Sulon Technologies made a surprising announcement today at GDC 2016. The company revealed a new HMD, the Sulon Q, which is designed for virtual reality, augmented reality, and spatially aware computing.
We first talked to Sulon at GDC 2015, where we tried the Cortex prototype, which we thought showed a lot of promise, although it needed work. It appears the company has made some significant improvements to the hardware. We haven’t yet had our hands on the Solun Q, but from the specifications the company released, it is certainly intriguing.
The Sulon Q HMD is a fully tether-free HMD with its own computational system. The headset features an AMD FX-8800P processor and R7 Radeon graphics with four compute cores and eight GPU cores, similar to a game console. Sulon said the headset includes a 2560x1440p OLED display and features a 110-degree viewing angle. The headset also includes AstoundSound Technology for spatial audio processing, and a 3.5mm audio jack to plug in headphones. The Sulon Q comes with a pair of “spatially-optimized” earbuds.
The Sulon Q headset is capable of virtual reality gaming and applications. It’s also capable of augmented reality and gesture recognition thanks to the two cameras found on the front of the HMD. Further, the headset includes a Spatial Processing Unit that maps the environment in real time, using an array of cameras on the headset, which provides headset tracking without external devices.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Sulon Q - Expected Specifications |
|---|---|
| Experiences | VR, AR, and spatial computing |
| External Hardware | Lightweight, comfortable, ergonomically designed all-in-one tether-free form factor |
| Hardware | AMD FX-8800P processor at up to 35W with Radeon™ R7 Graphics leveraging AMD’s Graphics Core Next architecture 4 compute cores and 8 GPU cores unlocked through Heterogeneous System Architecture (HAS) Sulon Spatial Processing Unit (SPU) |
| Memory | 8 GB DDR3L Memory |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD |
| Display | 2560x1440 OLED display at 90 Hz 110-degree Field-of-View |
| Audio | 3D spatial audio powered by GenAudio’s AstoundSound® technology Built-in 3.5 mm audio jack Custom spatially-optimized Sulon Q earbuds Dual noise-cancelling embedded microphones. |
| Tracking | Sulon Spatial Processing Unit combining real-time machine vision technologies and mixed reality spatial computer for real-time environment mapping and tracking from the inside outward, dynamic virtualization for VR/AR fusion, and gesture recognition |
| Sensors | Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer Spatial mapping and tracking |
| Software | Microsoft Windows® 10 “Project Dragon” application for spatial computing AMD LiquidVR technologies for ensure smooth and responsive VR and AR experiences |
| Peripherals | Wireless keyboard and mouse provided in box Any other Windows 10-compatible controllers and joysticks |
| Connectivity | WiFi 802.11n/ac + Bluetooth 4.0 2 x USB 3.0 Type A Micro HDMI OUT |
Sulon said the Sulon Q HMD will come equipped with Windows 10 and will be able to display holographic applications in transparent or opaque windows. The device will let you use hand gestures tracked by the front-facing cameras, but you can also use a keyboard and mouse, which will ship with the headset.
Sulon hasn’t revealed an exact shipping date for the Sulon Q headset, but the company plans to launch in late spring. When we talked to Sulon last year, its plan was the release a developer kit for $499. The price for the Sulon Q remains to be seen.
Update, March 14, 2016, 1:15pm PT: Sulon provided an example of a mixed reality experience using the Sulon Q. This clip of the Sulon Magic Beans demo shows a beanstock growing from the floor of an office and out through the ceiling, while retaining a real world view of the office.
Update, March 14, 2016, 3:40pm PT: Added expected specifictions list. Added lighter images for better detail clarity.
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