Somnium VR1: In Depth Interview

[@bibithebunny2628]

extreamly refreshing to see a company just let influencers test stuff

[@SINfromPL]

Refreshing? It's been done numerous times

[@Chad_Aucoin]

this is constanly done in today's world

[@judgsmith]

@@SINfromPLwhy so grumpy? I hope you have a better day.

[@SINfromPL]

@@judgsmith why are you so offended?

[@judgsmith]

@@SINfromPL I am not but I think there is no reason to be a downer just because something is less unique. I don’t really care but I am tired of people being downers all the time but I get what you’re saying. Hype trains can be just as annoying.

[@michaldobrzyn]

This feels like VR returning to its roots with open development and open communication. More of this in future please.

[@michaelcarson8375]

I'd rather that the company take another year or year and half fix all the comfort issues. The base price is a big problem, the days of the DK2 are gone. The comfort is important because if the HMD becomes tiring an hour in I know I will not use it no matter the price.

[@artursychov]

We can fix all those issues within several months. Regarding comfort - we are improving it, and already for many it is comfortable at its current state.

[@SINfromPL]

@@artursychov What mixed reality SDK somnium uses? Or it's nothing more than compositer 'greenscreening' stuff over VR world? You always avoid the real questions lol.

[@artursychov]

​@@SINfromPLit makes me so happy to have such a real hater as yourself. You are here for every video, every comment. You spend hours daily replying and hating. Proves to me that we are on the right track 😂

[@SINfromPL]

@@artursychov Yes, yes, Kevin from Pimax also had attitude like you. Stop projecting about hours spent - I respond to this bs during my quick toilet break. I'll be back in few months time too, will be fun to hear that you need a little bit more time, and that everything is going great BUT (maybe insert chip shortage). Oh and it makes me SO HAPPY knowing that you took 15 minutes of your precious time to respond to my comment while not answering any of it. I must be living rent free in your head if you spend days contemplating on my comments!

[@Flapdr01]

@@artursychovIf you work on this headset you should probably not post stuff like this, it's a bad look.

[@VR_Aviator]

In DCS World, you need to salute to trigger a carrier launch. Programming the salute to one of the headset buttons would be cool.

[@artursychov]

Oh wow, never thought about that.

[@SINfromPL]

replacing hand action with a button press? how futuristic!

[@svartization8437]

Better if it's possible to just use hand tracking guesture for it. The buttons are better for nvg googles, recenter view, desktop view, passthrough etc. I do wish there were more than 4. I have PointCtrl which puts 2x3 buttons on the headsett. Loved that part more than the PointCtrl device itself :p

[@VR_Aviator]

@@SINfromPL Better than finding the salute command in the comms menu.

[@SINfromPL]

@@VR_Aviator it's not better, it's lame

[@alanharrington]

It wasn't until he mentioned the use case at universities etc that this headset even made sense to me. Kudos to them for identifying a hole in the market that they can fill very effectively. It's not for me or the general community, but a very commendable product nevertheless.

[@tomdchi12]

I very much appreciate Artur being very candid and forthright about the various aspects of the product and development.

[@artursychov]

Thank you

[@wobblesyourmom]

Good thumbnail dude

[@SadlyItsBradley]

I try

[@Tyrielwood]

06:20 oops XD

[@PaulSpades]

If you think the price is too high, you are delusional. That's what the hardware costs. They don't have the investor money to subsidise your hardware and the development, and you shouldn't want them to. Prusa did it the same way, and their products and software are a bedrock of the 3d printing community. Anyway, this was a surprisingly laid back conversation with zero marketing bullshit. Well done, Brad! And good luck to Somnium.

[@SINfromPL]

This headset is subsidized. It's impossible to make headset cheaper than 37000 USD! This is what the hardware cost! What a delusional guy you are!

[@justinhogue9861]

Yea, i read about the difficulties in creating these devices. Cost and availability of components is tricky.

[@johnlukins3809]

This headset is going to fail. Twice the price of the BigScreen Beyond.

