Windows Mixed Reality Preview – No mix yet, but regular Fri

Microsoft revealed more about upcoming Mixed Reality headsets from Asus, Dell and Lenovo at Computex in Taiwan. These new glasses can only be admired behind glass, but Acer has a demo room at the fair for its previously announced Mixed Reality Development Edition. We went there to see how Microsoft’s mixed reality compares to the virtual reality we already know from headsets like the Rift, Vive and PSVR.

Windows Mixed Reality

Microsoft has been working for years on its HoloLens, an augmented reality headset that works completely independently. The current developer version of those glasses still has significant drawbacks: it costs thousands of euros and the field of view is very small. In other words: the HoloLens is far from ready for consumers. This does not appear to change in the short term.

In order not to miss the VR boot, Microsoft set up the Windows Holographic platform last year . That was presented at the Computex as an ecosystem for both the HoloLens and new Windows Holographic glasses. At the beginning of this year, Microsoft dropped the Holographic name and renamed the platform Windows Mixed Reality. In the upcoming Fall Creators Update for Windows 10, the platform should become available to everyone and then the corresponding glasses will also appear on the market.

Microsoft itself does not make new hardware for the platform, but various computer manufacturers will release Mixed Reality glasses according to specifications drawn up by Microsoft. Despite the fact that Microsoft speaks of mixed reality instead of virtual reality, the headsets are hardly different from existing VR glasses such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. The difference is in the way the user’s movements are tracked ; with the Microsoft headsets, this is not done with external sensors, but with cameras and sensors in the headset itself.

Mixed Reality in practice

In Acer’s demo room, we stood behind a desk to try out the Mixed Reality headset. On a laptop, the Windows Mixed Reality application was launched and then prompted to enter the user’s height. The headset then had to be held at eye level for ten seconds. It turned out that the cameras were analyzing the environment at that time, because the message then appeared that the floor had been found. Users can then indicate the size of the space in which they can walk freely by taking a walk in it. Unfortunately, that was not an option on the trade show floor at Acer, where we could only take a few steps.

The goggles are not completely clamped on your head like ski goggles; on the Acer headset there is a band with a hinge to which the part with the screens is attached. Even if you have the glasses on, you can fold them up, so that you can quickly escape from the virtual environment. Nevertheless, the glasses were tight on our heads and we could easily get the image sharp. We found the goggles comfortable to use. It appears to be lighter than the Rift and Vive. Just like those glasses, you do suffer from cords that get in the way; Acer uses a single cable that is split at the end into USB and HDMI.

We then got headphones put on and an Xbox One controller pressed into our hands. Microsoft’s Mixed Reality demo is a large virtual house, with open spaces that overlook the landscape or sky. Walking around works through teleportation. With your head movement you control a cursor and pressing the Y button takes you to that part. We could also walk slowly with the left stick, but turning with the right stick was not possible, probably because many people quickly get sick of it. You can turn with the shoulder buttons, but the image then goes black for a while, so you don’t see the turning movement.

So far, the Mixed Reality demo is a simple VR experience. In the ‘demo house’ there are virtual screens on the walls that you can operate with the cursor. For example, from the home you can go to an Edge or Outlook screen to email or surf. You can also watch movies and there is an Xbox section. Unfortunately, games were not available in the demo. We did get to see a piece of HoloTour . Microsoft developed that application for the HoloLens and in the Mixed Reality environment you don’t really get to see much more than a 360-degree video. You cannot walk around, because the images are filmed from a fixed point of view.

In the demo house we could also place 3D objects, including a dog, astronaut and a rainbow. Once placed you can activate some of these objects to make them move. Then you can walk around them and see them from all sides. The tracking of the glasses worked pretty well in our opinion. Movements of the head and body were well reproduced.

Working with a regular Xbox controller is less spectacular than using the motion controllers of the Rift and Vive. After all, you can’t see the normal gamepad in the virtual environment, so you have to operate it by feel. Microsoft has already announced motion controllers similar to those of the Vive. When the glasses come on the market, the controllers must also be available. However, we cannot say anything about their operation at this time, except that we know that they work with inside-out tracking, just like the glasses. So no external cameras or sensors are involved. The controllers must always be in view of the cameras on the headset.

Image quality

The demo was organized by Acer, so we started working with that manufacturer’s headset. They are quite light glasses and that makes them quite comfortable to wear. The glasses contain two LCDs, each with a resolution of 1440×1440 pixels and a refresh rate of 90Hz. The high resolution makes the image significantly sharper than with the Vive and Rift, which offer 1080×1280 pixels per eye. You are less bothered by the screen door effect, although it is still present.

The higher resolution is an advantage, but there is also a disadvantage that immediately stands out: the field of view is smaller. According to the specifications of the Acer headset, it is 95 degrees, with the Rift and Vive it is about 110 degrees. While the increase in sharpness is nice, the smaller viewing angle detracts from the experience. You are less likely to be absorbed in a virtual environment if the edge is always clearly visible.

Most VR glasses contain OLED screens, because they have a very fast response time and do not suffer from ghosting. This can cause problems with LCDs, but we had no problems with the ‘slow’ demo of Windows Mixed Reality. Even with fast head movements, there are not immediately visible disturbances in the image. However, the tracking occasionally faltered briefly when we made really fast movements. This may confuse the internal sensors, but it may also be due to the fact that the glasses are still a developer version.

Cheap headsets from Dell and Lenovo, high-end model from Asus?

Although Microsoft and the manufacturers did not disclose specifications or prices of the new Mixed Reality glasses that were shown at Computex, the wording used in the announcement does make sense. Microsoft states that Dell’s headset will become affordable and will bring mixed reality to a wide audience. Lenovo’s copy is referred to as ‘very affordable’ and this copy should make the technology available to ‘everyone’.

Judging by those words, Lenovo’s version seems to be the cheapest. It is striking that Lenovo showed a prototype during CES at the beginning of this year and then said that two LCDs with a resolution of 1440×1440 pixels are used. Microsoft also allows manufacturers to make Mixed Reality headsets with a resolution of 1080×1200 pixels per eye and it seems likely that models with such specifications will be the cheapest.