The Mirage Solo is a standalone device that gets rid of the cord.
Back in May, we got our first demo of Google’s WorldSense technology. It was a glimpse into the future of what VR headsets will look like as standalone devices. HTC and Lenovo were both announced as partners—but HTC soon backed out to focus on the Chinese market with their Vive Focus inside-out tracked standalone headset. That left Lenovo still in the game. And true to form, Lenovo has finally unveiled the one and only standalone Daydream VR headset—the Lenovo Mirage Solo with Daydream.
Announced at CES 2018, the Mirage Solo combines everything we expect from a VR headset, packaged all into one device. No more being tethered to wires, PCs or phones. Utilizing Google’s WorldSense motion-tracking technology and the Google Daydream VR platform, you can move around and explore VR without any external sensors. It’s a pretty big deal and we’re glad that it’s finally here.
Getting rid of external sensors while still tracking your position is a hard problem to solve. Headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have these sensors and the headsets are also plugged into your PC, unless of course you have a Vive Wireless Adapter like the one revealed Monday at CES. But for the most part, you need sensors and cords. The Lenovo Mirage however uses WorldSense’s inside-out positional tracking technology, which means the headset can mirror real life by tracking its position in space through built-in tracking cameras and sensors.
With up to seven hours of use on a single charge, the Lenovo Mirage Solo headset is expected to handle some serious extended periods of continuous use. The company claims that the headset is designed to fit nearly any size wearer comfortably. There are quick-release buttons for visor adjustments, adjustable dials and size accommodations for nearly every face shape, visual aid and head proportion.
The design is sleek and simple, rocking two inside-out tracking cameras on the front of the headset. The actual head strap itself looks very close in design to that of the PlayStation VR headset, which isn’t a complaint since I still feel that the PSVR is one of the more comfortable designs. Because most headsets bear an excess of weight towards the front, a strap like this will likely even load distribution and balance to reduce strain/weight on the front of your face.
The Lenovo Mirage Solo has a 110° field-of-view with QHD displays (2560 x 144) and rocks a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 with 4GB of RAM. The headset has an expandable microSD card slot, 3.5 mm audio jack, and weighs roughly 1.42 lbs.
While the headset itself has 6DOF tracking, we are still left with a 3DOF controller. The wireless Daydream controller is identical to the one that comes with the Daydream View headset, sporting a clickable trackpad, app and home buttons, and a volume rocker, you can change the controller’s function from app to app. Besides a navigation controller, it can also serve as a baseball bat, steering wheel or whatever fits the app’s purpose.
In addition to launching a standalone VR headset, Lenovo also unveiled their Mirage VR180 camera that’s built to capture VR images and videos to be easily shared through native integration with YouTube and Google Photos.
The Lenovo Mirage Solo starts at under $400.00 and is expected to be available in the second quarter of this year.
