Lenovo isn’t playing with its new ThinkReality VRX Enterprise XR headset

Many people are familiar with Lenovo’s VR offerings. The company was the first to launch a standalone VR headset in 2018 with the Mirage Solo and its ThinkReality XR platform, targeting the enterprise, which continues to grow in popularity. The ThinkReality A3 AR headset, which runs on the ThinkReality XR platform, has also gained a lot of momentum since its launch last year, as evidenced by Qualcomm’s selection of the ThinkReality A3 as the default hardware for its platform. and its Snapdragon Spaces development kit. Although Lenovo’s AR momentum has been trending over the past year, the company hadn’t updated its VR offerings in some time. That changed last week with the launch of Lenovo’s new VR headset, the Lenovo ThinkReality VRX, which features a host of updates to Lenovo’s enterprise VR offerings, including new mixed reality capabilities.

Helmet

Lenovo designed the ThinkReality VRX for enterprise applications from the ground up. Designed to comfortably accommodate long-term use, the headset’s balanced battery on the back acts as an effective counterweight to the device’s frontal heaviness (shared by most standalone headsets). The front of the headset is also slimmer than previous generations of VR headsets thanks to the crepe optics used by Lenovo to minimize size and weight. The headset also has high-resolution pass-through cameras for mixed reality apps, which I suspect will be the slow launch pad for new AR apps. The headset supports 6-DoF tracking using four world-facing cameras, which means it will map the area around it to allow the user to move freely in their respective space. The ThinkReality also works with 3-DoF experiences, which could make sense for applications where 3-DoF headsets are the dominant use case such as 360 video. Referring to the capabilities of the ThinkReality VRX, Vishal Shah, Lenovo’s General Manager for XR and Metaverse, said, “With a focus on enterprise-grade quality, scalability, security and flexibility, the Lenovo ThinkReality VRX is designed to be the on-ramp to the Metaverse. of business. . From enabling immersive training and learning to address skills gaps and labor shortages to empowering virtual meetings and 3D collaboration for hybrid workers, the VR solution from company will take productivity to the next level.

Since the ThinkReality VRX uses Qualcomm’s XR platform, the ThinkReality VRX should be performance-competitive with the rest of the standalone headsets on the market. In addition to this, the ThinkReality VRX supports PC streaming solutions to enhance the graphical experience and increase the usefulness of the headset. I think all standalone VR headsets should have remote streaming capabilities from a PC as a default feature, as there will be applications that can only run on a PC or may require a more capable discrete GPU. The good thing about the ThinkReality VRX is that Lenovo worked closely with NVIDIA to enable CloudXR for cloud-based rendering, which means app developers won’t always have to rely on a PC to deliver. more faithful experiences.

The platform

Lenovo has spent the past few years not only iterating on its AR and VR headsets, but also building a comprehensive suite of software and services for its enterprise customers. Lenovo sees itself as the only company in the market today that can not only offer XR hardware and support, but also the services and software that enable XR solutions to scale enterprise-wide. Vishal Shah, Lenovo General Manager at XR and Metaverse, explains: “The VR solution also includes the integrated ThinkReality software platform to give IT and operations the ability to deploy, configure and manage XR devices at scale, allowing the company to support workers with updates and analytics to optimize performance.

Basically, the hardware should be manageable and the apps should work as they would on a smartphone or PC. This means enabling all kinds of MDM solutions as well as engaging with the right ISV partners and consulting partners to help create solutions that meet a customer’s needs. As such, Lenovo is incredibly flexible with the platforms it supports, allowing a host of different ecosystem partners to grow with its ThinkReality devices and platform. Lenovo wants to make it easier for customers to have one familiar place for all their XR devices, so it’s used to supporting hardware from other companies on its ThinkReality software platform. Lenovo has also partnered with ENGAGE to establish a persistent Lenovo presence in the metaverse where people can virtually explore Lenovo products and solutions as well as meet and collaborate with partners and customers in the same space.

Price and availability

While Lenovo has yet to give exact pricing or availability for the headset, an early access program is in place for select partners to get devices by the end of the year. The general availability of the ThinkReality VRX will take place in early 2023, at which time we will also know the price of the ThinkReality VRX. Considering the return on investment these headsets can provide, especially in training applications, I don’t really expect the price of the headset itself to be an issue, as long as there is nothing wrong with it. ‘astronomical. Besides, I expect many Lenovo partners to offer this headset as a service. In this case, the end customer may never know the real price of the headset.

Final Thoughts

While we don’t know the final specs for this headset, we’ll soon be able to compare it to a growing number of VR offerings. Pico’s Neo 4 appears to be a consumer-focused headset, but I expect an upcoming Pro model to try to compete with Lenovo’s VRX. That said, I don’t really believe Pico has the business pedigree, software, support, and services in place to compete with Lenovo, especially given the company’s global reach. It remains unclear if Pico will ever launch in the US market – a limiting factor, especially when dealing with global companies. It also remains to be seen what kind of enterprise prowess the next Oculus “Quest Pro” will have and how Meta will overcome its reputation as a VR gaming and entertainment platform. I’m looking forward to the full specs of the Lenovo VRX and can’t wait to get my hands on it.

Note: Moor Insights & Strategy writers and editors may have contributed to this article.

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