Varjo Aero VR Headset | Technical Review

Рет қаралды 9,251

Күн бұрын

The #VarjoAero is a virtual reality headset designed for #Professional users, such as designers, architects, and engineers. It features high-resolution displays and advanced tracking technology for an immersive and realistic #VirtualReality experience.
In this video, we will not only be comparing the design and performance of the Varjo Aero to Valve Index, but I will also provide a technical analysis of the headset. This will include an in-depth look at their hardware and software, as well as an evaluation of their build quality and potential for planned obsolescence.
Varjo Aero has a red/blue shift issue that has been reported by some users. This problem is caused by the a sub-pixel structure in the Aero's displays. In the video, I will try demonstrate the red/blue shift issue how it affects the overall VR experience.
Ultimately, this video will help you decide which headset is right for you.
UPDATES:
1) Varjo has added the tether to their store
2) I got the eye tracking, pupil dilation and blink detection to work in VRChat with VRCFaceTracking and VRCFTVarjoModule.
- github.com/benaclejames/VRCFa...
- github.com/m3gagluk/VRCFTVarj...
3) I successfully added Vive Face Tracker to the headset by adding an extra cable to the tether. There is a good mount available for it in Thingiverse.
- www.thingiverse.com/thing:519...
✏ Article:
www.nerdaxic.com/2022/11/13/v...
🎙 Mic holder:
www.printables.com/model/2367...
More shenanigans at nerdaxic.com
00:00 Intro
00:45 First impressions
02:15 Setup & Varjo Base
04:10 Connections & Tether
05:42 Optical system
09:23 Foveated rendering
10:03 Red-Blue shift issue
11:32 Pass-through and eye tracking
13:57 Audio
17:53 Thoughts in general
18:51 Summary
21:34 Conclusion

Пікірлер: 100

@Mureketta Жыл бұрын

Varjo btw added the USB-c cable on the webstore too as an accessory.

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the info! This was not the case while making the video. I added a note on the article.

@m3gagluk Жыл бұрын

Hi, developer of the Varjo VRCFaceTracking module here. Sadly it's true that VRChat doesn't support eye or face tracking natively out of the box but the VRChat community has managed to send eye and face tracking data to the VRChat app (and then show face expressions through an avatar set up in a specific way); the project is called VRCFaceTracking. Obviously it's not a Varjo dedicated one - it's mostly used with Vive headsets - but I did a module that allows Varjo headsets to be compatible too. Varjo headsets actually support blink detection, just not in the most official way, and now they provide 'analog' eye openness values too - the module supports those too while stretching the data into additional eye squeeze and widen expressions. Sadly there aren't eye corner and eyebrow tracking options yet but at least there's that. (YT seemed to instantly delete my yesterday's comment, probably because of the link)

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your comment and big thank you for your work! It is much appreciated, glad there is pioneers who invest in tech and tinker with it. And share. I will look into VRCFaceTracking and the Varjo module once I finish my avatar project, would be awesome to get that working. Here is the links I believe: github.com/benaclejames/VRCFaceTracking github.com/m3gagluk/VRCFTVarjoModule

@D-money813 Жыл бұрын

can we get a tutorial? it is so unclear or maybe my comprehension is off but a tutorial would be dope

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

I got the eye tracking, pupil dilation and blink detection to work in VRChat with VRCFaceTracking and VRCFTVarjoModule. I shall add the info and links to the video description. Thank you for your work @m3gagluk 🙏

@D-money813 Жыл бұрын

Yooo, is there a way to stop my eyes from going crazy?? If you ever seen scary movie 2, my eyes are like David cross’s when he gets his glasses removed

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

@@D-money813 do eye calibration from Varjo Base and try a different avatar. Not seen the movie but some avatars I have tried had buggy eyes.

@TheBigLou13 Жыл бұрын

This review has such a high quality! Thank you for making it!

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Thank you! It is comments like this that give me strength to push through next productions 😭 This was my first video using a script, camera slider, high framerate recording and my first crude 3D-animations at 10:27. Took me forever to make, but was a great learning experience.

@blenderalien Жыл бұрын

I love how detailled this was, while beeing paced nicely. You have my sub!

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the feedback and the sub! I was not certain of the pacing as this contains hunreds of automated jumpcuts, some find it annoying, some like 🫣

@jlperez Жыл бұрын

Awesome review! thanks a lot!

