Pico OS 5.12 brings phone mirroring, mouse & keyboard support, improved hand tracking and passthrough, and a number of other improvements.
The update arrives around six weeks after the launch of Pico 4 Ultra, and brings one of the headset's key advertised features: phone screen mirroring.
The feature works via the Pico iOS or Android app, and wirelessly displays your phone in VR or mixed reality as a floating 2D panel. This is also possible natively in Apple Vision Pro, but only for iPhones of course. In Meta Quest, on the other hand, bringing your phone into the headset requires using a USB-C cable and USB capture card.
Pico OS 5.12 also improves controller-free hand tracking. ByteDance says it brings improved "response speed", enhanced stability in cases of fast movement and occlusion, and "more flexible finger movements".
Another key improvement in Pico OS 5.12 is improved passthrough. ByteDance says it "significantly reduced distortion at extremely close range" and "reduced ground shaking in bright outdoor sunlight".
Here are all the changes in Pico OS 5.12:
Phone Screen Mirroring
• Display and operate mobile phones on Pico 4 Ultra
• Compatible with iPhone and Android phones
Passthrough Improvements
• Significantly reduced distortion at extremely close range.
• Addressed distortion in scenes with aliasing issues.
• Reduced ground shaking in bright outdoor sunlight.
Hand Tracking & Controller Improvements
• Improved hand tracking response speed.
• Optimized pointer effects.
• Enhanced tracking stability in cases of occlusion and fast movement.
• More flexible finger recognition and fewer accidental touches.
• Improved controller tracking speed when returning to the field of view from blind spots.
Improved Multi-Window Experience
• Clearer text in windowed applications: 2x sampling rate for reduced text aliasing and flicker
• Optimized distance adjustment and control experience: hold the control bar below the Dock and push the Joystick to adjust the distance of the PanoScreen
• Open multiple windows simultaneously in Browser
• Quickly view multiple windows from the Dock
Keyboard & Mouse Support
• Home Space now supports the use of Bluetooth keyboards and mice.
Video Player & Photo Viewer Improvements
• Supports watching videos in [passthrough] mode with adjustable and resizable playback windows.
• Improved the design of the playback control bar and settings page.
• Improved visuals in Immersive View for viewing spatial videos and photos in Photos.
• Enhanced transition effect when switching between content in Photos.
Pico Motion Tracker Improvements
What Are Pico Motion Trackers?
Pico Motion Trackers come as a pair with ankle straps for £80 in the UK and €90 in Europe, designed to allow you to easily add leg tracking to Pico 4 Ultra, Pico 4, and Pico Neo 3 in apps like VRChat and soon Blade & Sorcery: Nomad.
You can also strap a third Pico Motion Tracker to your waist, or use them as independent custom object trackers.
• Improved waist tracker's posture accuracy when sitting or lying down.
• Inactivity detection can now be disabled to avoid entering Sleep Mode during sustained periods of inactivity.
Developer SDK Improvements
• Iterated Sense Pack environment sensing capabilities to continuously power MR development.
• New Pico Simulator Beta enables hardware simulation, allowing development without a physical device.
• New developer samples, including MR, interaction, motion tracking, AR foundation, etc.
• Unity Editor tool updates for increased project configuration efficiency.
