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PancakeXR announces the 'Pancake 1' VR headset. Launches at MWC 2023 for $444. Flippable lens, wireless, 5K resolution, standalone and PC compat.

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
VR is the new BR
funny-or-die-will-ferrell.gif
 

CGNoire

Member
I think Pico 4 managed to find an adoption within the community for example. The quality of the image is apparently real good.

Chinese headsets, like I said, will set the minimum feature set from all headsets onwards. They lack the software side and their OS are janky for now, but it pressures the likes of Quest/HTC/Valve to be competitive on hardware side.
Why there at it maybe chinese devs can help the west bye delivering some AAA VR exsperiences?
 

Buggy Loop

Member
This is a USD $1000+ headset. Pancake lenses are very expensive.

Pico 4 is pancake and $425, the headset in this thread is rumoured at $450. Both roughly the same optic wise, with the one in this thread having a few more features (but pico 4 is proven)

4,320 x 2,160 pixel for pico 4 and they call it 4K

4,560 x 2,280 pixel this headset and they call it 5k

🤷‍♂️

China gonna copy China

lcd , pancake … nope

For pancake lenses you have 2 choices as of now : LCD or micro-OLED ($$)

I’m personally waiting for the uOLED but Quest Pro with quality LCD is nothing to scoff at. The production for micro-OLED is ramping up for massive output from the reports online. Right now it’s premium price but the costs should drop like a brick hopefully by end of the year.

The best feature, outside of way thinner headsets, for pancake lenses is the very large sweet spot.

TRIGGER WARNING!! These are NOT to compare resolution or to say that it’s what you see in your PSVR 2 headset, it’s a through the lens and just to showcase how hard it is to capture a sweet spot on fresnel lenses (PSVR 2 reportedly with an even smaller sweet spot) with a camera. This only means it’s picky to adjust, while pancake… you slap that motherfucker on and you’re good to go.


79280oso3zja1.jpg


mvz63d5w2zja1.jpg


I’m not touching fresnel headsets until a Quest 3 or Deckard comes into the scene with pancake lenses. Quest 2 is a PIA too for sweet spot, especially with glasses.
 

Klik

Member
Pico 4 is pancake and $425, the headset in this thread is rumoured at $450. Both roughly the same optic wise, with the one in this thread having a few more features (but pico 4 is proven)

4,320 x 2,160 pixel for pico 4 and they call it 4K

4,560 x 2,280 pixel this headset and they call it 5k

🤷‍♂️

China gonna copy China



For pancake lenses you have 2 choices as of now : LCD or micro-OLED ($$)

I’m personally waiting for the uOLED but Quest Pro with quality LCD is nothing to scoff at. The production for micro-OLED is ramping up for massive output from the reports online. Right now it’s premium price but the costs should drop like a brick hopefully by end of the year.

The best feature, outside of way thinner headsets, for pancake lenses is the very large sweet spot.

TRIGGER WARNING!! These are NOT to compare resolution or to say that it’s what you see in your PSVR 2 headset, it’s a through the lens and just to showcase how hard it is to capture a sweet spot on fresnel lenses (PSVR 2 reportedly with an even smaller sweet spot) with a camera. This only means it’s picky to adjust, while pancake… you slap that motherfucker on and you’re good to go.


79280oso3zja1.jpg


mvz63d5w2zja1.jpg


I’m not touching fresnel headsets until a Quest 3 or Deckard comes into the scene with pancake lenses. Quest 2 is a PIA too for sweet spot, especially with glasses.
Yep, waiting for Quest 3 later this year especially knowing its gonna be pancake lens and lens adjustement. It should cost around 500-600$
 

Buggy Loop

Member
looks like it would be painful for even a 5min session.

The visor of the one in OP is 189 grams

These new headsets with pancakes are light as fuck, you don’t need fancy head straps or halo design, it’s roughly 1/3 the weight of fresnel equipped devices just for visor. Batteries in the back of head helps with balance.
 

rofif

Banned
Pico 4 is pancake and $425, the headset in this thread is rumoured at $450. Both roughly the same optic wise, with the one in this thread having a few more features (but pico 4 is proven)

4,320 x 2,160 pixel for pico 4 and they call it 4K

4,560 x 2,280 pixel this headset and they call it 5k

🤷‍♂️

China gonna copy China



For pancake lenses you have 2 choices as of now : LCD or micro-OLED ($$)

I’m personally waiting for the uOLED but Quest Pro with quality LCD is nothing to scoff at. The production for micro-OLED is ramping up for massive output from the reports online. Right now it’s premium price but the costs should drop like a brick hopefully by end of the year.

