Kicking off 2022, I wanted to discuss a new company that’s working on a VR headset similar to of which we saw from the anime, Sword Art Online. By far one of my favorite first anime’s I’ve ever watched. In the anime you would be laying down using this VR headset compared to traditional VR where you have to be standing up or sitting down.

The Japanese company Diver-X will be launching the headset and making it Steam compatible, However ! This company is actually mainly focused on not making their VR headsets meant for games, they want to create these headsets to revolve around day-to-day work.

One of the articles from Driver-X stated they want to “enable human activity in its lowest energetic state.” But also on top of that they are pursuing the introduction of things like pancake optics and micro-displays. With Meta’s headset and Steam’s headset we are already using quite the bulky headsets, but on top of that they are limited compared to what a company like Diver-X can accomplish as the headsets weight doesn’t matter in this scenario. The entire idea is that we can add more technology if the “weight” of the product doesn’t matter.

Here is what the Diver-X VR headset looks like.

Laying down with it allows it to include things like a 10 aspherical lens stack for a reported 134-degree field of view (FOV), and what Diver-X calls a “significantly improved image quality” out of its  1,600 × 1,440 pixels per-eye dual displays.

Oh by the way, Yes you’ll be able to turn your head’s left and right, but you’ll also be able to use the VR headset while laying on your side. So if you’re uncomfortable on your back it’s fine. — The VR headset purchase will include two additional products, a sensor for your feet, and we aren’t exactly sure on the controllers but they seem to be similar of what Meta has.

Now here is where my main issue comes in with this product, In the future it’s clear that a company like Bhaptic which is selling VR Haptic Gloves for $299 will be the future for VR Technology, when we finally get gloves that are working really well will this company move into using them? And how will they work if you’re laying down.

Again it seems like this may or may not be an issue considering their main approach is to really dial into “work” so I guess it depends on the person using it at the end of the day.

But for now they are not using those Ready Player 1 gloves we originally witnessed.

Along with this VR headset we will be getting something new we haven’t seen other competitors with yet and this will include sensors for your feet, so you’ll be able to move them while in bed and get the sense that you’re moving in-VR.

You can find the companies Kick-Starter at this link which also includes an amazing short video you can watch where the company talks about the headset.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/diver-x/halfdive-worlds-first-vr-system-optimized-for-use-in-bed

We are expecting 3 different models; a basic model without varifocal lenses (~$700), some sort of bundled package (~$1100), and its varifocal lens version (~$3,900). You can check out the full specs below:

Degrees of Freedom: 4.5dof (Virtual 6dof)
Optical system: Original optical system using 10 lenses
Field of view: 134 degrees
Resolution: 1600 x 1440 pixels per eye (3200x1440 pixels combined)
Refresh rate: >=90hz
Dial styled IPD adjustment: 58-82mm
Audio: Immersive sound system using 4 speakers
Controller: Two hand/foot controllers
Tracking: Lighthouse supported / Avatar movement emulation system using foot controller
Camera: Keyboard overlay system
Interface: DisplayPort 1.2 / USB3.0 / 3.5mm audio jack / 12V power source / I2C (module connection)
Platform: All SteamVR application supported
SDK: Unity (features dedicated to VRChat) / Unreal Engine

This will conclude this substack post, I will be watching many other corps and what they are doing in the world of VR, here is a photo list of a bunch of examples.