The most important science and technology exhibition in January 2023 must be CES2023. What are the AR and VR new products worthy of attention at this exhibition? Listen to the editor carefully, maybe can find your favour.
TCL & FFALCON RayNeo X2
- Name: FFALCON RayNeo X2
- Form: binocular AR glasses all-in-one machine
- Price: TBD
- Release time: Q1, 2023
FFALCON RayNeo X2 product located at TCL booth attracted many technology practitioners and all the world media to stop and experience. The biggest highlight of FFALCON RayNeo X2 is the use of the cutting-edge color Micro-LED combined with diffractive optical waveguide, and the realization of lightweight integrated binocular shape under the premise of SLAM positioning. This is also the world’s first mass-produced glasses with binocular full-color Micro-LED+diffractive optical waveguide.
The FFALCON RayNeo X2 has reduced the size of the product to close to the size of ordinary sunglasses on the premise of the built-in Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chip and 590mAh capacity battery. The industrial design part is commendable.
Due to its combination of powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor and its lightweight form and SLAM positioning, it is highly scalable in use scenarios. In addition to the photography, translation, navigation, music, information prompts and basic functions displayed at the exhibition, it is understood that more interactive and more severe scene experiences will be added in the future.
At the exhibition, FFALCON RayNeo also showed the ring accessories connected with FFALCON RayNeo X2 glasses, which can be used as a “mouse” and can be slid and clicked. Although the glasses also have their own touch pad and physical button functions, the ring is obviously more convenient to use.
VR gyroscope experienced this product on the spot, thanks to the balance of the industrial design of the product. Although the volume is slightly larger than ordinary sunglasses, the wearing comfort is still very good. On the display, according to the official information, the 8-bit MicroLED full-color light engine of FFALCON RayNeo X2 can present 16.77 million colors and 100000:1 contrast, and the image brightness coupled by the optical waveguide lens is up to 1000 nits. Both indoor and outdoor scenes can be considered. In the case of indoor scene experience, although there will be some rainbow effect caused by diffraction waveguide, the overall picture is very clear.
We tried to take photos, translate, play music and other functions on the spot. In addition to the excellent sound effect, the real-time translation function is also very easy to use. At present, it can support the translation of eight languages, and the translation speed is almost equal to simultaneous interpreting, or even faster than simultaneous interpreting. According to the on-site communication test with some foreigners, in the scene of daily dialogue, everyone said that the accuracy rate of translation is very high, and people with no language can almost communicate without obstacles.
| Brand | TCL FFALCON RayNeo |
| Model | X2 |
| Type | All in One AR Glasses |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| ROM | 128GB |
| Optical Solution | Diffractive Optical Waveguide |
| Screen | Binocular cutting-edge color Micro-LED |
| Brightness | 1000 nits |
| Battery | 590 mAh |
| Interactive control | 6 DoF SLAM, Botton, Touch Panel, Ring |
| Diopter | Matching and fitting of myopia lens |
It is understood that FFALCON RayNeo X2 will be released in Q1, 2023. In addition to this product, FFALCON RayNeo also displayed the FFALCON Air and Air 1S released last year, both of which belong to consumer XR glasses with MicroOLED display and Birdbath optical solution.
At the TCL booth, it also displayed the latest TCL VR all-in-one machine TCL V1 launched last year. The product uses Pancake optics, with a field angle of 108 °, and uses the latest LCD screen of CSOT up to 1512 PPI, with a monocular resolution of 2280 * 2280, a refresh rate of 90 Hz, and a NTSC color gamut of 70%. The display effect is higher than that of many mainstream VR all-in-one machines in the market.
HTC Vive
- Name: Vive XR Elite
- Form: MR all-in-one machine (removable battery)
- Price: $1099
- Release date: January 5, 2023
HTC held a press conference on the day of CES launch this year and released the latest VR all-in-one Vive XR Elite. A dedicated exhibition area was set up on the site to display more than ten VR contents, including fitness, games, entertainment, concerts and many other works.
