Varjo VR-1 Headset Offers Hi-Res VR Experience for $5,995

“Human-Eye Resolution” VR

Finland-based Varjo has begun shipping their new VR-1 virtual reality headset. It features a super high-resolution center panel with an ordinary screen for peripheral vision. Varjo calls this a “Bionic Display” screen.

The main “context” screen has the same resolution as the HTC Vive Pro, which is 1440×1600 per eye. It uses a 3.5″ 90hz AMOLED and has an 87-degree field of view. Meanwhile, the overlaid 0.7″ micro display has 3,000 Pixels-Per-Inch. Combining a focal and context screen is the key for getting “human-eye resolution” according to Varjo. Resulting in a clearer picture than their competition.

HTC Vive Pro (left) vs Varjo VR-1 (right)

Unlike other VR headsets however, this one is designed for industrial use. In fact, the company is working with Airbus, Audi, Saab, Volkswagen, and Volvo.

Although, the VR-1 uses standard SteamVR base stations for tracking. Furthermore, it supports both the Unity and Unreal engines so you can probably play games on it, with some workarounds.

How Much is the Varjo VR-1?

For $5995/€5995 it certainly is not a consumer gaming VR headset. On top of that, there is an annual service fee of $995/€995.

There is also a limitation in terms of country of availability. So far, it is available in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.

Aside from the headset cost, driving that much pixels on the screen requires a significantly powerful GPU as well. According to those who have actually tried the prototype demo, they say that even an RTX 2080 Ti suffers framerate issues running it.