Lenovo Explorer Mixed Reality Headset for $99USD

[DarrenM]

These headsets can't do AR, they're VR only. The cameras are for the inside out tracking. I think there's some basic passthrough available but no hololens style mapping capabilities. From what I've seen the passthrough is from one camera only and it's in black and white.

Microsoft just use MR as an umbrella term for all their VR/AR stuff.

[pab]

OK, no worries, thanks Darren. So looks like $4k + for a Hololens if I want to do true AR!

[pixelboy]

Yeah I didn't see anything that allowed me to see whats through the camera.

[DarrenM]

Magic Leap have started selling their first AR headset as well, but it's similar price and tech to the hololens. Certainly not what it was hyped up to be.

https://mashable.com/article/magic-leap ... -hands-on/

[renesis37]

Quick and totally subjective review from my first hour playing around in iR and PC2.

Quality - 6/10, plastics, foam and headband are a bit average. Good for what we paid for it I guess.

Comfort - 5/10, the strap is made for smaller heads and I find i have to have it more on top of my head which means it doesn't feel very secure. If I have it on my forehead properly the screen sticks out away from my eyes due to my big forehead.. lol. Luckily it is light which makes up for some of it.

Tracking - 10/10, didnt have a single issue with it and it feels as responsive and more accurate than the rift, the rift would float a bit for me. Love not having a sensor aswell. Best feature of these MR HMDs.

FOV - 3/10, the lack of IPD adjustment means im missing a heap of the edges as I'm already towards the edge of the lens.. if you know what I mean. Feels like 80deg to the rifts 100, this will be what makes me take a dremmel to it to seperate the screens a bit.

SDE - 6/10, a rift/vive is 4/10. Its better but not THAT much better. I think I'd rather more FOV.

Lens artifacts and focus - 6/10, less halo effects than the rift in the centre but the sweet spot is smaller and edges a bit more blurry. You struggle to read HUD elements unless you look right at them.

Setup and software - 8/10, very easy to setup, plug it in and click some buttons. Worth noting is the MR software has done some odd things like not letting me use a mouse in a game or taking focus and the configuration options aren't anything special.

Other things to mention- I didnt notice any motion blur from the LCD panels, the colour saturation and accuracy is pretty average, contrast ratio seems a bit low after using OLED HMDs, I set the IPD to max 67mm, and quality to "medium" in the settings. In SteamVR apps it may be slightly more demanding on hardware than the Rift is. I'm happy with it for $168.46

Hardware used: (I sold my good PC)
i7 4770K @ 4.2/4.2GHz (shit cooler)
8GB DDR3 2400
GTX970 @ 1500/7700 (about +10%)
I can get iR to lock to 90 even on nurburg or a busy server with some tweaking.
I can get PC2 to lock to 90 but it looks like minecraft, very GPU limited. More tweaking needed.

I also picked up a spare set of CSL elite pedals from Duke to fix my throttle with so I can actually come do some racing with you guys

[pixelboy]

I agree with Renz about the blurry menus but I have no idea how it compares to Rift etc..

Sitting in the cockpit and your hands are moving in sync with the wheel in the game, being to glance around as you overtake (or get overtaken).. Its amazing.. It's a cliche but it just adds that extra level of realism.

[pixelboy]

Audi R8 open top at Le Mans in the dark

[pixelboy]

Any suggestions for good VR games for this headset?

Pcars 2 is good and, much to my sons disappointment, Fortnite is rubbish!

[ysu]

Hm, for $100 it's a steal - I'm thinking I'd give it a try, too; do you guys think it'd work on windows 7 ?

[Duke]

Hm, for $100 it's a steal - I'm thinking I'd give it a try, too; do you guys think it'd work on windows 7 ?

Nope it has to be W10 with Creators Update which provides the WMR portal required to run it. Also remember it needs a USB3.0 port free, preferably off the MoBo rather than a powered hub.