The best feature, outside of way thinner headsets, for pancake lenses is the very large sweet spot.

TRIGGER WARNING!! These are NOT to compare resolution or to say that it’s what you see in your PSVR 2 headset, it’s a through the lens and just to showcase how hard it is to capture a sweet spot on fresnel lenses (PSVR 2 reportedly with an even smaller sweet spot) with a camera. This only means it’s picky to adjust, while pancake… you slap that motherfucker on and you’re good to go.


79280oso3zja1.jpg


mvz63d5w2zja1.jpg


I’m not touching fresnel headsets until a Quest 3 or Deckard comes into the scene with pancake lenses. Quest 2 is a PIA too for sweet spot, especially with glasses.
HUGE difference!
Had no idea pancake is so good. PSVR2 chromatic abberration and sweet spot are very annoying
 

midnightAI

Member
TRIGGER WARNING!! These are NOT to compare resolution or to say that it’s what you see in your PSVR 2 headset, it’s a through the lens and just to showcase how hard it is to capture a sweet spot on fresnel lenses (PSVR 2 reportedly with an even smaller sweet spot) with a camera. This only means it’s picky to adjust, while pancake… you slap that motherfucker on and you’re good to go.



mvz63d5w2zja1.jpg


I’m not touching fresnel headsets until a Quest 3 or Deckard comes into the scene with pancake lenses. Quest 2 is a PIA too for sweet spot, especially with glasses.

I know you are doing this for illustrative purposes, but both of those shots are from Quest Pro arent they? I know it doesnt look like that right image to me (PSVR2 version has had an overhaul, that bar scene lighting is much different now)
 
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Buggy Loop

Member
I know you are doing this for illustrative purposes, but both of those shots are from Quest 2 arent they? I know it doesnt look like that right image to me (PSVR2 version has had an overhaul, that bar scene lighting is much different now)

No, user on Reddit picked those on right from PSVR 2.

Was it patched on day 1? But I see what you mean, looking at videos now, it doesn’t look like that.

Edit- probably the scene before he goes under the light?




 
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Yep, waiting for Quest 3 later this year especially knowing its gonna be pancake lens and lens adjustement. It should cost around 500-600$

They aren't going to price Quest 3 at PSVR 2 price. Quest only succeeds when it undercuts the competition with good specs. Quest 3 won't be stronger than Sonys headset, so pricing it above $500 is sending it off to die
 

StereoVsn

Member
Who is this company?
Nobody knows. Basically random firm out of China it seems (too lazy to Google) and that makes their store pointless endeavor in the West.

Also, not having OLED is a mistake, IMO. All that said, will be interesting to see reviews of PC compatibility, controller accuracy, device itself, and so on. Wireless is a big plus.
 

nemiroff

Gold Member
lcd , pancake … nope

That doesn't make any sense without a minimum of context. Every headset is a mix of technology with pluses and minuses. In fact, the VR industry was on their way to OLED (Oculus DK 2) but was more or less abandoned partly because of black smear (I'd take LCD over black smear any day, it's horrendous)(yeah, low res sub pixels on pentile wasn't ideal either). I was so happy to go to the Vive's LCDs after the amOLEDs.. Pancake lenses is the next big thing for a reason (some being form factor, sweet spot and weight), and it'll become standard until the next big lens tech (or projector tech, who knows) replaces it.

Edit: BTW, if you want to compare prices, at least include the fact that this headset is untethered.
 
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poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Pico 4 is pancake and $425, the headset in this thread is rumoured at $450. Both roughly the same optic wise, with the one in this thread having a few more features (but pico 4 is proven)

4,320 x 2,160 pixel for pico 4 and they call it 4K

4,560 x 2,280 pixel this headset and they call it 5k

🤷‍♂️

China gonna copy China



For pancake lenses you have 2 choices as of now : LCD or micro-OLED ($$)

I’m personally waiting for the uOLED but Quest Pro with quality LCD is nothing to scoff at. The production for micro-OLED is ramping up for massive output from the reports online. Right now it’s premium price but the costs should drop like a brick hopefully by end of the year.

The best feature, outside of way thinner headsets, for pancake lenses is the very large sweet spot.

TRIGGER WARNING!! These are NOT to compare resolution or to say that it’s what you see in your PSVR 2 headset, it’s a through the lens and just to showcase how hard it is to capture a sweet spot on fresnel lenses (PSVR 2 reportedly with an even smaller sweet spot) with a camera. This only means it’s picky to adjust, while pancake… you slap that motherfucker on and you’re good to go.