@konradandrzejuk9660 Жыл бұрын

Great review! Good luck on ur KZfaq journey!

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Thank you Konras, it's much appreciated ^^

@drumdave5495 Жыл бұрын

Great review, I have had this headset for just over a week now and was confused about the 3d red colour so thank you for explaining that. Coming from the index it took me a few hours to get used to this headset I nearly returned it as soon as I saw the warping round the edge of the display as it felt weird. After some time getting used to the different look I am so happy with this headset, the slight edge warping just becomes a none issue as somehow I see it less and less now my eyes have adjusted. Playing "into the radius" has been an absolute joy with this headset, aiming the snipers and rifles and seeing enemies so clearly in the distance. The immersion is unmatched, I'll be keeping it for sure

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Well said, glad to hear about others experinces too. The 3D-red blue shift took me surprised, almost returned it as defective until I figured out why it was. Now as I think about it, the VR-3 would have been better choise for me personally. Subscription price is lower.

@Mkwhite1974 Жыл бұрын

Oops worst then pimax 8kx

@Webfra14 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the honest review! As Index owner myself, I found your perspective very valuable.

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated! ^^

@CrazyAboutVinylRecords Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the very thorough review. This review and the one by LukasSWolta convinced me to give the Aero a chance, so I have one on order. It will be here next Wednesday and I am very much looking forward to it. I have a pair of Sennheiser IE900 in-ear monitors to use with it but I need to get a shorter cable as the stock cable, while nice, is too long. So I will have one custom made. I recently bought the Valve base stations and controllers to use with a Pimax 8KX. Starting next week I am in semi-retirement and my work week will drop from 60 hours + to about 24 hours. So I will have a lot more time for VR!!

@mrtiff99 Жыл бұрын

Just discovered your channel. Please make more VR videos. I really enjoyed this one

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the feedback! That was the plan 😁

@dtrjones Жыл бұрын

Great review, very detailed. As a G2 owner I was looking at the Varjo Aero as an upgrade but couldn't justify the price tag so in the end bought a 4090 PC instead LOL! Some astute reviewers have also commented on both the binocular overlap being quite small and the stereoscopy being slightly off where as on the Meta products these two are usually excellent. I know my G2 also has a small stereoscopy issue which took me literally years to figure out after using the Rift CV1 and noticed something wasn't quite right with the G2 but thanks to KZfaq I finally figured it out. The stereoscopy in the Aero while not perfect isn't that bad though, so a lot of folks wouldn't even notice I guess.

@stuporsmoothie Жыл бұрын

Great review, thanks! I hope more companies adopt that automatically adjusting ipd concept.

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Thank you ^^

@7amanninovic Жыл бұрын

Banana for scale, a man of culture I see

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

🍌🫖🧐🎩🍸

@L_Emir_de_Passy Жыл бұрын

Great review. Fair and honest.

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Thank ye ^^

@danieldiaz9948 Жыл бұрын

Subscribed! Would love to see videos going more in depth as far as using it as a monitor replacement. Been waiting on the sidelines until it were feasible. Particularly wondering what software you can use since the popular productivity software ImmersedVR is Quest only.

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the feedback ^^

@SteadyShadow 7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much. Can we get a comparison between index and this? Resistance to sweat comparable to index for vrchat dancer, is it lighter? How is it easy to tangled the cable compared to index? Does it disconnect or pull from the PC easier than the index? Does it get hot? Does it dry faster or does it absorb sweat like the index does at the back of the headset? How much does it shake when you shake your head. Can you sleep in vr with it, like the quest. Is there ways to turn off the fan? Can you lower the brightness of the screen like the index does. Thank you for your video. Is the best one I seen and you did an amazing job. I just got questions because is super expensive but I am willing to buy if it can be used for more than just seating in vrchat.

@tarksable Жыл бұрын

If I get a headset I'm getting a G2 with a 4090. Just increase the pixel density and it's crazy good .

