Pico Interactive, the Beijing-based standalone VR headset manufacturer, successfully completed a ¥167.5 million RMB (~$24.7 million) Series A funding round. To accompany the news, Pico also announced their second iteration of their Goblin standalone headset, dubbed G2.
As reported by Yivian, Pico Interactive’s financing was co-led by GF Qianhe and GF Xinde Investment, with additional participation from Jufeng S&T Venture Investment and others.
“Pico will keep focusing on all-in-one VR and will also increase its investment in 3D sensing (TOF) and AR technologies in the near future,” Pico CEO Henry Zhou said. “In the future, Pico hopes to become a portal-level AI vision company through the layout of VR+AR+TOF technology and products.”
Pico’s first standalone headset, the Neo DK, was first launched in 2016 based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 platform. The company later introduced the Snapdragon 802-based Pico Goblin last summer, which included a 3DOF controller. Near the end of 2017, the company then launched Pico Neo with both 6DOF head tracking and 6DOF controllers, accomplished by ultrasonics.
Working with HTC, the Pico provides app store access to both its own Pico Store as well as HTC’s multiplatform Vive Wave-based Viveport mobile store.
Now the company has announced the latest iteration of its Goblin headset, which includes a higher resolution display and reduced overall weight in comparison to its 2017-era forerunner.
According to a company statement, Pico’s G2 headset is a 3DOF headset built on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 XR platform with 4+64GB of memory with up to 256GB of micro-SD card expansion. The G2 is also said to feature dual ‘fast response’ LCD screens with a total of 2,880 × 1,600 resolution, a 90Hz refresh rate, and a 101 degree field of view (FOV). The front of the headset includes a monocular RGB camera, allowing for pass-through viewing and hand gesture inputs for menu selections. Like many standalone headsets, G2 will come with a single 3DOF controller.
The headset hasn’t hit Western shores yet, although China-based customers can now order the G2 at ¥2,000 RMB (~$290).