The Game Developer Conference (GDC) is coming up next week, which could give ByteDance’s XR subsidiary Pico Interactive a perfect opportunity to showcase what, according to a recent trademark and leaked controller model, could be its next standalone VR headset.

A post by X user and serial sleuth @Lunayian shows a 3D model scraped from the Pico Connect PC client, ostensibly showing off the right controller for the alleged Pico 4S.

These look similar to the alleged Pico 5 controllers leaked on Chinese social media in September 2023, which are notably different from the Pico 4 controllers, as they omit the Quest 2-style tracking IR rings.

Lunayian noted late last week that Pico has also already trademarked the name Pico 4S, a naming scheme that may suggest more of a hardware refresh of the Pico 4 headset, which launched in Asia and Europe in October 2022.

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Still, a report from The Information late last year maintained that Pico was pulling the plug on its next consumer-focused Pico 5 VR headset in favor of competing with Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro mixed reality headset.

At this point, it’s anyone’s guess what the company has planned in terms of a potential Pico 4S, Pico 5, or what some rumors suggest could also include a Pico 5 Pro Max.

Despite wide-reaching layoffs at Pico, the China-based headset creator is going to have it usual presence at GDC 2024, which takes place March 18th-22nd in San Francisco. We’ll be reporting on all things XR coming out of GDC, so make sure to check back soon for the latest in games and hardware.

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Scott Hayden
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.