The Vive XR Elite is in the form of an all-in-one MR machine that supports Video See Through. Although it is an all-in-one machine, the rear battery can be removed and can be connected to a computer, charging bank, etc. after removal.
The head display weighs about 625g. The main weight is the rear battery. The 7000mAh battery module weighs almost more than 350g. Therefore, when wearing it, if the rear battery is removed and connected to the charging bank, the head load will be greatly reduced.
The shape design of the head display is very similar to that of Five Flow. It also uses Pancake optics and two 2.21 inch customized LCD screens to achieve 4K resolution of both eyes. It also supports IPD adjustment and 0-600 degree diopter adjustment, which is convenient for people with myopia to wear.
Compared with Vive Flow, the Vive XR Elite head display is equipped with five cameras, four cameras are used for SLAM spatial positioning, combined with a 16 megapixel RGB color camera in the middle and a depth sensor to realize the VST function with depth of field.
We used this product to experience MR scenes and some game content on site. In a content called “Maestro: The Metaverse”, the player incarnates as the conductor of the concert, stands on the stage, and is filled with performers of various instruments. As a conductor, the player needs to follow the operation on the screen to command the concert. The method of playing is similar to the “falling” music game. The player uses the rhythm to wave the baton according to the direction of the arrow. During this period, we need to use gesture recognition and handle interaction. The left hand uses gesture, and the right hand uses the handle to wave the baton.
Vive XR Elite’s spatial positioning is accurate. During use, there is no loss, jamming or drift of the handle. The hand gesture will be more tiring, and because of visual tracking, the position of the hand cannot be outside the camera. For this content, gesture is a very natural way of interaction, which restores the real concert. When the conductor makes mistakes many times, the players will have angry expressions on their heads to express their dissatisfaction with the conductor, and the music effect heard on the scene will also be discounted. For users who learn to command, it is a good practice application.
Before and after the performance, MR will be used to communicate with users in the real world. From the VST effect of its MR, the optimization of picture delay and distortion is excellent, especially the optimization of camera jitter. In the case of head shaking or moving, the picture will not shake crazily like a normal camera to cause dizziness. However, in this content, the overall color of the real scene is white. It is understood that this is the color that the developer intends to adjust, not the reason of VST itself.
However, another bug was also experienced at the scene. Under the MR effect, there will be a circle of water ripples around the handle. It is understood that the reason is the ROM problem of the CES development machine. The final version released will be a perfect and optimized stable version.
On the whole, under the 5K display effect, Vive XR Elite has very high picture definition, including the smoothness of head display, SLAM accuracy, etc. Just because the head display is relatively heavy, it will have a significant sense of weight bearing when worn for a long time. If you want to experience a lighter effect, it may be more comfortable to connect the external power supply. Vive XR Elite has been booked since January 5.
NOLO VR
- Product 1: NOLO VR GLASS
- Form: split VR
- Price: not published
- Expected release time: Q1, 2023
NOLO VR GLASS is a split VR form, which adopts Pancake optics and lightweight design. Because we failed to experience the product on site, it could not bring more detailed experience content. From the limited information provided by the official at present, it is speculated that this product is a 3DoF lightweight product, which is connected to mobile phones or PCs that support DP output. NOLO cooperates closely with operators, which does not exclude the possibility that this product is customized for operators.
- Product 2: NOLO SONIC 2
- Form: VR all-in-one machine
- Price: not published
- Expected release time: Q1, 2023
NOLO SONIC 2 is the upgraded version of the first generation of SONIC. It also upgraded from Fresnel to Pancake Optics, and the overall equipment is lightweight. Built-in Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor with mainstream configuration. Interestingly, SONIC 2 has added a new display screen behind the head display to display the power, game status, calorie consumption, etc. This design is more practical for offline experience hall, project display and other scenes, allowing external operators to view the operation of equipment and content in real time.
It is understood that NOLO SONIC 2 also supports gesture recognition and finger tracking. The finger tracking function is similar to the finger tiger handle, which synchronizes the action of fingers grasping the handle through capacitive sensing.