[@smallbutdeadly931]

Yeah, its pretty hard to justify when the Beyond comes to around the same price when you get index controllers and base stations, while this headset doesn't have controllers included in that cost.

[@SergTTL]

I immensely respect the decision to keep the main production in Europe. Usually I'm willing to pay 30-50% more for a product that was produced in a civilized country instead of under some anti-human fascist regime.

[@AidanofVT]

Thanks for including question timestamps.

[@mostwanted2000]

I totally understand the pricing, as they need to pay salaries, buy expensive machines and I cannot imagine how can they recover the milions invested otherwise. But considering that other 600€ must be spend on the lighthouse controllers and trackers and you'll have to play with a cable.. well, people must be really passionate to go back from Quest 3 wireless to wire again.... So.. a WiGig module is a must, imo

[@wfthkttn]

This sounds as a nightmare level of difficulty on assembly line

[@VensJem]

6:24 - Hey Tyriel Here

[@SargonDragon]

It seems to me that Somnium is trying to make a similar product to Pimax but fixing the stuff Pimax gets wrong both in terms of jankiness in their product decisions and jankiness in their business practices and support. There are multiple references within this interview that refer to Pimax without necessarily calling them out by name. I've been running Pimax for years. But I would much rather work with another company. My feeling has always been that Pimax is the only company at least targeting the right direction to advance VR for the last 5 years, but the company is frustratingly janky. Stuff like Pimax's weird obsession with powering their headsets off of standard USB power only (not even PD!) which has caused no end of unnecessary problems like running down the battery in the Crystal even when plugged in. These aren't new issues. They had problems with USB powering the 8KX, too. But apparently Pimax didn't learn that this is an unnecessarily problematic approach versus just using wall power. That's just one example of the weird quirks of Pimax. And then there's the quality control issues and awful customer support. I've noticed in the videos with Somnium that Artur brings up these various points specifically here and there as things Somnium wanted to get right. A lot of it is only stuff you would notice if you've been in the Pimax ecosystem for a while and so have suffered those particular pains he refers to. If I can buy a VR headset that does what Pimax does but without Pimax's BS, I am very interested. Price be damned if I can get a product that actually works as advertised out of the box without a hitch.

[@FieryMeltman]

"The right direction to advance VR"? The Crystal is massive and bulky, with too many features crammed into one place. I disagree that's it's the right direction. If they could move those heavy components into an external device, that would be good. But having it all hang on your face hardly seems like the future.

[@SargonDragon]

​@@FieryMeltman It's the right direction in terms of advancing the visual and audio immersion of VR. It's expensive, large, and heavy. But that's where you start. That's what it takes to push the limits of capability, and then you make it cheaper and shrink it. VR headsets have been stuck not truly advancing for years because of trying to make them cheap and small too early before the technology is ready.

[@FieryMeltman]

@@SargonDragon But it can be argued that making them small and convenient first, rather than more visually impressive, will lead to wider adoption more so than visual clarity would. I think the Quest series illustrates that most people really don't need cutting edge graphics. Plus, no matter which method is chosen, graphics are going to be incentivized to advance regardless. I'm sure the Bigscreen team are working to improve the framerate of their next model, among other things.

[@mikeb3172]

The headset wouldn't sell to consumers for $500... and it needs to be better than high-end VR sim headsets to sell at all...

[@supremebaconoverlord]

That ended kind of awkwardly

[@de-ment]

the open sourrce aspect is cool, good enterprise potential purely due to that, however all the other stuff and the insane emphasis on crypto is usually a sign of instability, I'd rather follow Lynx if I'm searching for open source headsets

[@clubvr3]

spend no more than 1k, upgrade every 3 years

[@zeekjones1]

5:30 Dammit Brad! I had to get up and excuse myself from the desk for a bit...

[@EnzoBergstrom]

That eye tracking algorithm does just not seem great. Binary blink is not great. Too expensive for eye tracking that might not ever be great. Open Source only works if anyone is willing and knowledgeable enough to do anything with it. There's a reason Tobii have little competition not even Sony or vive uses their own solution they use Tobii.

