ACER and Windows MR
Last week we were very lucky to host a visit from James Hsu and Sharon Kao of ACER in Taiwan. ACER have recently released their new headset, which is one of the first Windows Mixed Reality sets. They are part of what ACER call the Presence Computing team. I really like this name because it really captures what VR is about. It is more common at the moment to talk about “Immersive Media”, but I think immersion is quite ambiguous and used in many ways. You can be really immersed in a book, but that doesn’t mean books are VR. Presence is a more technical term but it really captures what VR is about: transporting you somewhere else, being present in a place or even body that isn’t where you are in the real world.
ACER is a hardware manufacturer, but they really understand that the success of VR is about much more than building good headsets, its about great content. We talked a lot about how that means we need people and teams that understand all aspects from hardware to software, but also the connection between the technology and creative/artistic work (something that we have been working on for a long time at Goldsmiths).
James and Sharon told me about the development of their headset, that they hope will overcome a lot of the challenges of VR. Right now, as with many new technologies, VR is expensive and hard to set up. You need to be dedicated and quite tech savy to get going, at least in high end VR. This was nicely, if somewhat embarrassingly, illustrated in the struggles we had setting up a demo for James and Sharon using a headset developed by a competitor (who shall remain nameless).
They feel that the Windows MR platform makes this a lot easier. It is integrated with Windows, which means software setup is easier. It is also cheaper. The headsets are a bit cheaper, but the real saving is that the required specification for a machine to run Windows MR is much lower than for Oculus or VIVE, that means that a lot of people will be able to access VR without buying a new (expensive) computer, which I’ve always felt was the real expense of VR. But perhaps most importantly Windows MR uses inside out tracking. That means that it can track your position in space, but does so using computer vision based on cameras in the headset, not on external sensors. That makes the tracking setup much more easier that the system more mobile. (The trouble we were having with out demo was, in fact, with the tracking).
James and Sharon also talked about all of the work they have put into making their headset comfortable and ergonomic. Something that you can wear for long periods without strain and that works well for people glasses. They point out that most existing headsets are developed in the US and are very biased towards western/european face shapes. The ACER headsets should be much more comfortable for people with a more characteristically Asian shape.
It was really interesting to see an insight into their design process. They showed me some photos of the hundreds of prototypes that were developed and tested during their design phase. They used cheap easily moulded materials (I think it was polystyrene, but could say for sure), to create many different shapes for both the headsets, testing each one with many people as they homed in on the final design. This is a nice illustration of the vital importance of prototyping and testing in the design process, and not narrowing in on a single design too early, try as many designs as you can.
They also told me about about StarVR a new high end headset they have developed that is aimed at businesses rather than consumers. The idea is to have hardware that could be used in themeparks and arcades, and which would give a much higher quality experience than a home headset. I think this is an interesting idea as VR arcades are likely to be a big thing when most consumers don’t own their own headsets. The StarVR has a very high field of view (210°), ultra high resolution and the potential for wide area tracking.
At the end of our conversation we talked about the future. One of the things that excites ACER about Windows Mixed Reality, is that it is Mixed. With cameras mounted on the headset it has the potential for blurring the line between the real and virtual world and they feel that is one of the most important areas of development in the next couple of years.