Sony
In addition to displaying the latest concept car with Honda at Sony’s booth this year, it also announced a number of news at the press conference, including that the sales of PS5 console has exceeded 30 million, and more than 30 VR games will be launched simultaneously when PS VR2 is launched; What many players expect Gran Turismo 7 will also add VR mode in the form of free update to support PS VR2; In addition, the global popular VR game Beat Saber will also be launched on this platform.
At this exhibition, Sony also unveiled a new barrier-free controller called Project Leonardo.
In addition to several console game experience areas, the most popular one is the PS VR2 experience area of the Horizon: The Call of the Mountain game. The reserved places opened at 8:00 am every day are almost sold out within 2 minutes every time. We were lucky to experience this product and game at its press conference.
The appearance of PS VR2 is designed to be pure white, and the tracking mode is changed from the previous generation of outside-in to the mainstream inside-out. There are four cameras in front of the head display for visual tracking and positioning, and the handle is also tracked through the camera on the head display; The head display resolution is 4K for both eyes, which looks significantly higher than that of the previous generation, without obvious screen; At the same time, the eye tracking module is added to increase the richness of interaction.
Compared with the hardware, Horizon: The Call of the Mountain is the biggest highlight of this experience. As the first game of PS VR2, it can be said that this game brings the performance of hardware and VR interactive experience to the utmost. It is understood that this game continues the classic playing method of Horizon series, and also brings the characteristics of VR into full play. In the game, players will encounter Eloy, the beautiful protagonist of Horizon: Zero Dawn and Horizon: The End of the West, other familiar faces and some new characters. Moreover, it can interact with scenes, objects, weapons and characters in the game in a very immersive form.
The picture of the game is extremely beautiful, especially through the mainframe operation, the overall fineness is far higher than that of the mobile terminal. Before starting the experience, there will be a brief eye tracking correction link, which has three functions: first, it is used to automatically adjust the pupil distance; Second, it is used for some operations in the game, such as menu selection; The third is fixation rendering during game operation, which is used to reduce the pressure on screen rendering. The Demo experience is about 30 minutes, and you can enjoy the beautiful scenes in the game, as well as relatively simple operations, such as moving, climbing, weapon control, etc.
Canon
Canon showed its first MR head display device at CES for the first time.
The head display is a split PC VR, which needs to be connected to a computer and other computing units. The design of the head ring is similar to Skyworth’s Pancake series. The head ring part is relatively large, but the weight of the head display is dispersed through the head ring, and the main weight is concentrated on the forehead and back brain, so that it will not be compressed on the face completely. Without the mask, the display part of the head display will not even touch the face. The display part can be lifted up, which is very convenient to wear and take off.
Canon MR equipment adopts Pancake optics. The overall appearance is very thin, the thickness of the display part is about 2cm, and the overall head display weight is very thin.
In front of the MR head display, four cameras are used to realize SLAM positioning and VST (full color perspective). The perspective camera has very high definition, or is relatively related to Canon’s own camera company attributes.
Canon showed an industrial case on the spot. It realized object positioning through the black and white squares on the ground and the two-dimensional code on the desktop. When the camera scanned the two-dimensional code on the desktop, a virtual three-dimensional object of industrial operation would appear. Touch the green button in the virtual screen by hand to start the working program in the virtual device.
When the editor asks the field staff whether the operation is realized through gesture recognition, which means that the color of the skin is input in advance, and the hand (skin color) is recognized by computer vision image to touch the green button, its virtual device will start.
It is understood that the device has been sold in Japan at a price of 15000 US dollars, including Canon’s overall software and hardware solutions. At this exhibition, it is investigating the US market and plans to launch in the US market.
Panasonic
Shiftall, a Panasonic company, displayed a number of new products at this exhibition, including MeganeX VR glasses, which are divided into two versions: inside-out and outside-in, as well as the latest VR interactive handle, silencing kit Mutalk, and full-body motion capture kit 2.0.
Shiftall is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Panasonic, which mainly develops software and hardware products in the field of metauniverse. So its product line is very rich, including head display, dynamic capture equipment and interactive equipment.