@TheHiddenTrueSecrets Жыл бұрын

g2 fov is garbage

@8Beet Жыл бұрын

Recently picked up a Quest Pro (coming from an index and Vive Pro 2) and was made aware of this headset. After some digging I'm just confused by a lot of omissions. For me clarity is king in VR and that's why I'm very interested in picking this up, however the lack of a built in USB solution is surprising and I'm glad you mentioned it. I am very aware of the pains of USB bandwidth and extending certain devices (ex a vive facial tracker for social VR apps). Think I'll wait on picking up the Varjo and stick to the VP2 for high res 120hz experiences (while using the Quest Pro for more general VR experiences as I do really enjoy the new lenses and it's great for work). The Quest Pro+an extra steamVR tracker mounted on it makes it fairly competent as a steamVR tracked device though dealing with mixed reality overall is just a slog. Doesn't seem like Varjo is even offering their more "premium" headsets since the order now buttons on them just direct me back to the consumer page to purchase the aero. Will likely pick up the aero in the future if nothing drops in the next few months regarding VR news.

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

If you are happy with Quest Pro I don't see a reason to pay the difference to pick one up due to price alone. For some people like me Oculus is completely off the table due to facebook's predatory history of user data handling. Aero is more of a secure choice but that costs money. Varjo's business model is based in a subscription model, so I have no reason to believe collecting user data would be helpful for them and worth the bad PR. What comes to USB, I ran an extra USB-cable along with the tether and I'm running the Vive face tracker with no problems. There is a 3D-printable mount available for it in Thingiverse.

@8Beet Жыл бұрын

@@nerdaxic Yeah, after some more consideration I realized that the varjo is something I've been wanting ever since I picked up the Quest Pro for the first time. Constantly said to myself and friends that I would love something with the optics of the Quest Pro (pancake lenses, different from the Varjo but still both remove the godrays/ring effect) with a higher res and using SteamVR based tracking. While the Quest Pro is definitely clear, when it comes to PCVR it's obvious there's some weird compression/artifacting going on which causes some textures to look grainy or the aliasing to look off. The tracking even when using mixed reality setups is very jittery in comparison to a SteamVR system (though FWIW i don't think most people would notice unless they spent a lot of time using a steamvr headset to begin with) Went ahead and pulled the trigger on the Varjo, and will see if I can figure out how I can get the face tracker on it comfortably. I use the "VR Wire" pully system which has the cable glide on wheels which is my concern with adding another cable though I may be able to work around that by just adding another set of pullies for the other cable. Have base stations and controllers already (other headsets I owned before the QP were the OG Vive, Index, and Vive Pro 2) Now just debating on whether I will return the Quest Pro or not (have a little over a week to decide, I do find myself using it for work purposes every now and then to work outside of my "office" space but other than that I used it for games) Great review, definitely contributed to my purchasing decision!

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

@@8Beet Congraz, ans thanks for the feedback! ^^ What comes to Kiwi pullies, mine can just barely handle the weight of 2 cables.

@Male_Parent Жыл бұрын

It's definitely a tradeoff losing some features I took for granted on the index. I'm fortunate enough to already have a bunch of long active USB extenders and long audio cables from running my HD 800s with my modified index. I guess it's more cables to bundle into the cable ties. 😅 I just hope the latency wont be too big of an issue with these active USB extenders. I've only ever used them to monitor cameras from my computer so latency was never a problem.

@user-yy8ln9rg4s Жыл бұрын

Well practise makes the perfect, for me i only need to spend at most 5mins for both eyes with contact lenses on...and some one i know can do that less than 1 min...But i still recommend you to get lense insert first as it's pretty much the same but only a slightly smaller FOV.. Laser surgery ... i prefer to wait for new technology coming up soon such as the one in developing in Canada.

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Wisdom is to pick one's battles, I choose not to learn this one :D I have lens inserts for Valve Index, they don't enhance my experience enough that Id get them for Aero. My glasses are not too strong.

@nickbabalis1875 Жыл бұрын

How the lenses move(ipd) just bought mine 2 days ago and haven't manage to find out how. Great video by the way.

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

IPD adjustment setting is in the Varjo Base software, not in the headset. I think the automatic adjustment is on by default and does it when you wear the headset.

@anzabob6850 Жыл бұрын

Kannattaa lisätä timestampit, muuten hyvä video!

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Kiitos palautteesta, timestampit lisätty ^^

@rodackor Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the review, watched in with desktop mode with my index. Tempted by the high resolution and quality of this gear. Technically, when you watch through this headset, it it like always distance vision for someone who wear glasses. Do you know - generally speaking - if your eyes converge more when watching a close object compared with a far away object like in real live , when using a VR headset ? Sorry for asking this kind of unusual query but I am curious to know what is your take on that since you are analytical. I suspect that VR may bend the light so that the eye muscle movement may not exactly match that of real life when looking close versus looking far away. Then there is no fresnal lens like in the Valve Index headset, so the optical properties may not be the same. Really tempted to buy this gear as a screen replacement to rest my eyes a bit as I am facing screens all day long and need to be looking far away. hence my questions.

