
Interpupillary Distance (IPD)
56mm-74mm accommodated (fixed IPD per device, 58mm-72mm)
Optics Type Custom Pancake Optics
6DOF Tracking SteamVR Tracking (aka Lighthouse)
Version V1.0 or V2.0 Base Stations. Not included.
Controllers SteamVR controllers (ex. Valve Index, HTC Vive). Not included.
Full-Body Tracking
SteamVR trackers (ex. HTC Vive Tracker, Tundra Tracker). Not included.
Audio Not built-in (USB C port for Audio), or optional Audio Strap
Ports USB-C accessory port (USB 2.0)
Microphone Input Stereo microphones
PC Connection DisplayPort 1.4 (video) and dual USB 3.0 ports (power, data)
Accessory ports USB-C (USB 2.0 speed)
Cable 5-meter custom fiber optic cable and Link Box
PC Requirements
CPU Quad Core Intel or AMD
GPU
Nvidia RTX 2070 or AMD RX 5700 XT or newer (DisplayPort 1.4 and DSC required)
Ports 1 x DisplayPort 1.4, 2 x USB 3.0 ports

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • CyberVR

    Wow! Finally a pure PCVR hmd! 2023 will be a really good year.

    • Bob

      93° HFOV x 90° VFOV”

      Are you sure about that in the year 2023?

      • ZeePee

        True, but then show me any other 127 grams tiny 2560 x 2560 per eye micro OLED headset I can buy?

        It’s a trade-off. It’s going to be down to personal preference what is more important.

        While FoV is extremely important to me and may be a deal breaker, at the end of the day, the most important thing for me is comfort (size and weight).

        I have a Samsung Odyssey Plus that has an amazing FoV, and and OLED display with no sde. But I rarely use it because it’s so bulky.

        Apart from the FoV, this is everything I dreamed of for a headset.

        So, while the FoV is a downer, does it matter that my Samsung Odyssey Plus is wider FoV if I’m not even using it much because it’s so cumbersome like every other VR headset?

        If this means it’s comfortable and small enough that I’d actually be happy to play VR more, then it’s a worthy trade off.

        Nothing in the price range will compare to this high res micro-OLED visual experience, and no headset regardless of price will compare to the size and comfort of this thing.

        Give credit where credit is due. This headset is an incredible next gen leap forward in design and use of high res micro-OLED.

        • As soon as the convienence of the light weight wears-off,
          you’ll IMMEDIATELY start complaining about the ridiculously narrow FOV.

          Especially when you compare it to what else
          is *already* out there, never mind Quest 3 & AppleVR ….

          • David Wilhelm

            When you get older you will appreciate the value of ergonomics more.

          • Charles

            The FOV is comparable to the HP Reverb G2, which many consider to be one of the best headsets. Also, like every other headset, you can probably increase the FOV by removing/reducing the padding.

          • david vincent

            Yeah but for a $1700 headset (with the audio strap), you could hope for better…

          • Charles

            Yeah. I think that’s not currently possible with ultra-low weight and pancake lenses. The focus of this product is minimum weight / maximum comfort, which I think limits FOV.

            Maybe Apple or someone else will make something that’s a compromise between the two.

          • Cless

            Yes and no, remember that the other side of low FOV, is increased PPD, 28 is around 1080p density of a 27′ display in front of you, so if that is what you are looking after, it still could be plenty good.

          • What good’s a sharp display if you’re looking at it through a small FOV?

          • Cless

            For many things, just like people won’t play with anything under 150FOV, some people don’t care having a OG Oculus similar FOV if they get the most dense display.

          • Cless

            Apparently, FOV is like Quest 2, said from people that actually tried the damn thing. So it should be K :)

          • Sven Viking

            We don’t know yet whether Quest 3 will have any more FOV than Quest 2, although I’d guess it’ll likely be the same as Quest Pro.

    • ViRGiN

      LMAO this thing is dedicated for watching movies in bigscreen app. At least they are being semi-realistic and aren’t announcing working on standalone headset.

      • ZeePee

        No, it’s not.

        It’s a dedicated PC VR headset for use with all PC VR apps.

        Not sure how you got confused.

