Yesterday, I had an interesting experience at Varjo, where I got to test out the Varjo XR-4 Focal Edition. I was really taken aback by the clarity of its passthrough, and I’m excited to give you a quick rundown of why it stood out.
Visiting Varjo
I’m currently in Helsinki for the MatchXR event, and being so close to where Varjo operates, I couldn’t pass up the chance to drop by their office. While there, I got to try several things, including a classic airplane simulator, which I’ll elaborate on in a detailed article later. The simulator was set up in their demo room, and since I’m someone who never turns down a chance to pilot—even virtually—I jumped into the cockpit, donned the Varjo XR-4, and started my simulated flight. The setup was your typical pilot training simulator, minus the thrilling Top Gun dogfights. Instead, it was all about maintaining a stable flight, something I… well, let’s say I failed spectacularly at.
The plane simulator used a mixed reality experience, blending the real pilot cockpit visible through the passthrough with a virtual flying environment outside. The overall effect achieved by this mixed reality was actually quite well done.
Exploring the Varjo XR-4
This wasn’t my first encounter with the Varjo XR-4. I had first impressions I shared about a year ago. It’s a robust headset designed for enterprises, boasting an impressive 3840 x 3744 resolution per eye and a field of view of 120° x 105°, allowing it to eliminate the screen door effect and deliver incredibly sharp visuals. This makes it an excellent option for industries where visual precision is crucial, like in design settings.
Here’s a breakdown of the XR-4’s specifications:
- Display: Two mini-LED displays
- Resolution: 3840×3744 per eye
- Refresh Rate: 90 Hz
- Contrast Ratio: 1:10000
- Brightness: 200 Nits
- Lenses: Custom, variable resolution, full-dome, aspheric optics
- Field of View: 120° x 105°
- Passthrough Cameras: 2 x 20MP, ~22ms latency
- LiDAR: 300-kilo pixels, 7-meter range, 30 FPS
- Connectivity: 1x DisplayPort + 1x USB-C
- Audio: Built-in spatial audio speakers + 3.5 mm jack, 2x noise-canceling microphones
- Tracking: Inside-out, supports SteamVR via dedicated faceplate
- Controllers: Varjo controllers powered by RAZER™
- Weight: 1021g
The last time I tried the XR-4, it was a preview model, and I wasn’t able to thoroughly assess the passthrough. But with the production unit I used this time, I got to experience it properly.
Diving Into Passthrough and the Focal Edition
During my visit, I finally got the chance to evaluate the passthrough on the Varjo XR-4, and it’s quite satisfactory. Had I tried it around the Oculus Quest 2 era, I’d probably have said it was the best I’d encountered. However, with the improvements in passthrough in the Oculus Quest 3 and the Apple Vision Pro’s remarkable clarity, this Varjo feels like a top-tier offering for 2024. Although it wasn’t mind-blowing, it did seem a bit noisier compared to its contemporaries, admittedly without direct side-by-side comparisons.
That was my thought until I ran the cockpit simulation. In between my frequent plane crashes, a Varjo team member handed me some sheets with data pilots usually consider crucial. Glancing at the documents, I realized I could read the very fine print with remarkable ease through the headset. Pretending the data was highly intriguing (gotta maintain that intellectual facade in front of the Varjo folks), I soon put it aside to return to my ‘expert’ piloting, or more accurately, crashing. Yet, I couldn’t shake off what I’d just noticed.
Eventually, like a slow web browser, it hit me: I had read that tiny text perfectly fine through the headset’s passthrough. So I took another look at those documents, and they were crystal clear—not just legible but sharply defined. That was when my focus shifted from the simulator’s controls entirely to this unexpected revelation—details through the headset that crisp!
Hands-On with the Varjo XR-4 Focal Edition
What I noticed was typical of the Varjo XR-4 Focal Edition, as confirmed by a Varjo employee. This version utilizes an amazing Autofocus feature where the headset’s eye-tracking system directs the 20MP cameras to focus precisely on whatever your eyes are targeting. So when I focused on the paper, the cameras honed in automatically, offering a remarkably clear view. It’s as if the cameras become an extension of my eyesight. With this mechanism, it delivers an impressive 51 PPD pixel density, nearing the human vision’s retina threshold of about 60 PPD.
The level of detail was nearly on par with natural vision. I could shift focus smoothly from the cockpit’s buttons without needing to move my head, just my eyes. All this was genuinely impressive.
However, a balanced review wouldn’t be complete without touching on its downsides. While the resolution is outstanding in the focused area, it only applies to a small rectangle, and the edges of this high-definition zone become noticeable over time. You might find yourself tracking this crisp rectangle as you shift your gaze around. Additionally, there’s slight lag when switching focus, which slightly disrupts the natural view through the headset. This, along with a minor amount of visual noise in the focused area, does remind you that you’re still peering through a digital device.
Varjo could work on blending the edges of the high-definition area into the rest more seamlessly and reducing focus lag, though on the clarity front, they’re certainly leading the pack. It’s the clearest passthrough I’ve experienced.
Final Thoughts
Testing the Varjo XR-4 Focal Edition was enlightening. It showcased how significantly passthrough quality in headsets could eventually match natural vision. With such high fidelity and the ability to focus as if through our own eyes, these devices may soon let us perform any task without needing to take the headset off. Now, I just hope this tech becomes more affordable and less, well, near the €10,000 mark.
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