We were beginning to wonder if we would see LG’s SteamVR headset again this year, but it’s just been spotted at a VR festival in Korea.
The official Silicon Valley Virtual Reality Twitter account just posted a fresh image of the headset and its controllers as shown at the Korean VR Festival. Take a look below.
Just tried the LG SteamVR HMD with the flip-up screen @ #KVRF, it’s fantastic! Can’t wait for the release version pic.twitter.com/wXMC0mQw9e
— #SVVR (@SVVRLIVE) September 18, 2017
That should put any speculation that the device had been quietly cancelled to rest.
Overall it doesn’t seem like the kit has yet undergone any major revisions since it debuted at the 2017 Game Developers Conference in March, at least on a surface level. The black headset still sports the flip-up design that allows you to quickly remove the visor from your eyes, and the controllers still look like a more rigid take on the HTC Vive’s circular wands. The SVVR account described the experience as ‘fantastic’, though, and we were pretty impressed when we tried it on too.
However, it is possible that the internal specs for the kit have been upgraded since we last saw it. When we went hands-on with the headset it boasted the below features.
- Two panels (one for each eye) with a resolution of 1440 by 1280 each
- OLED display from LG
- 3.64 inches diagonal
- 90 Hz refresh rate
- 110 degree FOV
Development kits for the device were said to have gone out to ‘select partners’ earlier in the year, though we’re likely looking at a 2018 release at this point. The real question is how the upcoming launch of SteamVR 2.0 will affect this kit. Valve is prepping new, more efficient base stations that can support more elaborate setups as well as a new pair of Knuckles controllers with better ergonomic design. Could LG ditch its current controllers and ship with Knuckles devices?
Look for more information on LG’s SteamVR headset in the coming months.
