HP have given us a sneak peak of their next-gen digital actuality headset in a brand new teaser video – simply in time for the launch of Half-Life: Alyx. Called the Reverb G2, this new headset guarantees “no compromise” and goals to ship “a more immersive, comfortable and compatible experience” than HP’s 1st-gen Reverb headset. HP are additionally calling it “the new standard in VR”, suggesting it’d even be seeking to tackle the Valve Index as the brand new king of VR gaming headsets. Have a watch of their teaser video under.
As you’ll be able to see from HP’s brief teaser trailer, there’s actually not loads to go on in the mean time when it comes to what it seems to be like, or what its specs can be, because the 15 second clip solely reveals us the teeniest glimpse of the headset’s imprecise form and description. However, the extra blurb over on HP’s website, the place you’ll be able to presently join extra notifications concerning the headset, does give us some attention-grabbing clues about what we’d be capable of anticipate.
You might recall that the unique HP Reverb was a Windows Mixed Reality headset. It had fairly a excessive spec in comparison with different WMR headsets on the market – and, certainly, in comparison with different 1st-gen VR headsets such because the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Its show had a pointy 2160×2160 per-eye decision, a large 114 diploma discipline of view, built-in spatial audio headphones, and twin microphones, placing proper on the higher finish of its WMR rivals.
The Reverb G2, however, goes to be absolutely appropriate with SteamVR, implying that it received’t be a WMR headset, however fairly a correct contender to different high-end PC-based VR headsets you should buy right this moment such because the HTC Vive Cosmos and Oculus Rift S. Indeed, when you can technically run SteamVR games on the outdated Reverb with the assistance of Microsoft’s Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR app, Valve’s involvement within the making of this headset makes it sounds such as you received’t must undergo Microsoft’s Windows Store to get the Reverb G2 working along with your SteamVR library – particularly given HP’s teaser textual content on their web site emphasises that it’s going to offer a “more compatible” expertise than its predecessor.
However, given the present HP Reverb prices £599 / $599 at time of writing, the Reverb G2 might find yourself being fairly costly in comparison with its Vive and Rift rivals. As I stated, it’s presently unknown what the Reverb G2’s specs are going to be, but when HP are saying it’s going to be even “more immersive and comfortable” than their outdated headset, then you’ll be able to in all probability assume it could have even higher specs than the present one. This might lead to fairly the value bump over the present Reverb, placing it extra in Vive Cosmos Elite or Valve Index territory than, say, the £399 / $399 Rift S.
Still, extra competitors within the VR headset enviornment can solely be factor in the long term, and I’ll be intrigued to see the way it compares with its PC rivals as soon as HP reveal extra details about it. In the imply time, you could find out the whole lot about Half-Life: Alyx’s PC requirements to get your PC prepared for Valve’s wonderful new VR game (so says Graham in his Half-Life: Alyx review), and when you’re right here, why not have a browse of my Half-Life: Alyx VR performance article to see what sort of expertise you’ll be able to anticipate by taking part in on the game’s minimal PC spec? Or, in case you’d fairly see the game for your self, RPS Vid Bud Matthew performed the primary two hours of it yesterday which you’ll be able to view under, with extra commentary from yours really. Enjoy!