        • ViRGiN

          they aren’t targetting pcvr players, what are you even talking about lol. they don’t have experience making movie players, and you’re acting like they are targeting the niche of leftover pcvr players.

      • Cl

        Yea if it was standalone and competing against quest it would require more damage control

      • NL_VR

        LMAO, L M A O, lmao? LMAO!…… lmao?

  • Dragon Marble

    I’ll stick with my Quest Pro. No facial interface is even better than custom facial interface.

    • Kevin Brook

      Agreed, it’s surprising that most people don’t realise how great not needing a facial interface is. Never going back to a facial interface. Just an IR illuminator to control light leakage and enjoy immersive VR with nothing touching your face at all.

      • Andrew Jakobs

        Huh? You’re just being sarcastic, right?

        • Dragon Marble

          No we are serious. I know it sounds weird to many who haven’t tried. Quest Pro has turned some long-held VR axioms upside down. It’s not about the weight. Just ask those who can’t even ware a mask.

          • I’ll give ya that: it DOES sound weird …. lol

          • Andrew Jakobs

            How can lightleakage be controlled, as in countered, without a facegasket? When you look down you will see light/real world if there isn’t a gasket.

          • Dragon Marble

            He was suggesting playing in complete darkness and use an IR lamp for tracking.

            In practice, as long as the room is not too bright, you completely forget about it once you start playing.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            but that wouldn’t explain his comment ” Just an IR illuminator to control light leakage”, as with a dark room there is no need to control light leakage. But you’re right, in a complete dark room you probably don’t need a facial mask, except the light from the displays might actually light up your body/face and reflect into the room.

          • Dragon Marble

            If the screen is lighting up your body, the image must be so bright that you won’t notice anything else anyway. I watch movies in the Pro with lights off at night all the time. I don’t even have an IR lamp. The headset just goes into 3DoF mode.

    • David Wilhelm

      Well one user of prerelease hardware reports the custom interface to be quite good. Meta charging $50 for blinders is a bit of a soak..

      • Andrew Jakobs

        It’s not only the interface tgat is custom made, it’s also the position if the lenses, no IPD adjustment after you get it. And because it’s custom made, you can’t just buy a replacement cushion if the original gets damaged.

        • Anonyneko

          Regarding the cushions – as long as the company sticks around you will be able to order more of them. Though perhaps it may make sense to buy a few in advance, just in case, as few companies provide this kind of support over more than a few years.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            No, it’s until the company stops supporting the creation of cushions, not until it’s not around. Bigscreen still have to actually proof the can deliver on a ‘large’ scale. Over at Tested, the CEO is talking about waiting weeks/months when ordered.

      • david vincent

        $50 for a badly designed light blocker (it’s too wide to use on the included charging dock) is such a scam.
        I made one for my Rift S for a few bucks with some rigid fabric and Velcro tape.

    • Kraeuterbutter

      i use my pico4 from day one without facial interface..
      love it that way..
      You get a huge impression of FOV, although part of it is actually the
      real world… but in some games, like table tennis, the FOV appears
      larger than on my Pimax. I can also scratch my face or eyelids at any
      time without having to take off the headset. Air comes to my face. I now
      play most games like this. Side effect: by moving the lenses closer to
      the eyes, the FOV also increases, binocular overlap is even better
      (better than the Quest Pro), and E2EC also increases.

      • Christian Schildwaechter

        How do you prevent it from falling off your head? The Quest Pro places the weight on the forehead, so combined with the strap pressing against the back of the head this allows for a tight fit while the HMD itself basically floats freely in front of the face without touching it. Removing the facial interface on the Pico 4 would bring your eyes closer to the lenses, but the interface is also used to hold the HMD in place by pressing against the face. So unless you found a solution I cannot think of, you’d basically press the Pico 4 plastic case against your face without any cushion, which is pretty much the opposite of what those really enjoying the Quest Pro without the facial interface are referring to.

  • ViRGiN

    Failed businessmodel now trying to make some profit on hardware?

    • LMAO

      Ignorant troll alert!

      • David Wilhelm

        His reputation is boundless, lmfao

    • NL_VR

      lmao

  • xyzs

    Rebranded Arpara basically…
    But with marketing and doubled price.

