Former HTC CEO Peter Chou has a new product, and it’s in VR: XRSpace Move.
Officially announced today, there’s at least some reason to think this won’t be dead on arrival.
What is it?
- The XRSpace Mova is a new VR headset, reportedly launching in the 3rd quarter of 2020 for $599.
- Selling points include 5G support, hand tracking by default, and a virtual world dubbed ‘Manova’.
- It’ll run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, sports a 6GB RAM, a 4,600mAh battery, and a 2880×1440 resolution display, plus a 90Hz refresh rate.
- The display will be 702dpi, an awesome pixel density, because of a smaller panel with a more restricted view.
- It’s also said to be the “smallest, lightest” standalone VR, weighing 470 grams, quite a bit less than the Oculus Quest at 571g.
- Some tech reporters have already worn the headset, but under NDA, with no details about the experience.
Why?
- It’s all about the virtual social experience, with Peter Chou wanting to call this “XR” not strictly VR.
- Manova seems to be focusing on virtual world social experiences.
- Manova is VR-first, not adapted from PC, and it is working closely with its Mova headset to use features like hand tracking to high-five or fist bump other avatars, which are higher-quality designs than we’ve never seen before.
- The reason we’re not super skeptical is that the global pandemic is leading to some people holding VR meetings. Going from a 2D Zoom call to a VR meeting has been mentioned as being much richer and better for meetings.
- Manova looks adaptable towards professional use too: one early partner involved is a real estate agency that wants to offer VR houses for tours this year.
- So why won’t it work? Problems include that the $399 Oculus Quest is $399, and even at that price can’t attract a significant uptake. But the Quest is hard to buy right now, too, with limited availability at times.
- XRSpace has signed up a range of partners, too, but the struggle will be for anyone to make VR truly exciting. Does 5G help significantly?
