Author 丨 Wind Moon
Victor Hugo once said that today's utopian imagination is tomorrow's reality, and the Metaverse is exactly what human beings envision the next form of the Internet.
In 2021, the meta-universe detonated the entire Internet technology circle and became an annual hot word. Curiously, there is still no uniform definition of the term.
Although many industry giants have given different insights, because the metacosm arose in literature and film and television works, as Shakespeare said, there are a thousand metacosms in the eyes of a thousand people.
Of course, the metaverse still has some of the same basic elements, such as avatars, economic systems, immersive experiences, and so on.
When it comes to immersive experiences, we have to mention VR (virtual reality). Although the current level of technology can only shape the visual, auditory and tactile sense of presence in the virtual world, and has not yet formed a mature and perfect software ecology, standing on the outlet of the meta-universe, the VR industry has once again become a "fragrant food" in the eyes of big manufacturers.
In August this year, ByteDance acquired Pico, a domestic head VR equipment manufacturer, for nearly 9 billion yuan, which not only successfully won the entrance ticket of the meta-universe, but also made us have more expectations for domestic VR equipment.
Meta's Oculus has launched the affordable Quest 2 and achieved excellent results in global sales of more than 10 million. So how does Pico, which is favored by ByteDance, perform, and does it also make domestic VR take off the long-standing "IQ tax" label?
Without further ado, Whiplash brings you a first-hand review of Pico's flagship VR device, the Neo 3, today.
The hardware configuration is sexy
The Pico Neo 3 is a VR all-in-one machine, the main components are a VR helmet and two handles. Some small partners may not know the concept of all-in-one machine, in simple terms, VR all-in-one machine is a VR headset (head-mounted display device) with an independent processor, which means that there is no need to connect mobile phones or computers to use.
Leaving aside the eye-catching logo, friends familiar with the previous generation of products should recognize Neo 3 as a new member of the Pico family at a glance. The white and black color-blocked "front face", the heat dissipation opening on the top of the "brain gate", and the large back of the head pad, are all inherited from the Neo 2 unchanged, but the button layout has been slightly adjusted.
Pico Neo 3 front view (left) and top view (right)
The design of the rear brain pad is actually for a more comfortable wearing experience, and the quest 2's conventional scheme is different, Neo 3 will transfer the battery compartment to the back of the head pad part, so that the overall weight distribution is relatively even, so that the user will not subconsciously want to be a "bow party".
The change of spatial information collection components is worth mentioning, Neo 3 bid farewell to the previous generation of "a pair of big eyes" dual camera system, the use of four cameras distributed in the four corners of the helmet, not only strengthen the positioning and tracking level, but also look more hidden, pull up the overall appearance of the device.
Unlike the helmet part, Neo 3 has a drastic reform on the handle, the new induction ring improves the positioning accuracy of the device, the button arrangement and overall shape are more ergonomic, and it has become dry battery power, which helps users alleviate too many troubles of the charging line while achieving theoretical "unlimited endurance".
Pico Neo 3 Credit
From the camera system to the controller, it can be seen that neo 3 obviously refers to the design of Quest 2, which is not surprising, after all, Quest 2 is a phenomenon-level VR device, from design to technology, it is worth learning from friends.
Neo 3's parameter configuration has been in line with quest 2, the chip is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2, monocular resolution 1830x1920, using a 4K level HD LCD LCD screen, screen refresh rate of 90Hz, field of view of about 90 °, can achieve 6Dof tracking, basically reached the head level.
Pico Neo 3 mask
In addition, the helmet of the Neo 3 weighs about 309g (without batteries), supports the use of glasses, and has three interpupillary distance adjustments, the mask is gentle and breathable to the touch, the elasticity and support performance are good, plus the battery rear design mentioned earlier, the wearing experience deserves a good review.
In terms of battery life, the battery capacity of Neo 3 reached 5300mAh, an increase of 800mAh over the previous generation, compared with quest 2's 3640mAh is far ahead, can be used for 2.5-3 hours continuously, allowing users to say goodbye to the embarrassing situation of no power after a game is played.
Judging from the pre-boot evaluation results, Pico Neo 3 handed over the answer sheet that was not far from The Quest 2, and the hardware performance was quite sexy.
The application ecology is both inside and outside
After observing the real world, it is time to officially enter the virtual world.
Neo 3 is more troublesome to use for the first time, in addition to the daily must-have posture mode and security boundary settings, there are a series of activation steps, of course, there are novice guidance, this point on the domestic equipment has an inherent advantage, unlike the lack of the National Bank version of quest 2 also need to be activated through the "scientific Internet" or spend money to help activate in a treasure.
Whips purchased the Pico Neo 3 Pioneer Edition, so they were given some P coins (virtual currency of the Pico ecosystem), free games and eligibility to participate in the event, but they were given activation codes, which had to be exchanged by entering characters one by one on the soft keyboard through the gamepad.
