Offering an update to backers of the successful Pimax “8K” Kickstarter, which aims to deliver a high resolution VR headset with an ultrawide field of view, Pimax says ‘M1’ pre-production units should be complete by April, with initial backer shipments of the final “8K” headset starting in Q2.
Pimax ran an awfully successful Kickstarter for the “8K” headset back in 2017, concluding the crowdfunding campaign with some $4.2 million in funding. The company quickly thereafter announced a $15 million Series A investment for continued development of the headset.
While the first wave of “8K” headsets were estimated to begin delivery to backers in January, 2018, Pimax updated backers late that month saying that the timeline for shipments to backers had slipped to Q2. Following the debut of the ‘V5’ prototype at CES in January, the company said their next milestone was the ‘M1’ (which they describe as their “close-to-mass production unit”) and had expected it to be ready by mid-March.
In the latest update from the company on their forums, Pimax said that a late shipment of new lenses meant that the M1 won’t be complete until early April. The company plans to solicit external feedback by shipping M1 units to confidants from their community before finalizing the production version of the “8K.” Given the current timeline, Pimax still expects initial shipments of the finished headset to Kickstarter backers some time in Q2.
Starting with the M1 prototype, the company says they’ll be making the jump to SteamVR Tracking 2.0 and expect to achieve a stable display refresh rate of 80Hz, though hope to drive it further for the finished version. Pimax also expects to share its new controller designs by the end of March, but say that the delivery of the finished controllers themselves isn’t expected until Q3, after the first headset shipments.