In July, ARPost wrote an article about the Pico G2 4K series of stand-alone 3DoF VR headsets. The entire line runs the Qualcomm SnapDragon835 and is compatible with Pico’s app store and VIVEPORT. The Enterprise has a 75Hz refresh rate, 128GB of storage, an RGB camera, and weighs in at just over 1lb, including the battery pack. Initial thoughts on opening the headset for the first time are that, like an artificial christmas tree or a new tent, these contents will never again fit this well. The first time that I put the headset on, I thought that I would have to write about Pico’s poor quality peripheral graphics. Another personal problem that impacts my use experience but for which I blame Pico none at all has to do with that great scourge – VR motion sickness. While some applications encourage users to use a dedicated microphone to cut down on background noise, I didn’t have a significant problem with that in this platform and with this headset. While the headset did let in a bit of light and didn’t work great with my glasses, it was comfortable and easy to wear, even for someone who does experience VR sickness.
The things that I thought might bother me while using the headset like physical discomfort, strap adjustment, audio design, and usability, were executed really well.
While there is debate in the XR community regarding whether 3DoF can really be included as immersive, there are a lot of applications that just don’t require 6DoF hardware and software.
Pico G2 4K Review: A Premium VR Experience
Pico may be one of the lesser known names in VR right now, but the company is quickly gaining steam with a selection of impressive, and affordable headsets. Similar to most VR headsets available today, the Pico G2 does feel a little chunky on first inspection, but it lacks the annoying wires and cables that keep you tethered to the real world when you’re trying to explore virtual reality. There’s an Android OS which makes this headset more appealing to developers, and a custom layer from Pico also runs on top of that system. The overall image quality definitely drives a better experience when you’re moving through virtual worlds, and combined with the powerful processor, you get a great all-around immersion.
Intended for both work and play, the Pico G2 is one of the few headsets in its category that can deliver an excellent quality of image, combined with a fantastic grab-and-go functionality. The ease of use and the high resolution of this headset come together to make Pico well worth the extra attention and effort if you’re looking for business tools.
Pico G2 4K VR Bril review
In deze review, beoordelen we de Pico G2 4K op 5 gebieden: beeldkwaliteit, gebruiksgemak, content, besturingssysteem en batterij, gewicht, prijs. Vooral knap omdat ze niet hebben ingeleverd aan kwaliteit op andere specificaties van het scherm.
Bij het uitpakken van de Pico G2 4K valt direct op dat je gelijk aan de slag kan zonder dat je een account hoeft aan te maken (een account is wel nodig als je applicaties uit de Pico Store wil downloaden / aanschaffen). Hierdoor zit de headset lekker en is hij makkelijk schoon te maken.
Een groot pluspunt als meerdere mensen achter elkaar de headset opdoen. Mogelijk om te besturen door middel van kijken ipv de controller Genoeg zakelijke applicaties zijn er te vinden, maar weinig leuke entertainment ervaringen. Omdat Pico G2 4K een open Android systeem heeft is het omzetten van bestaande applicaties relatief makkelijk. Verder zijn er software development kits beschikbaar voor Unity en Unreal Engine, documentatie daarover is hier te vinden. Het Android besturingssysteem staat ook toe om gemakkelijk remote device management te implementeren. Nadeel van deze keuze is wel dat het niet mogelijk is om de Pico G2 4K zonder headband te gebruiken. Voor zakelijk gebruik wordt dit echter snel terugverdiend omdat hij veel makkelijker te gebruiken is en de scherpste beeldkwaliteit biedt.
Ook hoeft er geen VR cover (€35 EUR) te worden aangeschaft omdat het gezichtsmasker al afneembaar is. In alle aspecten van de Pico G2 4K komt terug dat hij is gemaakt voor zakelijk gebruik. Trainingen, evenementen, experience centers, onboarding, allemaal zal het een stuk gemakkelijker gaan met de Pico G2 4K.
Neem dan contact op met een van onze experts die u graag verder helpen.
Pico G2 4K VR Headset Review
We assess the Pico G2 4K in 5 areas: image quality, ease of use, content, operating system and battery, weight, price. To be able to give an opinion on the image quality of the Pico G2 4K, we compare it to other all-in-one VR headsets (3dof).
