Design
The new Pico 4 VR headset features a unique pancake optical path design and is made from lightweight plastic and anti-slip PU leather components. The parts that touch the skin also feature a new superskin foam that helps absorb the sweat while distributing the weight properly.
The entire headset weighs barely 295 grams without the strap and batteries and is designed to fit perfectly over your eyes. Even with the addition of the 5300mAh battery, you hardly feel any stress on your face since they are located in the back strap of the headset in order to act as a counterbalance for the front over-the-eye display setup.
Display
The visual components themselves are pretty advanced, with two 2.56-inch displays on the inside that have an optical resolution of 85.7%. The screens support a 90Hz refresh rate and have a maximum field view of 105º and a maximum pixel density of 1200 PPI. They support a binocular resolution of up to 4K+ and carry support for step-less electric interpupillary distance adjustment.
Internals
The entire setup is powered by a Snapdragon XR 2 chipset, with a special PICO OS 5.0 operating system to run a rich collection of VR applications and games. You can freely explore the complete VR ecosystem with complete immersion, thanks to the presence of a multi-camera array that helps keep track of the world around you.
This setup is made up of a 16MP RGB camera, as well as four precision environmental tracking cameras located inside the display case. The device also features special motion controllers with the HyperSense vibration handle, which is supported by a 50-500Hz broadband linear motor. All of these systems work together to give you a properly immersive virtual experience.
VR Applications
Users can explore lots of things in the new VR environment, including but not limited to movies, TV shows, and even adult content. The parent company is even planning to launch a special VR edition of the TikTok platform so that you can enjoy the short-form content in a new dimension. For users who want a more interactive experience, there are 165 video games already present in the Pico store, and the company plans to keep adding to this list in the coming future.
To add a more social aspect to these interactions, they are also developing a new metaverse platform called Pico Worlds, which should be released to the public sometime next year. This world will include special 3D avatars for users, who can visit in-world locations to enjoy live sports, concerts, and a whole host of other activities.
Pricing and Availability
ByteDance plans to sell the Pico 4 in Japan, South Korea, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and various other European countries right at launch. They will enter other markets like Singapore, Malaysia and China in the coming year, with plans for the US release still up in the air.
Users will be able to get the device in three different models based on the RAM and storage configurations - 8GB+128GB, 8GB+256GB, and 8GB+512GB. They will be sold at a starting price of around $347 for the base model PICO 4, with the Pro version coming at around $528.