Supported Operating Systems Windows 10 Fall Creator's Update
(also known as Windows 10 Autumn Creator's Update in certain countries)

[ysu]

Ah ok, thanks, not for me then.

[Cursed]

Any suggestions for good VR games for this headset?

Pcars 2 is good and, much to my sons disappointment, Fortnite is rubbish!

Maybe look over the Oculus Rift thread. 99% of games on Oculus home end up on SteamVR anyway.

[petey]

https://www.newegg.com/global/au/Produc ... 6826509124

If you want the controllers too its not a bad deal off newegg. After seeing this thread I was super keen to get one and looked around to find one with controllers due to wanting to try the hands on experiences. Keep in mind the WMR's inside out tracking makes the controllers a bit of a problem if going outside field of vision.

[pixelboy]

I use an old Xbox controller.. Works OK.

[Dr. Pain]

Try War Thunder Pix. It's free to play. Flying fighters from the cockpit is awesome. You get a real feel of the aircraft size from being in the cockpit.

[nutty]

Bit the bullet and ordered!

[nutty]

Got mine a few weeks back. Had a problem with my wheel and only got it going tonight for a quick spin.. Was great on ACC in the dark..

but its basically only a gimmick for me, I cant imagine doing a proper race. I know a few in the thread mentioned blurryness but for me basically everything bar exactly what im staring at is blury, I cant even tell the speed im doing, its impossible to actually use.. is this normal? I did play with the settings in the app, but it made little/no difference

[renesis37]

It is worse than the rift outside the sweet spot, you get used to looking around with your neck

There are headsets out there that are better in this area, the future looks bright with ~200deg fov and more resolution.. maybe jump on it then?

I still hate going back to 2D, it just isn't the same.. but I understand these gen 1 HMDs are pretty crap and can see why you would stay on triples.

[Sarsippius]

I have no experience with this headset but I'd be hesitant to judge others like the Rift or Vive on your experience here. With the DK2 and now CV1 I've been racing in VR for about four years now but yeah the tech isn't at the point yet where it's a no brainer for everyone.

[Cursed]

Ren is probably onto something with the suggestion to turn your head to look around. As a long time glasses wearer and TrackIR user, you start to turn your head to look at things rather than keeping your head bolt-straight forward. I only notice the off-centre softness when the headset isn't sitting on my face right (usually because my glasses are pushing it out of position). Note that I am using a Rift. YMMV

[DarrenM]

Got mine a few weeks back. Had a problem with my wheel and only got it going tonight for a quick spin.. Was great on ACC in the dark..

but its basically only a gimmick for me, I cant imagine doing a proper race. I know a few in the thread mentioned blurryness but for me basically everything bar exactly what im staring at is blury, I cant even tell the speed im doing, its impossible to actually use.. is this normal? I did play with the settings in the app, but it made little/no difference

ACC is an absolutely terrible game to judge VR on. The VR support is pretty bad at the moment and even with tweaking it still looks bad.

Try any other racing game you've got with VR support and shelve ACC until further patches.

If you're still on iracing there's a WindowsMR thread in the VR forum.
http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts ... 14704.page

and a big generalised guide
http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts ... 76791.page

[nutty]

Thanks Darren, I had a go this weekend with both PCars2 + iRacing (default settings).

It looks a lot better, its not perfect but I def think I could have a race or two without any problems. Ill go through those threads and do some settings

[DarrenM]

Try these settings for ACC. Still not quite as sharp in the distance as other games but not too bad.

http://arseforums.com/phpBB/viewtopic.p ... 28#p453128

[DarrenM]

Currently $99AUD with controllers from JB Hifi.

https://www.jbhifi.com.au/lenovo/lenovo ... le/543909/

Does make me wonder if they're clearing stock to make way for a new model though.

[Cursed]

I'm tempted, but my IPD is around the 70mm point which has me second guessing on these headsets without physical adjustment.