Dec 28, 2021 23:00:00

Some specs of the world's first stand-alone VR headset with Linux 'Simula One' will be released

American startup Simula VR announced the world's first Linux-based standalone VR headset ' Simula One ' on December 11, 2021. The Simula One will be available on Kickstarter in January 2022, but no detailed specs have been disclosed so far. However, some of the specifications of Simula One have finally been released in comparison with other competing models.

VR Comparison: Simula One vs. Valve Index vs. Quest 2 --SimulaVR
https://simulavr.com/blog/vr-comparison/

Technical overview of Simula's VR Computer --SimulaVR
https://simulavr.com/blog/technical-overview/

The Simula One looks like this.

The OS 'Simula' installed in Simula One is a Linux distribution developed for VR devices, and it is characterized by being able to execute Linux applications as they are on VR. You can understand what kind of OS Simula is by reading the following article.

Open source software 'Simula' that can display and work on the Linux desktop in VR space --GIGAZINE

Simula One is a VR device equipped with this Simula, and although it is in the prototype stage at the time of article creation, some of the specifications are released in comparison with Valve Index and Oculus Quest 2 as shown in the table below.

	Valve Index	Oculus Quest 2	Simula One
Manufacturer	Valve	Meta	SimulaVR
Terminal	PC connection type VR	Standalone VR	Standalone VR
platform	SteamVR	Oculus Home Steam VR	Linux
weight	809g (Including head strap)	503g (Including head strap)	to be decided
lens	Dual element fresnel lens	Fresnel lens	Triple element non-Fresnel lens
screen	liquid crystal	liquid crystal	liquid crystal
Subpixel layout	Striped RGB	Striped RGB	Striped RGB
resolution	One eye 1440 x 1660 pixels	One eye 1832 x 1920 pixels	One eye 2448 x 2448 pixels
Resolution per degree of viewing angle	11.07	20.58	35.5
Refresh rate	144Hz	120Hz	90Hz
Adjustment range of interpupillary distance	58 ~ 70mm hardware adjustment	58-68 mm hardware adjustment	55-77mm hardware adjustment
Pass through	960 x 960 pixel pass-through	Grayscale pass-through with tracking camera	Full color pass-through with high-resolution wide-angle camera
colour	black	White & black & orange	White
Degree of freedom	6DoF	6DoF	6DoF
Eye tracking	none	none	to be decided
Face tracking	none	none	none
Hand tracking	none	can be	to be decided
Body tracking	none	none	none
Built-in speaker	can be	can be	none
Built-in microphone	can be	can be	none
3.5mm audio terminal	can be	can be	can be
port	USB (3.0) Type-A x 1	USB Type-C x 1	USB4 / Thunderbolt 4 x 1, USB Type-C (USB3.2 Gen 2) x 3-4
Video connection	DisplayPort 1.2	Oculus Link (via USB Type-C)	DisplayPort 1.4a
Wireless support	none	Wi-Fi 6	Wi-Fi 6
Chipset		Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2	-
CPU	none	Octa-core Kryo 585	Intel Core i7-1165G7
GPU	none	Adreno 650	Iris Xe graphics
memory	none	6GB	16GB
storage	none	128GB / 256GB	1TB NVMe M.2 SSD
SD card slot	none	none	to be decided
Battery capacity	none	3640mAh	to be decided
Continuous use time	none	About 3 hours	to be decided
charging time	none	About 2 hours and 30 minutes	to be decided
Announcement date	April 29, 2019	September 15, 2020	December 14, 2021
Release date	April 30, 2019	October 12, 2020	Scheduled for January 2022
price	VR kit: 138,380 yen Headset + controller: 104,280 yen	128GB model: 37,180 yen 256GB model: 49,280 yen	to be decided

The prototype of Simula One is based on Intel's 11th generation NUC , and the CPU is equipped with Intel Core i7-1165G7 with 4 cores and 8 threads. There is also a DisplayPort slot for connecting to an external monitor. In addition, Simula VR has a good possibility of switching to the 12th generation NUC after considering issues such as battery life.

Three lenses are stacked and the viewing angle is 100 degrees with a single eye. According to SimulaVR, Simula One also supports pass-through, which allows you to see the surrounding landscape while wearing it, and uses two high-resolution wide-angle cameras on the front to provide high-quality, full-color pass-through. It is said that AR mode will be feasible. In addition, since it has a built-in hand tracking input device 'ultralaep' developed by the manufacturer of Leap Motion, it is possible to apply the movement of the hand as it is to input. Furthermore, motion tracking is theoretically possible by using an external sensor. However, due to power and cost issues, it is unclear if it will be implemented at the time of writing the article.