    • ViRGiN

      And arpara still haven’t delivered anything from crowdfunding.
      As always lol. People trying to be smart and jumping over meta to have the “latest and greatest” that exists in 3d renders only.

  • John Moore

    With that ridiculously low FOV, they might want to start calling it Smallscreen.

    • Charles

      Its FOV is comparable to the HP Reverb G2, which many consider to be one of the best headsets. And, like every other headset, you can probably increase the FOV by removing/reducing the padding.

      • Andrew Jakobs

        But that one is some years old now, ‘we’ want higher FOVs by now. I’d rather have a heavier headset, which I can actually share with friends and family, than this thethered lighweight headset.

        • Charles

          Just over 2 years. It’s a trade-off that many people will find worth it.

          I don’t think it will actually be true that you can’t share it – just will be more difficult to arrange, for now. Each person who wants to be able to use it can get their own facepad. And if there are several people’s facepads in one place, a guest can try them on and find the closest match. And I’m sure the company (or someone else) will eventually come out with a universal facepad specifically for this purpose, even if it might be a bit less comfortable / light-blocking.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            There is no IPD adjustment, it’s not only the facepad that is custom made, it’s also the position of the lenses/displays.

          • Charles

            Oh. I missed that. That does make it a lot harder to share.

            Well, people who have money to burn can buy 2 or 3 and have guests pick the closest IPD. In my experience, being a few mm off on the IPD is still reasonably comfortable. But that’s still not a great method for quickly showing it off to new people who don’t know their IPD off-hand.

          • XRC

            Found this on their website suggesting the headset IPD is not customized /built per customer but headset is manufactured in range of IPD widths:

            “Manufacturing your custom-fit cushion

            After the scan is verified by our team, our factory in Los Angeles, Calif. begins building your cushion. Due to the custom-built nature of Beyond, it may take a few weeks or months to manufacture and fulfill your orders. Once the cushion is made, it’s paired with a headset of your IPD size and shipped directly to you.”

          • Andrew Jakobs

            So it isn’t custombuild, but you still receive a version with a fixed IDP, so still ‘useless’ if you want to share between people who have (major) different IPD’s.

          • Mradr

            Flat lenses do allow a greater IDP – so it would have to be pretty massive difference for it to happen. Most people fall in/around the same IDP. You kind of already have that issue with the current Quest 2 for example.

          • Arno van Wingerde

            Well the list of missing specs gets longer and more impressive which each peace of new information. I hope for them that the cinema experience is something out of this world, otherwise this device will end up as an impressive failure indeed!

        • John Duncan

          Then it clearly not aimed for you Andrew. Yes in ideal world we have wider FoV but if trade off is Oled display tailor designed for comfort with same FoV as quest 2 ill take that trade off.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            But a much lighter headset doesn’t mean better comfort, at least not to me. I still don’t even mind the heavy Vive Pro, with wireless module, as long as it’s nicely firmly strapped to my head.

        • Mradr

          Meta is not giving it to us either

    • ViRGiN

      it’s a movie viewer, not a ‘half life alyx player’.
      you get exactly what you need at least on paper for the main audience watching movies.

      • John Duncan

        VIRGIN do your self a favour and least make effort to research something before you comment on it. Its PCVR headset that works on steamvr games , not just movie viewer. It has same FoV as quest 2 , and plays any game you want on it.

        • ViRGiN

          ‘great upgrade’ on a freaking paper.
          stop trying to make it look like the holy grail and wet dream of anyone.
          it’s a gaming headset because it works with steamvr… lol! and linux is a gaming system cause it runs steamvr.

          • John Duncan

            sigh I think you really do need to get laid. As you troll everything and sound so frustrated with life. Every headset movie viewer in your view. Stick with your quest 2 and leave commenting on anything you don’t understand.

        • Arno van Wingerde

          Hm… he actually does have a point here, in that you need controllers plus trackers plus possibly a better earphones and add-on lenses if you wear glasses to make this a PCVR set. So yeah it can be used for VR gaming if you add another $1000 or so – or are upgrading your Index setup or something like that. Even so, the FOV angle seems limited and the IPD is fixed, so little option for sharing.