MeganeX was first exhibited at CES in 2020, and then iterated continuously. Now the product has two versions of inside-out and outside-in tracking and positioning, and supports the detachable outside-in positioning module of Lighthouse. The highlight of the head display is that its shape is similar to “telescope”, which is completely different from other mainstream VR products, so it is also impressive.
The editor learned from the CEO of Shiftall, Takeshi Izuo, that the product shape of the Head Display is designed by Panasonic, and the optical part is also researched by Panasonic and Shiftall. Based on Panasonic’s years of experience in optoelectronics, it can achieve a high product completion. In the view of Akira Iwasaki, his understanding of the metauniverse is a form similar to VRChat, and the reason why he transferred from other Panasonic businesses to take charge of XR business also started from his love for VRChat.
The head display adopts Kopin’s 5.2K resolution Micro-OLED display, which has very high definition, supports HDR, weighs only 320g (without cable), the earmuff can be folded, built-in speaker, and 3.5mm headphone connector. Shiftall announced that this product will go on sale in March and April 2023. It is divided into standard version and commercial version. The standard version is aimed at mass consumers, with a price of up to $1699. The package does not include base stations and handles, and needs to be purchased separately. The commercial version adds a diopter adjustment function and is equipped with a nose rest. Both versions are equipped with Lighthouse adapters, and the lens distance can be adjusted manually.
Shiftall also showed the latest interactive device FlipVR. The tracking of the controller is compatible with the Lighthouse system, and can be used for the company’s MeganeX VR head display, as well as Lighthouse-compatible VR head display, such as VIVE Pro and VALVE INDEX. The position and angle of the control panel can be adjusted to adapt to various hand types and finger lengths. The trigger key, AB/XY button and rocker are equipped with touch sensors, which can be used to change facial expressions in VRChat.
The editor actually experienced the controller and found that the applicability of the controller varies greatly for users with different palm sizes. For example, users with large palms will feel the button distribution is cramped; For users with small palms, the fixed position of the bandage and the comfort of finger manipulation will be affected. However, using this handle, you can easily take the water cup and even operate the keyboard. The product is planned to be launched at the end of 2023, and the specific price is not determined.
The third product is a full-body motion capture kit, which is small in size and can be used with MeganeX. The full-body motion capture is bound to the chest, waist, legs and ankles of the body to realize the full-body motion presentation in the virtual world. From the product layout of Shiftall, almost all of its operations are aimed at enabling users to gain better experience in meta-universe applications like VRChat.
The fourth product is a very interesting accessory, muffler – Mutalk. In the view of Kazuo Iwata, when using VR to communicate or play in the virtual world, it will inevitably disturb other people around, so this muffler is used for this scene. The silencer is equipped with a built-in sponge radio and a microphone to enable normal communication in the virtual world. According to the actual experience on the spot, after wearing the Mutalk, under the normal communication volume state, the voice of people can hardly be heard, and even if it is shouting, the voice can be effectively controlled in a very light range.
The last product on display by Panasonic is an amblyopia lens used with MeganeX, which magnifies the image through the camera to make the vision of amblyopia patients clearer.
Skyworth
In addition to outdoor TV S1, deformable OLED TV W82, Mini LED TV Q52 and other products, Skyworth, a well-known household appliance brand, also exhibited its new VR all-in-one product, Skyworth PANCAKE 1C, released last year in CES.
Skyworth PANCAKE 1C adopts Pancake optical scheme, with a monocular resolution of 1600X1600 and a total weight of 436g.
Magic Leap
In October 2022, Magic Leap released its second generation of AR glasses, Magic Leap 2, starting at $3299. This year, it exhibited 5 or 6 AR Demos based on this device experience, including holographic communication, architecture, medical treatment, automobile, industry, etc.
First of all, compared with the first generation, the size of the glasses of Magic Leap 2 is much smaller, and the comfort of wearing is significantly improved. At the same time, the angle of view is also increased to 70 °, which can see a larger range of vision. The display part still has the rainbow effect, but the overall display effect is excellent, including the positioning and tracking accuracy of glasses, and the effect of gesture recognition is not as good as HoloLens 2.
