Bigscreen unveils Bigscreen Beyond, a $999 PC-powered wired VR headset with two OLED 2560×2560 displays, a 127g visor, and SteamVR Tracking, shipping in Q3 2023
Darshan Shankar, the founder of VR's leading Internet-powered platform for watching movies together …
The launch arrives alongside HTC's $1,099 Snapdragon-powered Vive XR Elite, but Bigscreen is emphasizing a different set of trade-offs: a wired PC connection, high-resolution OLED panels, SteamVR tracking, and a 127g visor.
First-order effects
Bigscreen becomes a hardware vendor, giving PC VR users a $999 SteamVR-compatible headset option centered on a notably lightweight visor and dual OLED displays.
Bigscreen's existing social-desktop audience gains a direct hardware product aligned with the PC setup its app was built around.
Second-order effects
HTC and other headset vendors face a clearer comparison between self-contained XR designs and PC-tethered systems that prioritize display density, tracking compatibility, and low visor weight.
SteamVR's role as the tracking and PC-content layer gives Bigscreen a route to market without building a separate software ecosystem, while tying its buyers to a capable PC.
Third-order effects
If lightweight, PC-first designs find demand, VR hardware competition may segment more sharply between specialized tethered headsets and standalone or hybrid devices; Valve's later Steam Frame design spanning PC streaming and local apps illustrates the hybrid direction.
Bigscreen's move from a VR social app into hardware points to a broader effort by VR software companies to control more of the experience their applications depend on.
The trend: VR hardware is differentiating by compute model and physical comfort, with PC-tethered, standalone, and hybrid headsets pursuing distinct user trade-offs.
2.6K x 2.6K MicroOLED + Pancake optics is current state-of-the art for #VR. I suspect $AAPL specs to be similar for their forthcoming #AR #Mixedreality headset. $KOPN + Lakeside + Lightning Silicon currently producing a DuoStack 2.6K panel for Panasonic's device. $EMAN $SONY http…
This. Exactly this. We wanted to focus deeply on comfort. Human faces/eyes far more diverse than our hands. A one-size-fits-all smartphone is fine, but not great for VR. IPD adjustment might become a relic of 2016-2026 era VR if people love personalized VR glasses. https://twitte…
We intentionally optimized for comfort over shareability. Gen1 of VR (2016-now) needed shareability to demo VR to friends and grow the market. As the VR gets larger, the need for sharing diminishes. People don't share your glasses (or clothes). You get prescription glasses
@DShankar Very excited to try it out, especially after the migraine inducing weight and comfort of the Quest Pro making hours of use very difficult to pitch. Custom fit is the icing on the cake 🎂
A lot of people are wondering why @BigscreenVR is making their own headset - the short answer is @Apple. Apple's XR device has TV watching & monitors as their #1 use case & Meta will have their own solution too. The only way for them to survive is custom hardware they control. ht…
A labor of love. A passion project. Built by VR enthusiasts, for VR enthusiasts. We wanted to try new ideas & innovate in weight, comfort & resolution So proud of our work here by the @BigscreenVR team, led by our head of hardware @PhilipKrejov https://www.youtube.com/...
@isaiahheitzman That is super interesting for me! For years I have been saying that we don't make clothes one-size-fits-all, and we probably shouldn't for VR headsets. Personalization is a cost, but is the comfort benefit worth it? Exciting to test!
This is super ambitious, but I think highly of the work BigScreen has done, and leveraging StreamVR de-risks it a lot. Won't be mass-market, but may prove important points. https://vimeo.com/...