[@paulct91]

Was there a price given for the eye tracking module?

[@SINfromPL]

7:50 "we are planning mass production in two and half months" It's been over two and half months, where is somnium now?

[@SINfromPL]

7:50 "we are planning mass production in two and half months" 5 months later, there is great progress, exclusively for the buttlicking youtuber vr flight sim guy; still nothing is shipping

[@bou222]

It will be interesting so see what they have to say directly to brad. thanks for the upload.

[@King_Ddraig]

I can pretty much guarantee that the base price is going to scare off most of the people who were hopeful about this headset, that price is just... insane for a base model

[@SargonDragon]

This is the kind of price we should be seeing for products in an early adopter stage. Meta has done real damage to the VR industry by immediately turning it into a race to the bottom with unrealistic prices they were not even able to maintain themselves. It didn't work. They sold millions of headsets, but nearly all of them sit on shelves collecting dust. Why? Because you need to make a desirable product first, and THEN make it cheap. Not the other way around. I think the best thing Apple is doing for the industry right now is showing the right way to approach this. And we're seeing multiple other companies abandon Meta's approach that was never working and instead following Apple's lead. That's causing prices to rise sharply, but for we're finally getting truly significant gains in capability and desirability of VR gear which had been stalled for the last 4-5 years.

[@SINfromPL]

​@@SargonDragonlmao, it's the valve that ruined vr, scaring everyone off with their 30% cut for a niche industry while providing nothing in return

[@gung-hochang9573]

@@SINfromPL Valve is responsible for so much contribution to VR technology and VR eco-system. VR would be very bland without it. Basing your critique off of the 30 % cut thing is pretty unfair and inaccurate.

[@SINfromPL]

@@gung-hochang9573 you are unfair and inaccurate.

[@gung-hochang9573]

@@SINfromPL A figurative drawing of a boomerang. The sight of wolf's clothing or sharp fang for mr. Chang? Ask to pull from the well the rope you cut. Does hurt resides and from which butt? Are we to greet the sun or shout by ourselves in each our distant hut?

[@Volker_A4]

While I'm personally more excited by larger design leaps, like the bigscreen beyond. I can see the appeal of a no compromises Index upgrade.

[@SINfromPL]

Propetiary usb-c cable that noone in the world is actually producing; no built in audio; not selling base stations or controllers... and you call it an no-compromise index upgrade?

[@3lbios]

​@@SINfromPLweird take, you'd want them to spend time to make crap controllers like Pimax did? Or sell LH with a huge margin like Varjo? They said they'll make an audio solution too.

[@SINfromPL]

@@3lbios why do they need to spend time to make crap controllers? does it takes IQ over 1000 to develop proper controllers with industry standard of Quest controller? Index controllers are a gimmick, and only one company is selling them. They "developed" their own eye tracking cause they did not want to be dependant on other companies for its support, yet cant do the same for such a basic and straight forward thing as controller? Are you high? Why make CLIP-ON audio solution, when there is 10000 companies making 3.5 mm audio solutions? You come off as extremely brainwashed.

[@3lbios]

@@SINfromPL You haven't looked much at other VR companies and their products have you

[@dan3a]

@@SINfromPL didnt u use to make videos? i remember them :D why did u private them? i really liked ur content

[@SaccoBelmonte]

AHahah. Love this interview's intro and outro.

[@dharkbizkit]

58 as the lowest is disappointing for my wife, who has 55 and the only one that does is the beyond, which isnt shareable, so we would need to buy 2 of them, which is a deal breaker. iam sure, the decision to have a higher ranger rather then a lower comes down to more men buying this kind of hardware and men having higher ips ranges, wo which my wife would say: then keep it, iam waiting for a different device

[@q__________]

respect

[@lurchilurch5507]

Audio is really out of sync for anyone else..?

[@channel11121]

Yep me too. Pls fix @SadlyItsBradley

[@justcommenting4981]

​@@channel11121 why? Audiophiles are the worst kind of phile.