Since August 2020, when Peggy Johnson, a former Microsoft executive, took over as the CEO of the company, the overall strategy of Magic Leap has begun to shift to the B-end. Just recently, Peggy announced that Magic Leap 2 has been certified by IEC 60601-1, which stipulates that “equipment used for diagnosis, treatment or monitoring of patients under medical supervision, this equipment carries out physical or electrical contact with patients and/or transmits energy to patients and/or detects such energy transmission to patients”. Therefore, all the presentations on site are industry application demos.
The editor experienced four Demos on the scene, including medical training, dam virtual simulation, building virtual simulation and holographic call. We was very impressed by the holographic call. After wearing the Magic Leap 2, the holographic person realized by the real-time light field capture of the real person on the opposite side was presented in front of him through the remote phone. The technology was similar to Google’s Starline, and all communication and actions were presented in real time. Moving left and right can also see the left face or right face of the opposite hologram. In the Demo, not only the holographic status call is displayed, but also the 3D virtual object can be operated by both sides to disassemble, zoom, move, and other operations. Similarly, all operations are also performed in real time.
Limited by the on-site network, holographic people occasionally get stuck in the form of mosaics, but this kind of call pattern is the same as the scenes in science fiction movies. It has a strong sense of future and is also very shocking.
SAMSUNG
Samsung showed two VR products for patients with amblyopia that looked like AR glasses on the spot. It seems that both of them adopt the Pancake optical scheme. The product design is light and thin, and the specific parameters, models and prices are not disclosed. Samsung has developed Relumino Glass for people with amblyopia since 2016. It is understood that this technology will be applied to TV in the form of TV Relumino in 2023.
SHARP
Sharp showed a VR head-display prototype that can connect to smart phones at the CES exhibition, weighing only 175g, with high-definition display effect.
Some of the parameters and features of this VR head-display prototype include: the split design is adopted, which needs to be connected to mobile phones and other devices; The customized Pancake optical scheme is adopted, the screen is LCD, the resolution is single-eye 2K, and the refresh rate is 120Hz; 1 RGB color camera module, supporting color VST, can achieve regional perspective display effect; 2 black and white cameras, supporting gesture recognition function; It is equipped with a liquid crystal zoom lens, which can realize fast image focusing by changing the thickness of the polymer lens. Sharp said that even if the focus position moves, the angle of view (visible range) remains unchanged, which can effectively reduce the occurrence of motion sickness.
Pimax
Pimax has assumed the responsibility of China’s VR brand this year, and has become the largest exhibition stand of VR brands on CES.
At CES this time, Pimax Crystal and Pimax Portal, two of its new products released last year, were displayed.
Pimax Crystal is Pimax’s first PC VR and all-in-one dual-mode head display. It provides a comprehensive resolution of 5760 x 2880 pixels (single eye 2880 x 2880 pixels) and a refresh rate of up to 160Hz. It also has QLED and mini-LED screens. At the same time, Crystal is the first VR product to support replaceable lenses. Users can adjust the definition and field of view angle by changing the lens to meet the difference requirements of PPD and FOV in different scenes. With no image distortion from edge to edge, the pixel density can reach up to 42PPD.
Pimax Portal is an innovative product that integrates the four functions of handheld, VR, portable PC and living room entertainment center. You can simultaneously experience Android games, VR games, fitness games, large-screen mobile games, etc. through a single device. Insert the display part of the handheld into the dedicated “Cardboard” to turn it into a 6DoF VR all-in-one machine. The removable handle on the handheld is installed into the VR handle, and it can turn into VR interaction in seconds.
Vuzix
AR glasses company Vuzix exhibited a variety of products at this exhibition, including the Vuzix Ultralite OEM platform that won the CES Innovation Product Award, the Vuzix Shield, M4000, Blade2, M400 and the industrial helmet version combined with AR glasses.
