Somnium VR1 early reservation holders can lastly order the headset, and it is set to go on basic sale in July.
Who Is Somnium And What Is VR1?
Somnium is a Czech startup beforehand solely centered on its social VR platform Somnium Space. However in late 2021 it introduced the Somnium VR1 headset with a monster spec sheet for the time, in partnership with VRgineers – recognized for its ultra-high end XTAL headsets for enterprise. Initially Somnium VR1 was pitched as a hybrid headset with standalone capabilities through an onboard Snapdragon XR2 chipset, however that concept was ditched in 2022 to deal with making it a solely PC VR headset as a substitute.
VR1 makes use of the identical 2880×2880 QD-LCD w/ Mini-LED panels utilized in Pimax Crystal, which ought to make them tied because the third highest decision headsets in the marketplace, behind Apple Vision Pro and Varjo XR-4.
The shows have 20000:1 distinction, 100% NTSC colour gamut, and assist 72Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz, with an experimental 144Hz mode accessible too.
The brightness to the attention is 210 nits, round double that of Meta Quest 3 and Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional.
These shows are paired with giant dual-element aspheric lenses Somnium claims ship a area of view of round 130° horizontal and 105° vertical. That is wider than every other VR headset in the marketplace. Pimax 5K and 8K had been even wider, however are now not in manufacturing and had important distortion within the periphery.
This deal with increasing area of view is why it is so cumbersome in an period of slimmer pancake lens headsets.
Meta Quest 3 |
Somnium VR1 |
Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional |
|
Sort | Standalone | Native Tethered PC VR |
Standalone |
Lenses | Pancake | Aspheric | Pancake |
Discipline of View | 110°×96° | 130°×105° | 100°×87° (est) |
Shows | 2064×2208 LCD |
2880×2880 QD-LCD w/ Mini-LED |
3660×3200 Micro-OLED |
Max Refresh Price |
120Hz | 144Hz | 100Hz |
Like Valve Index and Bigscreen Past, Somnium VR1 makes use of SteamVR Monitoring. Meaning you may want at minimal one base station – and ideally a minimum of two – alongside your personal enter units similar to Valve Index controllers.
Pricing & Variants Revealed
Somnium has revealed the pricing and configuration for the eight variants of VR1, which it calls editions.
Eye Monitoring |
Hand Monitoring |
Passthrough | Value | |
Basic | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | €1900 |
Striker | ❌ | 👐 | ❌ | €2300 |
Visionary | 👁️ | ❌ | ❌ | €2500 |
Titan | 👁️ | 👐 | ❌ | €2900 |
Specter | ❌ | 👐 | 📷 | €3100 |
Final | 👁️ | 👐 | 📷 | €3500 |
Translucent (Restricted) |
👁️ | 👐 | 📷 | €3990 |
Navy (TAA) |
👁️ | 👐 | 📷 | TBA |
The bottom Basic Version is priced at €1900, and a variety of editions with mixtures of eye monitoring, hand monitoring, and passthrough are supplied from €2300 to €3500.
100 models of a Translucent Version that additionally has all three options are being offered at €3990, with the “clear” look that was a distinct segment pattern in shopper electronics within the early 2000s. Given how few are being made, it is more likely to promote out quickly.
Lastly, a Navy Version with all three options and TAA compliance will probably be accessible by means of VRgineers, Somnium’s {hardware} companion.
![](https://www.uploadvr.com/content/images/2024/06/Somnium-VR1-worn-in-driving-sim.png)
Editions with eye monitoring have a 120Hz infrared digicam for every eye which can be utilized for foveated rendering.
The hand monitoring sensors and software program are offered by Ultraleap, with a protection area of view of 170°×170° and 120Hz replace price.
The passthrough cameras are 12 megapixels and assist foveated transport on all editions that even have eye monitoring.
Launch Set For July 12
Present reservation holders at the moment are step by step being invited to decide on their version and place an order.
If you have not already, you’ll be able to reserve a slot till July 10 to have the ability to place an order 24-48 hours earlier than it goes on basic sale, which is ready to occur on July 12.
Somnium warns that new orders positioned on July 12 will take weeks to ship, so recommends reserving a slot quickly.
I will probably be attending Somnium’s launch occasion on July 12, and afterwards I am going to carry you my hands-on impressions of VR1, together with whether or not its lenses reside as much as Somnium’s tantalizing declare of getting the widest undistorted area of view of any shopper headset thus far.