79280oso3zja1.jpg


mvz63d5w2zja1.jpg


I’m not touching fresnel headsets until a Quest 3 or Deckard comes into the scene with pancake lenses. Quest 2 is a PIA too for sweet spot, especially with glasses.
Yeah it seems the choices currently are fresnel with OLED or pancake with LED. Both have pluses and minuses. I'm fine with the sweet spot of fresnel, but the reduced protrusion from your face is what is making me lean towards something with pancake lenses when I eventually upgrade from the Quest 2.
 
None of these third party VR headsets at that price point ever materialize as something worthwhile. Looks cool but I'll believe it when I see it.

The only example we have of headsets in that price range generally is Pico 4 which got some praise, so not sure what you mean.

Why there at it maybe chinese devs can help the west bye delivering some AAA VR exsperiences?

China has a market that can get away with shallow or mobile experience to sell headsets if the specs make them look and possibly play better than on a budget smartphone that's gaming ready, without needing a powerful PC.

China has very little reason to push AAA development on headsets. However, TCL hinted they were attempting to make it easier to get AAA content games and otherwise in VR for their headset, we will have to see if they actually pull it off though.

Nobody knows. Basically random firm out of China it seems (too lazy to Google) and that makes their store pointless endeavor in the West.

Also, not having OLED is a mistake, IMO. All that said, will be interesting to see reviews of PC compatibility, controller accuracy, device itself, and so on. Wireless is a big plus.

PancakeXR is a subsidiary of Skylake which is a major chinese tech firm in the country, with some business in India as well. You don't keep showing up at big events like CES, FBEC, and now MWC as a random company the money spend in the VR industry and the question of its sustainability is basically removing all the fodder out of the arms race.

The last time we had nobodies in VR was early gen MobileVR that could run on a toaster phone at terrible quality and do the bare minimum, and even they eventually got pushed out, screwing over the scalpers who are still trying to sell them on Ebay.
 

StereoVsn

Member
PancakeXR is a subsidiary of Skylake which is a major chinese tech firm in the country, with some business in India as well. You don't keep showing up at big events like CES, FBEC, and now MWC as a random company the money spend in the VR industry and the question of its sustainability is basically removing all the fodder out of the arms race.

The last time we had nobodies in VR was early gen MobileVR that could run on a toaster phone at terrible quality and do the bare minimum, and even they eventually got pushed out, screwing over the scalpers who are still trying to sell them on Ebay.
Ty for the info. IMO, still a nonstarter in the West for their own store, but PC possibilities are more interesting. We shall see more in reviews and also where devices are sold.
 
They gave a journalist a headset to try and he's walking all around MWC 2023 event field with it.
Fp9zYeFaAAQ0pmo

Fp9zYeMagAIH2ot


He apparently hasn't had to take the headset off because he can use VR anytime and he can easily swap to see his surroundings in real life. This matches the company website suggesting you can bring the headset with you in public.

We'll just have to wait on the videos to try about the experience, extra details on headset feature and controllers, and what peoples impressions are. Looks like this might be one to consider.
 
Last edited:

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
The only example we have of headsets in that price range generally is Pico 4 which got some praise, so not sure what you mean.
I'm thinking of like the DecaGear or the FOVE or all these headsets that sound great but never come out or only come out when they're no longer competitive.

Pico 4 is mostly an exception obviously, but I still probably wouldn't want to buy one, because I don't think the SLAM or the video-over-USB/Wi-Fi is competitive with Quest.
 
I'm thinking of like the DecaGear or the FOVE or all these headsets that sound great but never come out or only come out when they're no longer competitive.

Pico 4 is mostly an exception obviously, but I still probably wouldn't want to buy one, because I don't think the SLAM or the video-over-USB/Wi-Fi is competitive with Quest.

The headset physically exists. Even the post above you have people using it at MWC.

Also you quoted buggy loop not me, and got my text under his name by incident lol.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
The headset physically exists. Even the post above you have people using it at MWC.
There's a big gap between a prototype existing and being able to produce it at scale for that price. Just seems a bit too good to be true, which usually means it is.
 

VN1X

Banned
I'm out of the loop when it comes to this tech but why are "pancake lenses" bad exactly? And what do other, more premium, devices use?
 

Minsc

Gold Member
I'm out of the loop when it comes to this tech but why are "pancake lenses" bad exactly? And what do other, more premium, devices use?

It's not that they're bad, it's just that they're not without faults (iirc FOV, color saturation and brightness suffer). So pick your poison so to speak.