    • Ookami

      Someone who tried multiple prototypes said the fov is the same as the Quest 2. When he asked the devs (yeah I’m calling them devs) about it, they told him that their philosophy is to under-promise and over-deliver.
      So it’s not Index-level, and it’s not Pimax-level, but it matches the current industry standard

  • Dragon Marble

    I have always suspected that you are a robot!

  • Tommy

    $1k and no controllers? Way out of my price range.

  • Octogod

    This is a perfect example of why venture capital funding is double-sided for creators.

    The people who lent them $14m got tired of subsidizing an app without returns, so they needed to pivot.

    The Vive Focus flopped using some similar general specs, so their pitch must be towards the hardest of hardcore. But at $1,000 to start, not including the comfy strap, headphones, or controllers, you could buy two Valve indexes. It’s a head scratcher. I wish them well, but to me, it seems like a product without a market.

    My bet: launch will happen, the device will get middling reviews, it will slowly disappear, and Bigscreen will quietly get sold to the highest bidder in a few years for pennies on the dollar.

    • Bob

      “My bet: launch will happen, the device will get middling reviews, it will slowly disappear, and Bigscreen will quietly get sold to the highest bidder in a few years for pennies on the dollar.”

      In this bloodbath of an industry (XR) this pretty much applies to 99.9% of companies including this one. As you predicted, it’ll be the same old story; small startup/company with limited resources launch a product promising “great things”. Product fails. Owners look for potential buyers. Get bought. Owners get rich. Life moves on.

      It’s an endless cycle.

    • The sales of this POS will make Lynx R-1 look like a blockbuster hit
      and Pimax seem like an actual legitimate aboveboard company ….

    • Ad

      The Focus was just bad and can’t do PCVR.

  • Cless

    Oh, this one looks interesting at the very least. Happy to see OLED displays finally making it to the market. I’m so fucking done with shitty tier LCDs on all headsets.

    • ViRGiN

      i just got myself 4k oled monitor, 48 inch for half the price of quest pro.
      amazing stuff.

      • Cless

        Oh damn! That’s neat! I would totally get one of those if I wasn’t moving every couple years of country! Enjoy it!

        • ViRGiN

          i think moving every couple of years would justify buying a new screen lol. sell it locally and buy new; or just ship it to your new location. it will still be cheaper.
          oled monitor in this size just makes me realize how obsolete and borderline impossible virtual work really is without featherweight, extremely breathable rayban type ar. a single 48 inch 4k screen, upscaled in windows to 8k with sharpness applied gives me a real clear work space where i can fit 16 1080p apps, or scale them as i desire. this is real efficiency and body comfort that no headset has ever provided so far.

          • Cless

            Nah, selling second hand its too bothersome, and having to send it, since I move between continents, its not really an option!
            And yeah, right now 4K OLED is top of the line you can get. No HMD will come close to that in probably… close to a decade.
            Current 2.5K HMDs only get to the density 1080p display at 50cm or so… Maybe around the 2030s we could might get those ultra high resolution HMDs, we will see!
            Until then, enjoy the amazing OLED monitor! :D

  • Charles

    The G2 was released just over 2 years ago. Where will we be this year in regards to increasing FOV? Haven’t heard anything about new increases.

    Anyway, it’s a tradeoff. One that many will find worth it.

  • brandon9271

    yeah, i normally don’t do it but that guy is just obnoxious.

    • Sven Viking

      I personally didn’t need to consider it since he already blocked me.

  • Dragon Marble

    How else are you able to see IRL?

  • Anonyneko

    Not sure why everyone is so negative about a new headset yet again. Yes, it’s pricey and with a FOV on the narrower side, but for me the high-density RGB stripe OLED displays (likely the same overpriced and delayed Kopin ones that everyone else is trying to use) and the size/weight are absolutely killer features. I’m not into short 1-2 hour sessions, so I usually either play a long time or just don’t boot VR at all – headset comfort would enable me to play much more often.

    My only real concern is that the company has yet to prove itself in terms of hardware, hopefully that will be alleviated once reviews begin to appear, but indeed we’ve had our fair share of Arparas.

    On that note, Arpara was known to have problems with brightness and likely used the same displays, so I do wonder how Bigscreen lenses compare with theirs. The preliminary videos did mention that it’s not quite as bright as the current LCD headsets due to the complex lens setup.