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Well that was a question and a half! If I understood correctly your question and the tech, I'd expect eyes to keep the same focus in VR regardless of whether you are looking near or far in VR. As in I would think your lens is constantly locked in same position. If this is correct it is up to the headset manufacturer to set this point whether its close or far - only way is to ask the manufacturer. What I can tell you is that I have not gotten eye-strain from Varjo Aero.

@3lbios Жыл бұрын

around 2-3meter focal length for most headsets

@dave-j-k Жыл бұрын

Very nice video, thanks. I tried VR with a Reverb G2 in FS2020 but the image quality was not good enough to read the cockpit instruments without leaning forwards a lot - can you read small displays easily in the Aero? I sent the G2 back as this point made it non-usable for me but would maybe splash the cash on an Aero if it really works.

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

I have not found flight sims difficult with Varjo Aero. Would be nice to get to try aero in a store, but so far I havent seen them anywhere. When compared to Reverb G2 there is 1.68 times more pixels, which is not bad, but its nothing magical either. If you are serious about flight simming, I would also consider Varjo VR-3 headset with the quad screen tech, would be like a night and day difference.

@djtaylorutube Жыл бұрын

Yes no problem, I have several through the lens videos showing exactly this.

@dave-j-k Жыл бұрын

@@djtaylorutube Thanks, just watched them :)

@Goldzune Жыл бұрын

How would I attach a face tracker device to the Varjo Aero? The eye tracking is nice but I would like face tracking too. Mounting a face tracker is not a problem for me at least it's just how would I get power to it, would I have to use a really long USB-C to USB-C cable to get something like that to work or is there another solution to this problem?

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

I used 2 of these in chain. Vive facial tracker is old and slow USB, dispite the the connector. So you are forgiven for using non-active cable. www.amazon.de/-/en/gp/aw/d/B09SG2QJQ1/

@mulkmulkmulk Жыл бұрын

redshift doesn't exist in older firmware 2.5.x . sadly 4000- series gpus won't work on it and it has more warped distortions on the edge

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Really? That is curious! Would be interesting to try if I can get the firmware file from somewhere and install it.

@rodackor Жыл бұрын

ps: how long did you have to wait for the delivery ? The order page is nothing like Amazon ;-) Great review, +1 sub

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Thank you! ^^ I walked into local retailer and picked it up so hour or so. Have not ordered anything directly from Varjo. I think they are getting into some sort of deal with GameStop, could take a look there!

@rodackor Жыл бұрын

@@nerdaxic All right, good to know, so the distribution channels are not the same in the UK. I do not think that I can find any retailer that would sell this into a street store, I ordered my index online, there are not any VR headsets you can actually buy from a store, maybe in London but unlikely.

@ivanvuksan8050 Жыл бұрын

How about the field of view,....compared to index?

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Varjo Aero has tiny bit smaller FOV than Index, but I did not notice that until I looked it up.

@redtailpilot Жыл бұрын

Love my Aero! Best VR headset I've owned thus far. However, varjo base requires me to login every time I start my PC and sometimes says that there are too many logins, then requires me to login to the website to sign out of other logins. Very strange and annoying! Anyone else have things issue? Any ideas?

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Interesting, for me it has required one login after installation

@redtailpilot Жыл бұрын

@@nerdaxic yeah it's weird. Never used to happen with the initial download, only after one or two updates later. Thanks for the reply

@lorre007 Жыл бұрын

Also worth mentioning: Varjo's Motion Prediction isn't on point yet... I hope it improves in the time to come...

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Oh yeah that thing. I wondered what it does, it ruined my performance and made the experience bad. I turned it off and played happily ever after and forgetting it exists.

