Skip to main content

Lenovo Explorer aims for low-cost Windows Mixed Reality performance

Lenovo Explorer
Lenovo
Microsoft’s Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) platform has been in the news lately, with the company providing additional details about its features and system requirements and Microsoft’s original equipment manufacturers releasing more information on the headsets they are bringing to market this holiday season. Lenovo has joined the party by announcing at IFA 2017 its own WMR headset, the Lenovo Explorer.

Like all of the WMR headsets, the Explorer is intended to provide an immersive virtual reality experience at a relatively low cost and without the need for a high-powered, expensive PC. Accordingly, the Explorer will be priced at a $349 and the Explorer with its optional Motion Controllers will cost $449.

Here are the Lenovo Explorer’s specifications:

Recommended Videos
Dimensions: 185 x 94.8 x 102 mm
Weight: 380 grams
Camera 2x 6DOF Tracking Camera
I/O HDMI 2.0, USB 2.0
Control Motion controller, 6DOF controller, keyboard & mouse
PC Min. Spec. Intel Core i5, Intel HD 620 graphics
Please enable Javascript to view this content

In addition, the Explorer supports the two levels of WMR PCs that Microsoft recently announced. That means that a base WMR PC equipped with integrated graphics will be able to drive the Explorer in running immersive content at 60 frames per second (FPS) while a WMR Ultra PC will be able to enable 90 FPS performance. Here are the minimum required specs for each level of performance:

Performance:  90Hz
CPU: Intel Core i5 (NB), Intel Core i3 (DT)
GPU: Discrete Nvidia GTX 965M, AMD RX 460M
Connectivity: HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.2
RAM: 8GB
Storage: More than 10GB additional free space
USB: USB 3.0 Type-A or USB 3.1 Type-C Port with DisplayPort
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0 for accessories
Performance: 60Hz
CPU: Intel Core i5 (NB), Intel Core i3 (DT)
GPU: Integrated Intel HD 620
Connectivity: HDMI 1.4 or DisplayPort 1.2
RAM: 8GB
Storage: More than 10GB additional free space
USB: USB 3.0 Type-A or USB 3.1 Type-C Port with DisplayPort
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0 for accessories

Like other WMR headsets, the Explorer needs no external sensors for its basic functionality. Thus, it’s simply plugged into a PC’s USB and HDMI ports via the built-in Y-cable. The optional Motion Controllers provide for more natural and fine-grained actions when in mixed reality environments, while an Xbox controller can also be used for navigating through some VR games.

Lenovo also touts enhanced productivity by using the Explorer with a keyboard, mouse, and Cortana voice commands, while accessing the WMR “cliff house” VR environment provides access to more than 20,000 Windows apps available in the Microsoft Store. Users can, therefore, get work done in VR, and then switch over to the virtual Escape and Play theatre to take a break from working by accessing 3D, 360-degree, and 4K content. In addition, Lenovo is providing access to more than 100 upscaled VR games through the Lenovo Entertainment Hub.

Lenovo plans to make the Explorer available in October, at $349 for the headset alone and $449 with the Motion Controllers.

Mark Coppock
Mark Coppock is a Freelance Writer at Digital Trends covering primarily laptop and other computing technologies. He has…
Apple is about to begin mass shipments of Vision Pro, report says
Apple's Vision Pro headset.

Apple will begin mass shipments of its Vision Pro mixed-reality headset "in the first week of January" before launching it in Apple Stores in late January or early February, oft-reliable supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a note on Monday.

Kuo added that Apple plans to ship “approximately 500,000” Vision Pro devices as it seeks to get its most important product launch in years off to the best possible start.

Read more
Apple’s next Vision Pro may send you on a mood-altering trip
The Apple Vision Pro reveals the wearer's eyes on a front-facing display.

It sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, but Apple could be working on a way to let you alter your mood just by telling its Vision Pro headset how you want to feel. That’s according to a recently granted patent (number 11703944) that outlines the whole futuristic idea.

It’s a strange concept and one that sounds woven right out of a Philip K. Dick story. In fact, in the author’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? there is a machine that puts users into whatever mood they desire. It sounds as though Apple’s inventors have been reading a little sci-fi in their spare time.

Read more
There’s a bunch of bad news about Apple’s Vision Pro headset
A person tries on an Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset in an Apple Store, with an Apple employee alongside them.

Apple’s Vision Pro headset is probably one of the most complex products the company has ever launched, but a new report has highlighted just how much Apple is struggling with the device. It suggests people are finding the headset uncomfortable and that it could take even longer to become widely available than we previously thought.

The news has come to light thanks to a new report from journalist Mark Gurman, a reporter who has an accurate track record when it comes to Apple leaks and rumors. According to Gurman, the Vision Pro “will be Apple’s most complex debut to date and will require sorting out tricky supply chain logistics, training salespeople how to set up the device and teaching customers how to use it.”

Read more