    • Ad

      I see the value here even though I won’t get one. I have an index and don’t use VR enough anymore to spend this much on just an HMD and with no audio. And if I was going to double down it would be on a nofio anyway. There are likely people who do creative work in VR who would love this though.

    • Arno van Wingerde

      I wonder how important the absolute brightness is. I watch an OLED TV in an almost dark room and the picture is almost hurting my eyes if I up the brightness: stuff like stars at night, or a fire in the night, or the sun coming up are moments captured beautifully and even a bright summer day looks perfectly convincing!

  • Jamesjr

    No controllers, uses ancient tech like lighthouse base stations (no inside out tracking), requires tethered connection to a powerful PC, cost 1000.00. Need to buy knuckles controllers and lighthouse base stations and an audio option. Good luck with sales in a year of HTC, Apple, quest 3 and psvr2 new headsets. This is about as niche as you can get.

    • ViRGiN

      don’t say that! there is still that thing called pimax portal vr haha.

    • Kraeuterbutter

      you can see that different way…
      uses – for many people still – best tracking on the market
      allows for using the Index-controllers (for many people great controllers)
      offers cable connection (many people complaining with new standalone-headsets: why is there no displayport) –> this headset HAS it
      costs 1000 -> so cheaper than all other headsets with more than 2160×2160 resolution
      audio: you can use your prefered audio solution of high quality
      compared to Apple: this is a gaming device, you can play all Steam and Oculus games with it – apple cant do that

    • david vincent

      You can add the modest 90° FOV to all of that

    • Arno van Wingerde

      Well, provided the device actually is a good as they claim and if you have some money to burn and do not want a TV in your design living room, you can buy one of these and sue it in your VR room with the complete setup – lighthouses, straps, controllers, better audio – something like $2000 or so, by the time you’re done, plus a big fat game PC. Niche? Absolutely, but then again, so is Bang & Olufson !

  • xyzs

    and base stations…

  • Benji

    Pretty weak FOV for such a “Next Gen” piece.

    • grindathotte .

      Quite! I lost interest at this point.

  • Not sure about the commercial success of this product, but I love the willing to do something new like adding the custom fit depending on face scanning

    • XRC

      Finally Tony!!

    • Yeah, but that’s not pratical for *others* to use it.
      It’s hard to spread the gospel of VR to the unwashed masses
      when someone can’t even put it on because of a custom-tailored gasket.

      • Anonyneko

        Thankfully many other headsets exist for that purpose

    • Ad

      Aiming for a small market I’m sure.

  • Ossi Hurme

    That Apple requirement seems like possible pump on the road.

    • Anonyneko

      There is no other commonly found device that can do a 3D scan with acceptable quality, and I think if you’re someone who can afford this headset then it’s likely that you have a friend or a colleague with a modern enough iPhone, you only need it for 5-10 minutes. In that sense it’s a rather ingenious method. But yeah, that will lose them a few customers.

      • Ad

        I wonder if Apple will do something similar, with people coming to an apple store if they don’t have one. Personally I think it’s possible that people will be able to find someone with an iphone.

        • Christian Schildwaechter

          Apple already allows you to create a 3D scan of your inner ear with an iPhone featuring the same TrueDepth sensor that is required for the Bigscreen Beyond to create a “personalized spatial audio” profile for AirPods and some Beats headphones, and it actually makes a difference. So they might do something similar for the facial interface

          Or maybe they have found a more generic solution. They could instead use something similar to the vacuum mattresses used to immobilize people with injuries during transport. Basically these are filled with small plastic spheres, so when you place a body on them, the weight creates a perfectly fitting indention. Then you suck out the air, so the plastic balls remain in their positions, exactly matching the body contour. This would create a similar fit to Bigscreen’s individual face interfaces based on scans, but would adjust to every person instantly instead of having to be prefabricated for every single user.

          • XRC

            Can use electroactive polymer to create reactive membrane material for face gasket, providing custom face fit at press of a button (1-2 volt DC), reset in seconds.