Input interface
This type of input is time-consuming, not to mention extremely unfriendly to users with poor memory, because wearing a helmet can not go to the mobile phone to check the information. The same problem is also reflected in other input scenarios, including connecting to WIFI, registering an account, verifying identity, etc.
Perhaps only by waiting until Pico launches exclusive input components outside the handle, or realizes the ecological unification of VR applications and mobile phone applications, can this anti-human hard wound be completely solved.
Let's talk about the application ecology, first of all, Neo 3 is equipped with Pico's own VR OS (operating system) PUI, this set of OS has undergone a new upgrade, the interface is clear, the switching is simple, the various sections are organized, and the mobile phone software can operate freely. The fly in the ointment is that when switching larger applications, the problem of stuttering will still occur.
App store interface
The core purpose of most consumers buying VR devices is to play games and watch movies. Pico's mall has hundreds of applications, mainly games, but also covers audio-visual, social, reading and other categories.
The game types in the Pico mall mainly include sports simulation, action shooting, adventure decryption, multiplayer online, etc., most of which are one-time paid unlocks, the price is basically within 100 yuan, and only a few can be experienced for free. Other entertainment applications are basically similar to mobile phones, and all require in-app purchase of value-added services.
"Red Matter" screen recording (there is a loss of image quality when turning)
However, compared with Oculus' thousands of application libraries, Pico's ecology is clearly dwarfed. Fortunately, in addition to waiting for the official to slowly improve the ecology, Pico also provides other channels to solve the problem of lack of application resources.
In terms of games, through wired streaming or wireless streaming, Neo 3 can successfully dock with Steam VR, a treasure trove of games, and play massive PC game masterpieces.
In terms of audio and video, you can choose to import external audio and video resources directly into the all-in-one machine, and you can also directly synchronize the picture and sound of the mobile phone or computer to VR through assistant software, which is equivalent to the effect of screen projection.
The actual experience passes up
The previous part is a bit like a beginner's tutorial, introducing what the Neo 3 has and what it can do, and then share the experience and feelings in the actual use process.
An important selling point of the Neo 3 is the tracking positioning of 6Dof. Here to popularize science, Dof is the degree of freedom, compared to the 3Dof that only supports head rotation, 6Dof can sense the displacement change of the body in space, and has obvious advantages in action games.
Neo 3 for the helmet and handle tracking positioning are achieved by four cameras, so in the case of a dark environment or camera blocked, the problem of tracking positioning loss will occur. In addition, the handle cannot be operated outside the camera's field of view, otherwise the signal will be lost.
"VR Cut Square" screen recording (there is a loss of image quality when turning)
From the perspective of tracking speed and positioning accuracy, neo 3 and quest 2 still have some gaps, the picture will be slightly shaken at rest, and blur will occur when the handle is moved quickly. Usually it is harmless, and it will have some impact on the experience when playing fast-paced action games.
However, the biggest impact on the game is the streaming problem of Neo 3. Under the official requirements of the network environment and equipment configuration, Neo 3 game streaming still has the problem of image quality loss and audio and picture delay, especially when infinite streaming, even if the worst smooth picture quality is adjusted, there will still be a stuttering phenomenon.
The movie experience focuses on the picture quality of the VR device. Thanks to the blessing of the 4K screen, the picture presented by the Neo 3 is still satisfactory, although there is still dispersion at the edge of the field of view, and subtle pixels can be found on closer inspection, which is difficult to match the clarity of the professional headset theater, but it has been comparable to the 1080p picture on the mobile phone.
Viewing video screen (loss of image quality when rotating)
It is worth mentioning that after wearing neo 3, you can not only enjoy the immersive experience in video resources such as VR movies and VR concerts, but also unlock the experience of watching movies on video applications such as iQiyi, B station, and Douyin, and feel the happiness and shock brought by the virtual big screen.
VR is good, but can not be greedy, the official recommendation is to take a break every 30 minutes to alleviate visual fatigue, in fact, put a device of more than half a pound on the head, coupled with the heat dissipation of the helmet, it is difficult not to be dizzy, and people who can persist for half an hour are also a good man.
In addition, it is best to find an open place before use, at least 2x2 meters of distance, which can effectively avoid bumps and bumps between yourself or equipment. Then there is the problem of equipment protection and maintenance, Neo 3 is also very fragile like other VR, and needs to be treated and cared for carefully.
Finally, a summary. As a VR all-in-one machine produced against Quest 2, although Pico Neo 3 has kept up with the mainstream in hardware, the application ecology is obviously lagging behind, especially in the case of poor game streaming experience, it is urgent to supplement more built-in resources, tracking positioning, image quality, operation interaction and other aspects also need to be strengthened.
The way to fill these progressive spaces, Meta, which has invested tens of billions of dollars in the VR field, has made a good demonstration, and it will depend on ByteDance's "kryptonite" strength in the future.
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