[@SwirlyTwirl]

@@justcommenting4981 why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?

[@smallbutdeadly931]

@justcommenting4981 well, I can think of at least one that is worse than that...

[@BlockDecentral]

great video, huge fan of somnium space and arthur, thank you for sharing

[@JohnnyADi]

Yes I understand who this headset is geared towards but it's definitely not me. This is unfortunately to me like the meganex from shiftall, great headset for what it is, but $2000 with taxes. Meganex was at least small and light, this thing is a direct upgrade from an index which is big and heavy, yeah no thank you. I'll be waiting till the Valve Deckard or varjo aero 2. We need to stop taking steps backwards and move towards lighter smaller headsets for the consumer market, while these should be reserved for the business market and pro-enthusiasts. If it was significantly smaller and lighter like the meganex, was wireless and self tracked I'd buy it. The only contender with these specs is the vive xr elite which I tried and it sucked. If big screen released a wireless self tracked eye and mouth tracked headset for $2000 and I'd buy it in seconds. Or if meta since they already made the quest pro, make it significantly smaller and lighter without oled displays and keep qled lcd because burn in will eventually happen especially since the way I use my headset, it will display static images for 4-5 hours at a time per day, for again 2k, I'd buy it in a second.

[@lowrider2756]

Waiting for the Valve Deckard and the Aero 2 is the cheapest option, it will cost you exactly zero dollar. I think there is an audience for the VR1. It is for me neither, but it is ok to have different options.

[@kevinbrook7033]

Did Meganex ever release? I've not anything about in over a year or so.

[@JohnnyADi]

​@@kevinbrook7033pretty sure it still hasn't. The optics company fucked them over on how expensive their lenses were. That's why it's way more than it was supposed to be. Otherwise I would of bought it at the time, now though that it's wired and had mid par self tracking id rather wait.

[@lowrider2756]

@@kevinbrook7033 It seems that MeganeX released in japan only.

[@digitalgh0stt]

5:33 I can't believe you managed to say that, it was incredibly funny 😂 Props to the CEO for seeming like a cool person and agreeing to such a casual interview, i love it.

[@mattcy6591]

Brad continuing to say Virgineers in an interview with VRgineers is hilarious.

[@Plannerchannel-p3i]

Two red flags. Crypto involvement and starting price. Also I'm not sure who this product is for. The index is $999 with two base stations. I don't care about resolution, I want motion smoothness and clarity and weight for the 1000000000000000000000 time resolution doesnt matter. Best of luck.

[@paulct91]

What is motion smoothness?

[@SargonDragon]

This product is for the high end consumer market which has been chomping at the bit for something to upgrade to from the Valve Index. But there's been an absolute lack of new VR headsets to upgrade to which are in every way an upgrade and not two steps forward and two steps back versus the 4 year old Index. Bigscreen Beyond: Smaller unit. Higher clarity. Better contrast. BUT smaller FOV. And frame rate drops from 144Hz all the way to 75Hz (!). From best audio output to no audio output. Varjo Aero: Higher clarity. BUT smaller FOV. And from best audio to no audio at all (not even a built-in mic!). Pimax Crystal: Equal or better to the Index in every category IF it actually worked reliably. Severe audio latency bug, USB power problems, battery discharging while plugged in, etc. Terrible customer service when you do have problems. Some level of jury rigging, bypassing, working around, and/or crafting will commonly be needed. Quest 3: Awesome lenses, somewhat higher clarity, lighter, wireless BUT significant latency for PCVR, some video artifacting, lack of FBT support, inferior tracking quality, somewhat inferior audio. Crystal could do it if Pimax ever got their act together (and they have slowly gotten better in several ways over time, so maybe someday). Somnium VR1 could do it once they release their audio solution if its good. I'm with you on the concerns about the crypto connection though.