@PauloAlexoliveira Жыл бұрын

Banana for scale XD

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

The one and only 🍌

@carlospwk Жыл бұрын

Sir, this is a Wendy's

@HoshPak Жыл бұрын

This is close to 2.5 grand where I live and honestly... This is not a headset but a head-mounted display in the most literal sense and if that one component is not the best in class for that price (I refer to the issues with red objects popping out as well as the chromatic abbreviation), then it fails the market in my opinion. Taking that into account, referring to its features as "cost effective" while it doesn't ship with neither controllers, base stations, nor a good audio solution. No OLED for that price? And for going for mini-LED but without local dimming? Eye tracking comes with its own library which will likely never be used by the masses due to its price point. And it comes with a fricking cable, not to mention it's relying on the tracking technology of a third party (of which I firmly believe lighthouse tracking will eventually vanish in favor of inside-out tracked headsets). Just where is the good deal here and why is Varjo praised for this but Meta gets slandered for the Quest Pro?

@DwAboutItManFr Жыл бұрын

Are you finish or something?

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Yes, I'm definitely something 😆

@DwAboutItManFr Жыл бұрын

@@nerdaxic No way

@mikesmith4926 Жыл бұрын

Don't get it if you have a small head. I sold mine because it's so uncomfortable. I am looking at the Pimax Crystal now.

@THE1ONENEO Жыл бұрын

no screen burn in do your research lol they found a way

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Your comment is not helpful to anyone, but I'll try to address it. There are different types of burn in, permanent and non-permanent ones. Only permanent burn-in failure mode I am aware of happening in MiniLED LCD tech (not Aero specifically) is the uneven wear of the LED backlight array. This is such a slow process (years) that I have left it out of the video. You can have a ghost image on the LCD, but it should resolve itself over time, and with LCD-scrubber video. Other alternatives would be regular LED backlit LCD and OLED, where I would not use OLED in my arcade.

@JimBob1937 Жыл бұрын

LCD's don't have uneven per pixel wear like an OLED or plasma display would have. This is what most call burn in. So the Aero shouldn't have burn in.

@3lbios Жыл бұрын

Crystal is much better now, Aero will have to drop price by half to stay competitive

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

There is definitely a large brand- and RnD cost shoved in the price of Aero, it is a cut-down version of their XR-3 headset that is literally the best there is. I also considered Pimax, but I heard from reviews that their software is bad, and their optics have lots of distortion - which turned me off. Both are ofcourse something can be improved in future versions so must give it a chanse. Local retailers here don't carry Pimax, so I feel returning it is a hassle. I would like to try and evaluate one for sure!

@3lbios Жыл бұрын

@@nerdaxic Hm as for distortion it's the opposite, Aero has severe distortion while the new Pimax has none. Software is bad but arguably still better than Aero which I think still doesn't have any reprojection.

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

@@3lbios thanks for letting me know, I'll try to figure out if I can obtain one for test 😁

@Mkwhite1974 Жыл бұрын

Where did u hear pimax crystal had distortion? That is news everyone said no distortion.

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

@@Mkwhite1974 I have heard Pimax headsets in general have a lot of distortion, but this is old news. I am not familiar with Crystal yet. Things tend to develop.

@peshozmiata Жыл бұрын

You missed a very important piece of info - this doesn't support AMD graphics cards at all

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

No I didnt! The info is right there at 20:45 🍿👀

@peshozmiata Жыл бұрын

@@nerdaxic Ah good, i didn't watch til that part

@alexsp7086 Жыл бұрын

For the Price this headset is not that good.

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Prices are relative. Are the parts worth 2500€? No. Can you get better visual quality headset for cheaper? For the time being, also no. Is it two times better than headset half the price? No. Is it the best headset I have used up to date, yes it is. Its also way overkill for most, but a step in right direction. Would I buy it again? Yes I would.

@redtailpilot Жыл бұрын

@@nerdaxicmy sentiments as well

@tiziano316 Жыл бұрын

They are out of mind. Extremely too expensive. Buy Oculus rift S

@nerdaxic Жыл бұрын

Not gonna get an Oculus headset, I simply do not truest anything to do with Facebook.

@djtaylorutube Жыл бұрын

It's not a Facebook headset. It's really aimed at simulation games, yes it's great in Half Life Alyx but so much else just looks cartoonish and the Aero it's wasted on those.

@tiziano316 Жыл бұрын

@@djtaylorutube i ve just got Oculus rift S and its Great

@Cneq Жыл бұрын

I bought the Rift S in 2019 and upgraded to the aero a few months ago and the rift s is a literally children's toy in comparison. If my Varjo Aero were to break I would most likely quit VR entirely than go back to the Rift S due to how much of a massive leap the varjo aero actually is.