The higher resolution leads to significantly better image quality while the VR continues to run smoothly and the viewing angle remains large.
The LCD screen ensures that the colors look good and are comparable with the quality of the Oculus Go. That Pico has thought carefully about the ease of use is also reflected in the face mask made of soft plastic (pu). Due to the clear business focus of the Pico G2 4K, this store is only moderately filled.
Because Pico G2 4K has an open Android system, converting existing applications is relatively easy. The Pico G2 4K runs on Android 8.1, making the headset easily accessible to developers.
A custom layer from Pico runs on top of the Android operating system. There are software development kits available for Unity and Unreal Engine, documentation about which can be found here . The documentation is not always complete but a lightly experienced VR developer can handle it without any problems. This means that the VR headset can be set up in such a way that the desired application is opened immediately upon start-up.
Because the battery is on the back of your head, the weight is also much better distributed, which gives a better user experience. For business use, however, this is quickly recovered because it is much easier to use and offers the sharpest image quality. Training, events, experience centers, onboarding, it will all be a lot easier with the Pico G2 4K.
Cas & Chary Present: Pico Neo 2 Overview and Impressions
The Pico Neo 2 Eye is a standalone VR headset built for business. Plus, it has some unique features too, like electromagnetic tracking, wireless SteamVR streaming, and integrated eye-tracking. In partnership with the channel, Road to VR shares a curated selection of their content. The company is mostly focused on the enterprise market, though consumers in Asia can buy the headsets for personal use also, hence the inclusion of wireless streaming of SteamVR content from a PC on the same network. This leads to greyer blacks and software-only IPD adjustment with a range of 55 to 71 mm. My IPD is around 59 mm, so it’s okay for me, but it does feel a little uneasy every time I put the headset on until my eyes get used to it. One feature I like about the Neo 2 over Quest is that it has a storage expansion slot on top of the headset. This is a little heavier than the Oculus Quest, but because of the rear-placed battery, the Neo 2 is a lot more comfortable.
These controllers are not the most ergonomic and don’t have any capacitive finger sensing, but they work relatively well for most games and apps.
This also enables dynamic foveated rendering, which leads to higher quality visuals without using more hardware resources. The avatar felt a lot more life-like when I had it on, which makes me feel like this would be a great addition to social VR. The Pico Neo 2 is currently the most powerful 6DoF standalone headset out there, and I think that having specifications like leading resolution in a standalone headset and in such a small form factor with wireless content streaming is pretty impressive.
Pico G2 4K
Pico G2 4K is een all-in-one standalone headset die zonder computer en kabels de mooiste beeldkwaliteit kan laten zien.
Pico G2 4K review
While using other standalone headsets such as the Oculus Quest for long periods of time, I often find it to be quite uncomfortable in the neck due to the front heavy nature of the device, with the battery being the main source of weight in these headsets, having them at the front leads to having to counter that by leaning the head back; after long periods of wear this leads to massive neck strain. Similarly, comfortable are the foam eye supports, which sit nicely over the face without leakage; great for immersion. From a business standpoint this can’t be topped and is high on the priority list for many companies, the last thing you want to do is cause pain to any clients using the device. It has 2 buttons, a trigger at the front and a capacitive touch pad on the top; which is the perfect amount for the presumed user base.
Pico G2 4K Enterprise review: 3DOF VR is not over yet
I know you all are fans of my videos and you can’t live without them, so I have also shot a complete review of the Pico G2 4K enterprise on Youtube. There I show you the device, and highlight the pros and the cons from all standpoints: audio, video, content and even the SDK! : 128GB (expandable with SD Card) Audio : speakers built-in on the headset + 3.5mm jack for external headphones The Pico G2 4K Enterprise is packaged quite well: nothing special or mindblowing, but an ordered box with the headset, the controller and the accessories inside. On the front of the device, you can see the 16MPixel RGB camera, that has been added to the G2 4K model so that it can be used in some enterprise applications (more on this later on in the article). There’s only the Pico logo on the left side of the HMD, but looking at the device from this perspective, you can see its fitting system, with the lateral and top headbands. These come very handy when you have to make demos and don’t want to give the controller to every user that must handle the device. There is a cushion that goes against your nape, that doesn’t only provide more comfort, but also makes the headset more balanced.
