Most of us who have tried a proper VR headset, just can’ get enough of it. In fact, we have got great news for you. In a recent Twitter tweet, it was just confirmed that Oculus has teamed up with Xiaomi and Qualcomm and they are expected to launch a new VR headset. Not only this, but the headset shall especially be targeted towards the Chinese market.
The headset is currently known as Mi VR Standalone. Yes, Oculus has it’s own VR headset planned out too by the name of Oculus Go. The notable difference between the two would be that Oculus Go would be sold in most parts of the world other than China where the Mi VR standalone would be sold.
Apart from this, there isn’t much difference between the two. The only visible difference would be in the form of logos and a comparatively different shades of grey. As for the platform, both employ the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Mobile VR Platform. Not only this, but the display is the same for both too, featuring 2K LCD displays. Also, the integrated spatial audio, 3DoF tracking and the “next generation” VR optics are available in both.
“We’ve worked closely with Qualcomm to deliver the highest possible level of performance to meet the high computing demands of the standalone VR product category,” Oculus reported on a blog.
This team up with Xiaomi, isn’t just restricted to hardware only. It’s to be noted that the most wanted content available on the Oculus Store shall also be tailored to suit the Chinese market. On the contrary, the VR content, like games, applications, and other 360 degree videos, shall be made available in the Mi VR store in China.
The experts regard this is a classic move by Oculus. Through this joint venture, the company can easily cap the Chinese market as well, under the banner of Xiaomi which is one of the biggest names when it comes to tech in China. It’s basically a win-win. Xiaomi would also benefit from this since this collaboration would mean, that Xiaomi can boast of a great VR headset rather than it’s Mi VR Play 2 mobile headsets which were quite popular but not up to the mark of Oculus.
Furthermore, the new VR headset release shall also make up for a competition against the Vive Focus, which is soon planned to be released by HTC. The irony is that the Vive Focus was also intended to aim particularly at the Chinese market.
For that, a new platform by the name of Vive Focus was expected. The Vive Focus shall aid the developers to create content for the store. It would be a battle worth watching between the Focus and Mi VR Standalone. For the US, customers, expect a battle between Vive Pro and Oculus Santa Cruz for sure.
If you are already interested in getting your hands on Mi VR Standalone, then sorry to disappoint you, but right now not much can be gathered on what the price of the new VR headset might be. Though it’s anticipated that the shipping period would be the same for Mi VR Standalone like that of the Oculus Go. It’s not yet known if the price of the new Mi VR Standalone would actually be less than that of the $199 for Oculus Go.