[@Plannerchannel-p3i]

@paulct91 it's hard to maintain visual clarity at lower framerates caused by higher resolution. When I start pushing my resolution on index, you get this wavy almost water like distortion. I almost never get 144hz on the index with a 3080 and the 72 fps the ingame will adjust to for lower frametimes is fine at 100-150% resolution but once it goes to 49fps you will start noticing the distortions caused by trying to crank a higher resolution. The problem is not the headsets. It's the systems required to maximize their performance and the general vr game optimization standards. I have about 6000 hours on the index and probably about 500 hours on quest 2 specifically adroid optimization testing. There are more important QoL things headsets need than a higher resolution. For example, the quest 2 has a great resolution but it being a single panel, low fov and terrible linked battery life and 6gb of onboard ram makes it 2gb short of something devs could really sink their teeth into. I found myself reducing the resolution on even quest 2 inorder to compensate the wireless bit rate compression. Now we have wifi 6e but I still opt for my index because no compression or added latency.

[@Plannerchannel-p3i]

@paulct91 the software and hardware integration from turning the knuckles on to full body base station tracking with the least about of jank is unbeatable with index full-body. I want basically index with pancake oled screens with fovac rendering/eye tracking. I don't even want a wireless experience. The problem I have with bigscreen is it's functionally only a viewing device. I can't stand the meta software stack I ended up stripping my quest 2 of all of it.

[@bisarproductions]

Thanks for the interview! Rooting for Somnium, its a good idea but Im worried the price will hold back its potential (and will basically mainly target businesses and a very small niche of prosumers), but I understand its not cheap to produce ;)

[@kosnag]

TitVR, now you Interesting 🤔

[@HeadsetHistorian]

I love Somnium's approach to youtubers and the lack of NDA etc. speaks a lot to their confidence, awesome stuff.

[@paulct91]

Not really... though I'm confused why he choose to show it in December 2023 vs at CES 2024 or closer to February when it might launch and be in a more complete state...

[@SINfromPL]

@@paulct91 exactly. they have shown the best they could; if fixes were just around the corner, they would naturally delay the meetup and the reasons would be understandable - christmas, new year. instead they show barebones headset with nothing quite right and say they can fix it in 2 months

[@kevinbrook7033]

Great interview Brad, you're getting much more natural and comfortable doing these now and I like the good natured banter between you two. My first time seeing Artur from Somnium, I admire his transparency and I hope they succeed in both fixing the early criticisms and delivering a solid headset, and finding a place in the market. Seeing how industry giants like Microsoft, and other major companies like HP and HTC have failed to really deliver viable headsets/eco systems over many years it's sobering to realise what a difficult industry this is to create a successful product in so I'll be pulling for Artur and Somnium to deliver.

[@artursychov]

Thank you very much

[@SINfromPL]

@@artursychov Congraatulations on 2 players metaverse!

[@KPS3ngineer]

awesome content, keep it up! def interested to see where somnium goes from here.

[@nimushbimush2103]

Yoooo

[@HelloThere-rt6dh]

I am among the corporate interest use but the size of the VR is a major step back that limits this as a viable solution.

[@VanGohman]

So heart warming. :)

[@OdyBeRidin]

Did I miss it? What did Arter say about the blurry lines?

[@SINfromPL]

He weaseled his way out by saying it's a prototype, they will polish everything in the next months, and under previous video he even said "issues" in quotation marks like it's not a real thing.

[@artursychov]

Will be fixed within 2 months. Problems of early hand-made units without factory grade calibration

[@SINfromPL]

@@artursychov What makes you think you can fix it with factory grade calibration? Maybe that's not the root of your problems? That's a ridicolous claim. "just add more salt!" If you ever tried a unit WITH "factory grade calibration", surely that's what you would be showing. Maybe leave factory grade calibration to the open source community? It's an open and modular headset, let the prosumers adjust it how they want it.

[@OdyBeRidin]

@@artursychov Thank you sir,

[@ivaniuk123]

It's good that they got honest feedback so they can improve their product.

[@C8zzzD]

I'm getting more excited about this

[@tnlwithtrixiekat478]

Is there any water in the glass?

[@proceduralgames]

I'd welcome an ipd adjustment lock in that mechanism. I'm always moving the wheel somehow on my headsets.