Vuzix Ultralite is an OEM platform reference design that uses single-eye waveguide and customized micro-display engine to realize AR display. At the same time, it also supports wireless transmission of important information of all users’ smart phones/watches and handsfree.
This OEM solution is mainly aimed at customers with customized requirements to quickly put customer AR solutions into production. The weight of the Vuzix Ultralite OEM platform is only 38g, which is very lightweight.
So far, Vuzix has been facing the B-end market, especially in the industrial field. According to the financial report, Vuzix’s total revenue increased by 14% to US $3.4 million in the three months ended September 30, 2022, compared with US $3 million in the same period in 2021.
LetinAR
LetinAR is a South Korea AR Optical Solutions Co., Ltd. showed two AR optical lenses using aperture imaging optics and their prototypes – KEPLAR and T-Glasses – at the exhibition stand this year. Both of these products use the proprietary PinTILT of Letinar ™ And PinMR ™ (“Pin Mirror ™”) Technology.
KEPLAR Glasses has a 45 ° field angle, 1080P resolution, can reach 600nits brightness, and supports binocular display. The material is plastic, which is lighter and more stable than glass.
T-Glasses has a field angle of 22 °, a resolution of 640 * 400, and a weight of 75g. It also supports binocular display.
The editor experienced the product on the spot, and the overall imaging, picture color, clarity and other effects were good. However, when watching, the hole array vaguely revealed in the screen could not be eliminated, affecting the overall screen appearance.
AjnaLens
Indian VR enterprises have brought their latest VR all-in-one prototype, AjnaXR. It is said that the device will have two products with a price of about 800-1000 dollars.
The equipment uses Pancake optics and weighs about 400g. The cephalic part is relatively thin and about 3cm thick. The enterprise version head display has a resolution of 5K for both eyes, adopts a 2 * 2.1 inch Fast-LCD screen, and has a built-in Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chip. It supports eye tracking, gesture recognition, and IPD and 0-700 degree diopter adjustment. The head display RAM is 8GB and ROM is 256GB. The head display supports inside-out spatial positioning and Video See Through. There are 6 cameras on the head display, 4 cameras for SLAM positioning and 2 RGB cameras for VST.
At the same time, it has built in the AnjaVidya content platform, which currently has 150 applications, including industrial applications, entertainment, games, sports, etc. It is said that it plans to launch 2000 applications by the end of this year.
Razer
Razer showed the headband and mask accessories specially made for Quest 2 on CES. These accessories were jointly made by Razer and ResMed, a medical equipment company headquartered in San Diego, California.
Razer said in a statement that Razer’s adjustable headband system is designed for lasting comfort and weight-balanced support, taking into account all head types. Its high-performance nylon material can provide reliability, comfort and durability. In addition, its weight distribution has been specially optimized, and it adopts a fast wear design, which is convenient for players to use.
Its mask is made of profiled film and medical grade hypoallergenic materials, which can provide better comfort and maintain ventilation.
Razer said that these two accessory products will be launched in the United States in the first quarter of 2023 and will be sold in other countries and regions in the future.
Somnium Space
At the CES exhibition, SOMINIUM VR showed the developer version of the PC VR head-display Somnium VR1. This is an open source, modular VR head display, and its accessories can be printed in 3D.
The Sonnium VR1 has two 2880 * 2880 resolution Fast-LCD screens, with a horizontal field angle of 120 ° and a vertical field angle of 100 °. The product is huge. Use two 2864 * 2192 pixel cameras to realize perspective function, and support eye tracking, gesture recognition, wireless VR streaming, etc.
Somnium Space showed MR and Wi-Fi 6 module for PCVR streaming media on CES 2023, and XTAL head display of Czech technology partner VRengineers was demonstrated on site.
Summary
In addition to the products of the above booths, there are many partial prototype versions of the products on the site, and the space is limited.
On the whole, most of the products on display at CES this year are early start-ups, and even are not relatively complete prototypes. Although there are not many bright enough, driven by the development of Meta Universe, VR and AR industries, more and more new enterprises can be seen to join. It is expected that more popular products will appear in CES next year.
