There’s a lot of new virtual reality (VR) hardware appearing a the moment, not all of it is easily affordable though. One of the best consumer PC VR headsets on the market for visual quality is the HP Reverb G2 which is about to celebrate its first anniversary. And it just so happens that HP is improving the VR experience with both software and hardware upgrades.
There are three main upgrades to the HP Reverb G2 that’ll benefit both current and new users. First up is the controller tracking. These have been refined: “increasing vertical tracking volume by 30% compared to our original headset and resolving blind spots above and below the waist,” the company notes. Which should be great for all you Beat Saber fans out there.
On the hardware side, the 6-metre cable has been upgraded to increase compatibility with AMD systems after some users reported connection issues. It’ll be supplied with new systems whilst current owners will be able to purchase the new cable online from HP.
The other hardware refinement is for the face gasket. This has been redesigned so that users can more easily adjust the eye relief distance when setting up the headset to find that nice visual sweet spot all VR devices have. “This new facemask now includes a removal spacer which enables users to set their eye relief distance to either 15mm (with spacer on and as fixed on original headset) or 9mm (with spacer off),” HP explains.
One caveat to all of this, these upgrades are only available to US customers.
It’s not just HP trying to improve the overall experience for those users who’ve bought into the Windows Mixed Reality ecosystem. Microsoft has also been hard at work refining the platform it launched back in 2017. These include:
- New Infinite Expanse virtual home environment streamlined down to singular stage, instead of the more feature rich Cliffhouse, improving performance.
- Users can find a new setting that’ll automatically launch SteamVR when Mixed Reality Portal launches.
- More settings so you can configure your ideal Mixed Reality Portal startup experience.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of HP’s VR plans, reporting back with further updates.