[@Entheo_Wolf]

What a hoot

[@paulct91]

There was an owl? Cool, where‽

[@Orangejunece]

Ty Wood in the back! Let him in :(

[@lassmirandadennsiewillja3943]

i would love to see the software

[@NotSureBrawndo]

The same people who would buy a Rivian R1T are the ones who will buy this headset.

[@kiotee_nouw]

Cool, I sure hope you make this VR headset reasonable.

[@Gr8Success]

for this form factor ( toaster strapped on your head ) i would never pay more than 550 Euros unfortunately ... the 1900 Euros is kinda ridiculous ...this things bring absolutely nothing next to the Quest3 ...

[@Deighvihd]

He knew what he was doing posing for the thumbnail like that xD

[@ddogg9255]

Nice to know that some companies out there are still sympathetic to their audience. They are the exception nowadays and might not be as competitive on pricing but it's worth the premium to have something with such an agreeable philosophy behind it. Waiting for production reviews, though.

[@foldionepapyrus3441]

Yeah I was seriously leaning towards upgrading from my OG vive recently then found out this nearly exists, which has put a hold on that - I like the promises of more open, and the design seems really good to me. Definitely looks to be more expensive than the path I expected to take, but if it is as good as it sounds on paper once its in production its worth it, and I'd rather buy an EU product than Chinese with the way the world is looking right now. Especially if it actually lasts... But until there are some reviews of a more production unit all bets are off.

[@FieryMeltman]

If company optics is what you're drawn towards, Bigscreen Beyond is probably a better option. Especially since it's not tied to a crypto company, unlike Somnium.

[@NotSureBrawndo]

I enjoy your content as well as Cru Cast, the haters and trolls in the comments are just sad beings.

[@joseferrer8334]

For me the most important feature of a VR headset is comfort. When we are in VR for hours we need comfort. Brad says it is front heavy and better straps could help (no solve),t why they couldn´t do an smaller form factor with pancake lenses. Something like a Quest3 without battery will be very light and comfortable. Aero and Crystal have exactly same problem. Why VRgineers tend to do bulky headsets? BigScreen proved something smaller can be done. What is preventing Vrgineers to do something more compact?

[@SargonDragon]

The Bigscreen Beyond has some significant limitations for that small size. FOV is poor, and it can only do 75Hz at native res. I think we're going to be seeing this kind of split for a while. Headsets that are large but more capable versus headsets which are trying to be as small as possible but sacrifice for that size. For some portion of customers, like yourself, comfort and weight are the most important features. Others aren't much bothered by that and are instead more interested in having the best VR performance. I'd be interested in the Beyond, but that 75Hz limitation makes it a no go as far as I'm concerned.

[@smallbutdeadly931]

I have a Bigscreen Beyond, and lemme just say that the 75hz mode sucks. However, the 90 hz mode's clarity has barely any difference to me at all, and I use it exclusively in that mode. Its still got way better clarity and deeper colors than my HP Reverb G2 ever had.

[@joseferrer8334]

@@SargonDragon I have been always using the lower band of frequencies in all headsets (80Hz for Index, 75Hz for VivePro2, 72Hz for Pico4,QuestPro and Quest3) because it requires less CPU load which is crucial for CPU bond games (flight simulation). And in the streaming headsets the lower freq produces the best image for same bitrate. Personally I have never noticed diferences between 72, 75, 80 or 90 frequencies (flight simulation). If BSB has a problem with the 75Hz mode this is another matter. But what I am talking here is: What is preventing VRgineers to produce a compact device (not to the extreme of BSB) like the Quest3 or Pico4? Why they didn´t choose pancake lenses? The same question could be asked to Varjo or Pimax.