            Displacement in cm range is accommodated, can infer facial pose using high resolution tactile layer (the skin around your eyes changes when you make facial gestures)

            EAP can incorporate activators with microchemomechanical integrated circuits taking skin temperature, detect sweat, pheromone, etc.

          • Christian Schildwaechter

            I remember an MIT experiment regarding smart/programmable fabrics from a couple of years ago, where they basically created a stool able to carry the weight of a person from EAP, but I have no idea how far out of the lab the technology has made it. I was drawn to the vacuum mattress solution partly because it is very light and super low tech, you can prototype it with a bicycle tire, a bag of small hollow plastic balls and a vacuum pump. The main benefit of the vacuum tire being that initially the pressure equalizes everywhere by itself, so there will be no parts of the head/face where a stiff construction would leave pressure marks for those with an untypical bone structure. Unfortunately any vacuum pump small enough to be useable in a headset would take a very long time to empty even a tiny, HMD halo sized tire. So if EAPs allow sensing the pressure at a particular segment, also allowing for even pressure distribution, using EAPs could be a nice alternative with an acceptable reaction time.

            But at times an uneven pressure distribution may be more beneficial, e.g. a lot of people are very sensitive to pressure onto the veins running along the sides of the head, which can cause a severe headache in seconds. Unfortunately I am one of those and occasionally have to literally rip my glasses from my face. Besides preventing me from wearing beanies during winter, this is one of many physical signs that the universe really doesn’t want to use VR. So I would benefit from a smart head strap solution that I could programmatically tell where to reduce the pressure, which wouldn’t work with my vacuum tire, but could with EAPs.

            Long term we will have to come up with actively adapting solutions for head straps if people are supposed to wear them for long times. The question is how applicable technologies like EAP are today, as there are a lot of interesting use cases like artificial muscles, but other than research experiments I haven’t seen them used in the wild yet.

          • XRC

            Have you seen the material sensing technology Etee use in their steamVR controller?

            Very impressive, large range of sensitivity and highly accurate finger tracking.

  • XRC

    Audio headstrap listed on their website at $99

    Something perhaps fundamental in terms of picture quality; doesn’t seem to use displayport, this is listed on their website:

    “high-end optical fiber USB-C cable”

    • Sven Viking

      Specs list “PC Connection: DisplayPort 1.4 (video) and dual USB 3.0 ports (power, data)”

      • XRC

        From their website: “Our high-end optical fiber USB-C cable offers unparalleled performance and versatility. Designed with innovation in mind, the cable features a unique interchangeable design that allows for quick and easy detachment from your HMD. This makes it the perfect solution for those who need to store their HMD or switch cables.”

        Couldn’t see any specification listing displayport?

        • Christian Schildwaechter

          It would still be “just a USB-C cable”, just not used for regular USB. The USB standard allows to transfer a DP 1.4 signal over USB-C with DP alternate mode, and up to 180W of power via USB-PD. Pretty much exactly the same way as a USB-C cable connects the PSVR 2, only using an DP-USB3 adapter solution similar to the Pico Neo 3 Link because most current PCs don’t feature GPUs with graphics capable USB-C ports that can also provide power. People with current AMD GPUs might actually be able to use it without the link box.

          It is quite interesting that they use an optical fiber USB-C cable. These are still regular USB-C cables, but require active transmitters at both ends, and are usually rather expensive. Their primary benefit is that they support longer cable lengths at high speeds, while being thinner/more flexible. Not sure how DP alt mode is implemented on these, as it usually just takes the four high speed data cable pairs and uses them as regular DP lines, which wouldn’t work the same way over fiber. Obviously it must be possible if Bigscreen uses optical cables, but it makes me wonder how much of the USD 999 is for the cable alone.

  • John Duncan

    its no smaller FoV than Quest 2 :)

    • alxslr

      Q2 is much cheaper.
      Enthusiasts willing to pay more usually will look for more FOV. And Q2 has many virtues, but it’s FOV s*ks.
      It always did, but more today, because minimal “standard” is gonna pivot to Pico’s or Quest Pro’s, at least for enthusiasts.

      • John Duncan

        not really , oled display and resolution are very much desirable , not everyone enjoys having brick on there head and tailor made design could sway them towards this. until we see more hands on video and what if any god rays etc , come with display. Then people will decide. Am very attracted to this being upgrade for my Index. As I want Oled display.

