The StarVR headset has taken another step closer to actual reality, after a partnership between its maker, Starbreeze, and well-known electronics manufacturer Acer was announced. Starbreeze and its very high-spec VR headset recently captured headlines when we learned about its exciting StarCade VR arcade game hall project. Set to open in the near future, it’s likely visitors will wear the device to play some titles, or watch Starbreeze-created content.
Acer will work with Starbreeze to design, manufacture, and promote the Star VR headset, but probably not to you and me. It’s seems the partnership will be to encourage business customers to buy the headset, ready to use in their own VR exhibitions and attractions. Starbreeze is a games and entertainment software company — its currently working on the John Wick VR game — and is responsible for The Walking Dead VR experience.
The StarVR headset is exciting. The visible screen gives a 210 degree field of view, while the resolution is 5120 x 1440 pixels. Both these aspects are considerably better than those found on the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. However, specs like this require some serious computing power to operate, and some impressive content to stand out. The headset was revealed at the E3 game show last year.
This isn’t Acer’s first step into VR either. Recently it announced the Acer Predator 17 X gaming laptop computer, which uses the Nvidia GTX 980 desktop graphics card for real VR power, plus a partnership with Razer and Sensics on the Open Source Virtual Reality platform. The company’s interest in VR has been going on for a while. Last year, it came out with the Predator G6-710 desktop computer with 64GB of RAM, and the Nvidia GTX 980 graphics card inside, making it ideal for VR use.
Both Acer and Starbreeze are highly motivated in the world of VR, but there’s no information on when the StarVR will be ready to put on our heads.