[@smallbutdeadly931]

@@joseferrer8334 Its probably that you just don't notice it. I am pretty sensitive to changes in framerate because I play a lotta games where you can see where your arms are, although I can say it still makes a pretty big difference in racing sims. What actually bothers me is how stuttery everything looks at 75hz in any headset, and it really breaks the immersion when moving your arms around to do anything in most VR games. Hell, even looking around looks stuttery compared to 90hz, and can really induce nausea in some people. CPU load isn't an issue for my PC, the 5900X can handle VR pretty well. Again though, the 90hz mode solves all those issues and really should be the mode you use if you want more out of a VR headset than just to sleep in it. The clarity at 90hz is still a huge upgrade over something like the HP Reverb G2, and the MicroOLED panels make all the colors really pop, and makes dark scenes actually feel dark. The form factor of it makes a massive difference in terms of comfort, and there are already a bunch of mods people have made to personalize it even further.

[@xintian8880]

Hi

[@TokyoDynamite]

Anyone know where Brad gets his sweet shirts?

[@cristalumati]

at this price it is impossible for this to be a success, maybe b2b would be a better route until a possible next version at 1000 euros with slim design, eye tracking for fov rendering and MR lets say 3-4 years from now

[@SargonDragon]

The Varjo Aero was able to sell at this price point.

[@SINfromPL]

@@SargonDragon Varjo doesn't have exclusively a history of failed products, like Somnium does. 2 years ago VR1 was a standalone headset.

[@ArchaiosDragon]

I'm excited. I can admit though, I got a bit worried about the price when he started talking about the headset being used by universities and the military... That level of equipment tends to be above "premium" in price and lean more toward an extortionary price. I hope I'm wrong on that.

[@peanutpomsky520]

Woof

[@clubvr3]

just bought a quest 3 less than 500 for pcvr is brill, if he’d said 850 i’d be interested

[@snerttt]

Ted bennecky 😮😮😮😮

[@jamesyoungerdds7901]

Brad, just another great video, thank you! Love the content and integrity 💪. And I couldn't help but laugh to myself when you were asking about what customers could expect at the time of shipping vs. what they say **cough** **cough** Pimax **cough**. So I'm glad you dug into that a bit, because it would be tempting to mentally equivocate Somnium's hardware and delivery expectations to "other companies", but it does seem like they have their sh!t together. I mean, everyone legit expects Varjo to ship and deliver as expected, and likely Apple as well, but you hit that mid-tier enthusiast level with a dose of optimism and copium, and we are all a bit skeptical about what (and if) is going to arrive once the purchase is made. So thanks for that!

[@SINfromPL]

Isn't accepting free tickets and hotel stay the opposite of integrity?

[@gwenen9124]

Get a life You are answering everyone, why are you so mad? @@SINfromPL

[@pylotlight]

@@SINfromPL he's not made of money, what do you expect him to do. It's either that or the coverage doesnt happen at all, which would you prefer?

[@SINfromPL]

@@pylotlight accept the invite, sponsor it yourself. Once you take the free route, there will be always bias. There is nothing hard to understand here. Are you also so in favor when Meta invites influencers, or are you the type of person to scream "Meta paid them to say good stuff"?

[@pylotlight]

@@SINfromPL brad doesnt have that kind of money. this is what im saying, would you prefer nothing? also we're not talking about those cases, focus on the here and now. brad did not hold back and the world is not as black and white unfortunately.

[@vert2552]

It seems we cant get anything from valve and right now it looks like this might be mily next upgrade! Ill surely watch for this one

[@LORDMEMESTER420]

9:32 so this is why the HTC XR Elite hasn’t been reviewed here. Such a shame, the hardware is like 95% awesome software less so but getting there SLOWLY. I heard through the VR grapevine this was a big reason why a lot of creators didn’t talk about it but this is the first direct clue I’ve had from one of them.

[@SINfromPL]

That was surely about pimax. Pimax never has any issues, it's always users fault

[@Killswitch1411]

Woods in the other room pacing back and forth like he's inside a insane asylum.

[@proffmongo]

Tyriel!!