        • david vincent

          At $1700 with the audio strap, people won’t be long to decide…

          • Arno van Wingerde

            And that is a good thing, because at that price they will sell like hotcakes and anybody not pre-ordering them will and up in tremendously long queues. My tip: at this price buy one for each family member and guests so you can all watch Bigscreen together !

          • david vincent

            Be careful, sarcasm doesn’t translate well on the internet

        • alxslr

          Maybe. I can say you that FOV and Base Station is a killer for me (and I’ve got base stations, but I consider them too inconvenient and too… 10’s).

          But you’re right other specs are great: form factor, resolution, OLED, so you’re right they might have a niche, time will tell.

          Just whish SOMEONE made once for all a light, relatively high FOV (QPro or Pico4, don’t ask more), inside out, high res (Pico4 or more), good contrast (OLED or local dimming) wireless PCVR (ok with displayport option if wireless sol is not good enough).
          Quest Pro, Vive XR Elite. Even Pico4. Their companies are all launching these fantastic headsets, and almost all of them are so near to give all of this, but they all have one or two things that are somehow disapointing :-(

          • Christian Schildwaechter

            Though the wishlist is very understandable, the problem is that the Bigscreen Beyond is so light and small only because they didn’t integrate a high FoV, inside out tracking or wireless feature with SoC and battery. No cameras, no passthrough, no eye tracking, no audio, instead focusing strictly on doing one thing, and doing that very good and comfortable for long sessions.

            That means it is a very niche device for people willing to invest for such a one trick pony because that one trick is what they are looking for, but it also means that those looking for a more versatile device will probably have to live with much larger and heavier devices for quite a while, simply because every feature adds weight. You currently can’t have both at the same time, it is all about balance like with resolution and FoV vs graphics performance and battery life.

          • alxslr

            I understand. In my case (and I don’t think I’m alone), I hate how bulky Q2 is, but I’d have enough with a HTC Vive XR Elite or Pico4 reduction/form factor.

            Just give me a Pico4 with micro OLED and a decent connection to PC (wired or wireless), and I’ll be fine.

  • Ad

    If I knew the deckard wasn’t coming until late 2025 and had good wireless headphones, I would buy this. That audio solution they showed an image of looks weirdly bad though. Shame Valve doesn’t sell index style headphones.

  • Kraeuterbutter

    thats not a “media viewer” only..
    its a full VR Gaming-headset

  • Sven Viking

    I think he’s saying he uses it in the dark with an IR illuminator providing non-visible light for tracking. Doesn’t seem like something that’s necessarily convenient for everyone though.

  • Ookami

    He’s just sore he can’t afford anything more than a Quest 2

  • Mradr

    People that are focus on the price, keep in mind, the displays used in this headset are on the higher end of whats out there. Almost 2/3 of the price is more or less coming from the displays and the tech around it. Being a smaller company, I bet they’re not getting mass market value and thus would have to charge more than normal alone just for them.

    • ViRGiN

      screens are 2/3 of the price?
      then use different screens, and make 2/3 cheaper product to legitimize yourself lol.

      This is dogshit, full of promises, and youtubers hyping. it’s the vail vr of hardware.

  • Arno van Wingerde

    Hm… for “just” a film watching thingy, formerly known as “TV” this might be “expensive but good” – particularly if you are single and do not want a TV in your living room. But as a full VR set, particularly the external tracking, this device leaves a lot to be desired.
    Oh: and happily translating $999 into €1369 is a completely new form of economics to me as well… even with “VAT/transport/manual in many languages” BS this does little to make me put in a pre-order.

  • Alexander Sears

    If one is an avid VR gamer looking at the Beyond, one might be driven to think the Quest Pro is a good deal, even if one were to use it outside of its prescribed (imagined) use case of business.

  • pbergonzi

    While this looks beautiful, due to its being customized to me, it doesn’t allow me the option of letting others play with it.
    That is one of the things I enjoy with the Quest 2.
    I suppose if I were to get this, I could keep it to myself, and let others use the Quest 2.
    Rather would have just one shareable headset though.
    I guess it means I get to save a bunch of money in Q3 2023.