Varjo Aero VR headset

You know… A commuter pilot in uncontrolled airspace always has their head on a swivel. My bogies won’t always come with their backs to the sun! :wink:

5 Likes

Doesn’t @BeachAV8R call it “Indian country” because of all the warriors, navajo and cherokees?
I remember laughing my arse off when I read it anyway

4 Likes

Which headset did you have? For me, VR completely transformed flight simming. It seems you had a very different experience than I have had. The only headset I didn’t get along with was the Odyssey Plus, but the Rift, Rift-S and Reverb G2 were all excellent.

3 Likes

Headset fit is weird and very personal for sure. Luckily most retailers allow returns within a month.
For me, the Odyssey was a great fit, but the Reverb G2 really hurt my forehead.

Luckily, I know someone with a 3D printer and found some “gasket” designs online, and a shorter extra wide face adapter means the G2 fits my head reasonably well now. Still not as comfortably as the Odyssey, but I do breathe better in this one, and the clarity is worth it.

I am so sorry that the mounting on this Varjo is so incompatible with your head @Troll . Doesn’t look like a face adapter can solve this :frowning: . Thanks for testing and sharing!

2 Likes

New day, new thoughts…
The image clarity is phenomenal. I see details I didn’t know was there. And the performance is surprisingly good, even without motion reprojection.
It is really nice to be able to see everything without leaning in.
That’s a really big plus, with the Aero.
The minuses are image distortions and bad fit. I got a tip from a guy in the Varjo users discord channel. He added a counterweight on the neck strap. That may be a good idea, actually.
The smaller FoV is a minus, but the fact that the smaller view is so sharp and clear almost all the way to the edges makes the ’useable’ view larger than the G2 view. But the black ’borders’ are there. The feeling of looking through a ski mask or diving mask increases…

I am torn…
One minute I’m thinking that I’ll return it.
Next minute I’m all Stop whining! You call yourself a flightsimmer? Tinkering and adapting is what you do. Fix this! and I want to keep the Aero, just to see where this is going. I still have faith in Varjo.

5 Likes

I I bought a counterweight for my G2 from this company:

I’m sure you could make something cheaper and just as effective. I also bought the “over the top” head strap from the same company. The result is a heavier, yet better balanced and supported headset.

6 Likes

I think that’s the one he was referring to…

2 Likes

The distortion is largely about software, so that should evolve.

The bad fit is not good, but then I am confident in your ability to fix it up, more than I would be able to. Example - here’s the 3D model of the headset for home modifications and printing:

Here’s the stp data file for the model:

https://share.varjo.com/index.php/s/SDKXjmxXjXzzg2R

This isn’t really an opinion to either keep it or not (e.g. is it $2000 better than the G2 etc.) but more that if you do then you have some options.

1 Like

@Troll if I understand you correctly you also own the G2.
In that case let me be your reasoning voice; from your reports about the Varjo there is no way in hell keeping it is worth it in relation to the price you paid for it.
Return the thing and be content with your G2. It’ll serve you well until the next true revelation in VR and you’ll have a lot of cash back in your hand.

7 Likes

I have to agree with @Yassy here. I got my G1 thrown in when I bought my pc. The fit for me personally is absolutely shocking. It’s horrendously uncomfortable. The picture compared to my old rift is spectacular but of I had actually spent my money to buy it new I would of been very much on the fence about keeping it. It hurts that badly.

For the price you paid for yours it ought to feel like a rolls Royce seat pressed against your face. It kinds of needs to be perfect at that price point

5 Likes

YES! I’m just recollecting when a business partner of mine took me out for a ride in his brand new Mercedes Benz sedan. I asked him, “Are we actually moving?”. :smiley: So smooth.

2 Likes

I would argue that (all relative) small sweetspot, small fov and added weight and heath source on our heads are common shortcomings of these helmets.

according to posts of others here we can see that fit is just hit or miss.

so in the end, before I returned that Pimax Artisan, I was in the same state of mind as Troll :slight_smile:

so it wasnt a transformation for me, more like an upgrade of the experience. I dont feel that I am missing something after the return. on the other hand if I had keep it I think I will be using it on regular basis.

4 Likes

That’s what I’m thinking. It is also possibly linked to the bad fit. Others having problems getting the headset to fit them also has a distortion problem. Is it because the headset sits farther from the rotational axis of the head? I think there may be a correlation here…

Thanks! That may be useful.