[@Emdschie]

After spending already thousands of dollars for a decent computer (4099) and a replica cockpit (f/a-18) i‘m really looking forward to change my reverb G2 for a mixed reality capable headset in 2024. Pass through of Quest 3 is often mentioned to be very bad in poor lighting conditions - at the moment Somnium or XR-4 are the two options to choose from, both seem to have to have pros and cons beside they‘ll be equally expensive I guess: pretty sure the fully loaded VR1 with MR, eye and hand tracking will be around 3k, but lack of controllers, base stations and audio. Taxes are excluded as well so there‘s a lot of extra to pay… what i like about it are the 4 programmable buttons, and so far I really like the approach and the ethics of Artur and the Somnium team. I‘d say the totally needed and highly appreciated comparison for the high end segment would be Somnium VR1 vs. Varjo XR-4. for both headsets I’m on preorder lists and till now I have no clue which to push the trigger for. Hope you’re amazing future content will help with my decision. happy new year!

[@madigorfkgoogle9349]

if you are able to spend that amount of money, dont even look at this overpriced Somnium VR1. Varjo XR-4 is overpriced as well, but for similar price you get much much more.

[@Emdschie]

@@madigorfkgoogle9349 i haven‘t seen many reviews or in depth specs comparisons till now - I thought lenses and FOV will be more or less the same, I like the inside tracking and in build audio and mic - can you tell me more about the advantages? Thanks for your reply, happy new year!

[@madigorfkgoogle9349]

@@Emdschie well I havent tested these headsets obviously, Im just comparing known specs. For example XR4 has much higher resolution, and therefore higher PPD then VR1. We talking 51PPD vs 35PPD. The XR4 has inside out tracking, so no need for base stations, XR4 comes with controllers included, VR1 doesnt (I know for flight sims you dont need them), XR4 has proven and working eye tracking, VR1 we dont know if it will ever work or would be enough for foveated rendering. The XR4 has comfortable head strap with good wight balance they call "zero gravity" and has built in audio solution, the VR1 comes with NO head strap and you have to get one by yourself. XR4 has 20Mpixels pass trough cameras, VR1 12Mpix. XR4 has excellent hand tracking, VR1... we dont know how good it will be. XR4 has automatic IPD adjustment, VR1 dont. Similarly equipped the price is about the same. XR4 is a clear winner here. And Im not really a fan of Varjo due to their scam with Aero and the marketing they did to sell it. I think for simmers the Crystal is much better choice then the Somnuim VR1, despite the smaller FOV (which may change with wide lenses). And maybe the PiMAX 12k if priced right, will be the best offer. But if price is non issue for you, then I believe the Varjo XR4 is the best what you can get right now.

[@Emdschie]

@@madigorfkgoogle9349 Thank you for sharing your thoughts, highly appreciated.

[@nyaatell]

​@@madigorfkgoogle9349 The unappealing thing about XR4 and other Varjo headsets is the yearly subscription ( base at 750 eur)

[@lesserlogic9977]

I appreciate him not walking around the questions

[@joaquinvelasquez6252]

This is the right direction for a niche product like this. Devs crowd surfing with their customer. Opportunities for trust and participation. Hopefully the market is large enough (and pay the ticket price) to catch them.

[@SINfromPL]

Brad nodding to everything Arthur says.. yet won't even question why it's extremely dead? Their metaverse? It has 2 players peak monthly. Why are you ignoring the only thing this company has created so far Brad?

[@3lbios]

I know at least one less successful metaverse XD

[@SINfromPL]

@@3lbios which one? there is no more dead metaverse than somnium space.

[@3lbios]

@@SINfromPL oh there are so many, there was a whole chart of them circulating on the net. Tried RiffXR? It's like 3 people on a Friday and otherwise completely empty

[@SadlyItsBradley]

@SINfromPL I love you ViRGiN 💕

[@SINfromPL]

@@SadlyItsBradley how come you were never able to predict steamvr 2.0, steam deck oled and steam link app for quest? pretty pathethic for The Chief Deckard Shill.

[@attackxxx]

If you want to compete against facebook and their shady anticompetitive practices, u have to have the resources of at least valve. Anyone else. I appreciate the effort, but how can they realistically compete? By the time they make something, quest 4 will be out. That's why I only have hope in the index 2 whenever it launches to finally put Zucc in place.