I said the same thing, the piece that goes against your face looks terribly rigid and horrible at blocking light compared to PSVR2.
 
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midnightAI

Member
I said the same thing, the piece that goes against your face looks terribly rigid and horrible at blocking light compared to PSVR2.
To be fair, no other headset on the market blocks light as well as PSVR 2. I think with XR type devices if you are using pass through all the time then light blocking or even blocking your surroundings at all isnt that important.
 
There's a big gap between a prototype existing and being able to produce it at scale for that price. Just seems a bit too good to be true, which usually means it is.

It launches this month.

I said the same thing, the piece that goes against your face looks terribly rigid and horrible at blocking light compared to PSVR2.

No one has complained about it yet shown off in China and at MWC.
 

Sakura

Member
It's not that they're bad, it's just that they're not without faults (iirc FOV, color saturation and brightness suffer). So pick your poison so to speak.
The FOV isn't really a big issue.
The Quest 2 has an FOV of 90, and the PSVR2 has an FOV of about 110 iirc.
Other Fresnel lens based headsets are typically around this.

The Quest Pro, and the headset which this thread is about, both have FOVs of about 105, and they use pancake lenses.
Not really much different than what you'll get with mainstream Fresnel headsets.

Pancake lenses will also give you a much clearer image within that FOV.
 

Minsc

Gold Member
It launches this month.



No one has complained about it yet shown off in China and at MWC.
As you can see with the PSVR2 no one really complains about much at all in previews/reviews, almost no one complained about the PSVR2 being blurry and low resolution, yet we all had this impression that is was going to be crystal clear and it is not. I guess the truth is nothing is as clear as a 4k TV yet, probably not even this device with the pancake lenses.

Anyway, I feel like when you get used to something having it removed bothers you, which is why people who get used to pancake lenses likely dislike any headset without them, and to an extent someone who got used to the darkness / light blocking in the PSVR2 would miss them - especially for horror games like RE8 - I've seen quite a few reviews comment how much better they play because of that.
 
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As you can see with the PSVR2 no one really complains about much at all in previews/reviews, almost no one complained about the PSVR2 being blurry and low resolution, yet we all had this impression that is was going to be crystal clear and it is not. I guess the truth is nothing is as clear as a 4k TV yet, probably not even this device with the pancake lenses.

Anyway, I feel like when you get used to something having it removed bothers you, which is why people who get used to pancake lenses likely dislike any headset without them, and to an extent someone who got used to the darkness / light blocking in the PSVR2 would miss them - especially for horror games like RE8 - I've seen quite a few reviews comment how much better they play because of that.

I mean the magnetic cushion and design of the flexible lens were along with the clam design around the lens made to avoid like leak. The headset launches before the end of the month, that's is basically what the headset is going to be and not a demo unit so I mean if we aren't hearing anything and we have people wearing the headset walking around crowds through the the event region in day light without issues it seems like it's fine.

Of course there could be some other issues, impressions will drop as more people try it out, MWC goes into March so we'll see more impressions, more info on the controllers, and video soon to really see what this thing is about in action.
 
PancakeXr has a pretty active booth at MWC,

FqDFTQmaMAEhEEJ
FqDFTQnaMAAEIdo
FqDFTQaaUAEFs1D
FqDFTQfaMAAAoXF


Seems using the top head strap is an option since two of the pictures have users having it off.

Apparently it's light and very interactive and fast.

Still waiting on a video or more details on the controllers but they seem to have some advanced tracking features.
 

MastAndo

Gold Member
PancakeXr has a pretty active booth at MWC,

FqDFTQmaMAEhEEJ
FqDFTQnaMAAEIdo
FqDFTQaaUAEFs1D
FqDFTQfaMAAAoXF


Seems using the top head strap is an option since two of the pictures have users having it off.

Apparently it's light and very interactive and fast.

Still waiting on a video or more details on the controllers but they seem to have some advanced tracking features.
Looks like there could be a lot of light bleed coming in from the sides, but maybe that can be remedied by moving the back up a bit.

Interested to see how this thing pans out.
 

mckmas8808

Banned
PancakeXr has a pretty active booth at MWC,

FqDFTQmaMAEhEEJ
FqDFTQnaMAAEIdo
FqDFTQaaUAEFs1D
FqDFTQfaMAAAoXF


Seems using the top head strap is an option since two of the pictures have users having it off.

Apparently it's light and very interactive and fast.

Still waiting on a video or more details on the controllers but they seem to have some advanced tracking features.

Have they shown games on it yet?
 
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