Well, I knew the answer to that before I ordered. It’s not 4 times better than the G2, and I never thought it would be.
So I guess it comes down to what $2000 is worth, for me… I bought this headset because I have faith in Varjo and that I wanted to ride the early adopter train. Such endeavours come at a cost and I feel I would be giving up too soon, if I just returned it.

2 Likes

Since when has reason played a part in this? :wink:
Seriously, I appreciate your input and it is valid…
Buying a $2000 headset (plus taxes and a base station) is not reasonable, in the first place. I dealt with that before I ordered.
The question is if I should accept having a VR headset, any VR headset, that has these issues that I’m experiencing…
The answer to that is, no, I shouldn’t.
But then there’s Varjo. I got the headset because their reputation in the commercial VR market. So far they have provided excellent support.
When I first tried the headset on and found out it didn’t fit well, I contacted them. I got a promt reply that the issue was forwarded to ergonomics design. I then asked if they would accept the return if I had used the headset. Sure! Just don’t use it as a hammer, was the reply. :slight_smile: Gotta love customer support like that. :rofl:
Next time I contacted them was when the account password reset failed. Another speedy reply that I should clean out the browser cache. If that didn’t work, they’d reset it manually.
So far I see a small company standing by their product, eager to help their customers. I’ll wait and see what their design team will come up with…

Wouldn’t that smother me…? :wink:

5 Likes

Ha ha, no worries. I hope you didn’t take it as obnoxious. It was meant in a friendly way.

It does come down to what 2000 is worth to you indeed. For me though, it would be an excessive price to pay to just show support to a company.

In fact, by returning it, they get valuable feedback for R&D in order to make their next product better, which you will buy to show support once again later down the line while also having your cash back at this particular point in time.
You invested in them, they gained feedback, they return your investment and you stay a loyal customer and will make a new investment later.

IMO its a better deal than trying to slam a square pin into a round hole with the Aero.
Its going to be an expensive shelf decoration before long, especially if you have an alternative close at hand, because comfort and ease of use will win once the shiny has worn off and its then that the voice in your head gets louder telling you that you could’ve had 2k in your hand instead. I think we’ve all been there.

Again, its your money and I am in no way telling you what you must do. I just recognise the situation. :grinning:

If you do decide to keep it then I hope you keep us updated on your endeavors of tweaking it!
How is the build quality of the Varjo btw?

1 Like

No problem! You’re just saying what I’m thinking, half the time… :slight_smile:

I agree, but that’s not what I meant. I’m thinking that maybe Varjo will fix this and that it will be worth it in the end.

Good. Nothing special. Curious to see how it holds up. Especially the tightening straps…

1 Like

I’m pretty sure that the cause of the distortion I’m seeing comes from an axis error. It feels as if my eyes are placed in front of the HMD… Varjo should be able to fix this.

Just tried IL-2 with the Aero… Although this sim doesn’t have a lot of detailed cockpit text and MFDs that benefits from a higher resolution, I must say that it looks fantastic in the Aero. It’s easy to see why reviewers get caught up in the picture clarity.
Performance has always been good in IL-2 and it seems to do just as well in the Aero as it does in the G2, but with a better picture. $2000 worth of picture improvement…? Well, as mentioned earlier, what is $2000 worth to you? I doubt it will make me a happier flightsimmer, but again, I’d love to see where Varjo is taking this…
Next up is MSFS.

3 Likes

MSFS workes great in the Aero. With the usual caveats of bad fit, smaller FoV, etc.
The picture really looks very good…
And performance seems even better than with the G2.
@fearlessfrog, help me out here…
With the G2 I used the OpenXR for WMR dev. tool. That tool has no effect on the Varjo Aero, right? Or does it in some way emulate a WMR headset?

Aaaargh… I really like the positive sides of the Aero.
Can I live with its negatives…?

I must admit that the cost is affecting me.
It would’ve been easier to decide to just keep it if it was a $500 piece of kit. And if there were no distortions, wider FoV and better fit, I’d definitely keep it, even at the current cost.
Now, I think I can depend on Varjo to fix the distortions. I’m quite confident that I can do something about the fit, if I decide to keep it.
The FoV I can’t do anything about. Also, it’s not as big of an issue as you might think.

Seth Meyers GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers

2 Likes

Fully commit and alter your face to fit the Aero man. C’mon…

3 Likes

I would assume it doesn’t, WMR driver only. The Varjo Base software settings should have equivalent for output resolution size etc (I think it uses a compression expressed as a ratio or something?)

1 Like