It features the same fantastic 4K resolution display, but it seems that the problems daunting the Neo 2 are all more noticeable in the G2.
The colors are slightly washed out, but they are ok. And the refresh rate of 75Hz with FOV of 101° is in line with many other competitors in the market.
The lenses do their job: they’re Fresnel and don’t have many god rays, but when you are in dark scenes with bright elements, you can see some circular glares. Small sweet spot : the area in which I find my head and my eyes comfortable is quite little, and must be found if you want to enjoy VR properly;
: even if the resolution is pretty good, when you are in the home screen you see all the lines being a bit jagged, a clear sign of aliasing. Look at the two lower titles: you see that the name of the games is like “duplicated”, it has like a halo written in Blue. This is because the blue color is not focusing in your eyes in the same position of the red and green components because of the chromatic aberration
Let’s start with the good things: when you have found your fit, and you wear the headset, it feels pretty comfortable.
It is light; it is quite balanced, thanks to the back cushion that counteracts the weight of the front part; it feels good on the head thanks to the cushions that are not too stiff or too soft; it adheres well on the skin, thanks to the material of the facemask so that it doesn’t move while you wear it. I’ve never loved that system even in backpacks, and using it on a headset is ever more complicated, especially because the lateral bands are a bit elastic, so they don’t slide easily inside the holes of the fitting mechanism.
The audio quality is good: I mean, we’re not talking about speakers by Beats, but it is ok for most common uses of a headset. The problem is the positioning of the speakers: as I have shown you above, they are not in the headband like on the Quest, Go, or Pico Neo 2, but they are on the bottom face of the headset.
I think this is a great feature, especially in a period like this one where it is fundamental to guarantee the sanitization of the headset in enterprise and LBVR venues.
It is used by the healthcare startup NuEyes, but also by some LBVR venues to re-orient automatically the orientation of the headset (maybe thanks to the use of visual markers), and other things. In the headset, by activating the quick menu, you can also request to see the content of this camera to have some kind of passthrough vision. One thing that is not clearly written is that if you tap two times the Home button, you can open a quick system menu that proposes special features like screen recording.
It is not bad and has nothing special… it is good enough for enterprise usage, making the user arriving straight to the point without too many eye candies. This is an enterprise headset, so it has been made mostly to let you develop the experiences for your company using the Pico SDK. Viveport has a better situation, but in any case, the quality of titles that you can find here is much inferior than the one that you had on the Oculus Store for Go.
There is an online documentation with the quick start guide and a full reference of the APIs, and then there is also a GitHub repo with many samples you can learn from.
For instance, I managed to create an app that takes the image of the front camera and applies it with a certain shader on a cube in a few minutes. It is also cool that there is the way inside Unity to simulate the headset (you can emulate the head rotation, the controllers moving and clicking, etc…), and so you can make some tests about your app without building it.
And when you want to build, the device is already unlocked for developers and some basic authorizations in Android are given automatically. You can make some tests without leaving the game engine (Image by Pico Interactive)
The samples are listed in the Readme file of an empty repository in the GitHub account of Pico (why??). The samples have been pushed on the repo with all their Library directories, something that every Unity developer knows it is bad practice. Some things of it are incredibly cool (the 4K display, the comfort, the new cleanable materials, etc…) but some others have disappointed me (the aberration in the optics, the fitting mechanism, etc…). And the reason is simple: while the Neo 2 is a new headset, this is just a refresh of an old device and it keeps all its previous problems.
All those people in the enterprise sector needing a device like this can be relieved to know that there is still a realiable vendor for this kind of solutions for the next two years. Notwithstanding my critics, I think this is now the best standalone 3DOF headset you can find around: the Oculus Go is too old and limited (and it is just a consumer device), the Skyworth 4K has worse aberrations, and so on. So, if you need a 3DOF device for your company, this (or its companion “4K S”, depending on if you want the front camera or not) is the headset that you should buy now. I hope you liked this article, and if it is the case please share it with all your VR peers, and subscribe to my newsletter to not miss all my future ones! You can find my boring full disclosure Disclaimer: this blog contains advertisement and affiliate links to sustain itself.
Be First to Comment