Since when has reason played a part in this?
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. Gotta love customer support like that.
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…
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?)
Ah, yep that’s it. It’s a good way of expressing it rather than plain resolution, what with all the shaping that goes on in VR.
I think I might order an Aero today but will sleep on it. Will see what the lead time is as well. (edit: hmm, 3 to 4 months is a long time, and that’s what it is showing.)
That’s the same lead time as when I ordered.
I wonder why the lead time hasn’t changed? Batch production? Chip shortage? Holding back because of feedback…?
The lenses are made of jellified unicorn tears, and it takes a while to make them cry happy tears? .
I guess they are just rolling out slowly. This is their first non-subscription consumer product, so they might be taking it slow, plus like you said, not a lot of chips around still. If I have to wait 4 months I might get distracted by something shinier…
Not trying to be the devil’s advocate, but I keep thinking that if the consumer doesn’t show dissatisfaction and the demand is high, that they don’t have much incentive to improve the design. On the other hand, they might have had enough feedback already to take action. We’ll never know until the next version comes out.
Maybe that’s my problem? Don’t you have to have a pure heart to see a unicorn…?
Could it be only virgins will see through the lenses without distortions?
Is it at all possible to be 100% satisfied with a VR headset?
I will wager that it is impossible to design a VR headset that will please everyone. It will always be a tradeoff. At least with the technology we have today.
This may sound corny, but what if people told the Wright Bros. to stuff it, after their 60m hop in 1903.
The Aero has a lot going for it, but it’s not the end all, be all, VR headset. But it’s not like they released a dud…
They most definitely did not. It’s just that its pricing compared to the competition would warrant a bigger leap. At least that’s what my impression is so far.
If the Aero was anywhere between 600 - 1500 (full set) I would think there was little to complain about.
1990 for the HMD, 250 for a base station. And then you need to get controllers still.
They also charge 50 per foam replacement. What’s that? NASA NVMe memory foam?
Putting on my VR prognosticator hat (with comfort strap), here’s what could be coming up:
Valve Steam Deck VR / Index 2. It’ll be stand-alone (like a Quest 2) but with the mini PC Deck put down at the base of your neck. The lenses and tracking will be great, but will it emphasize clarity over everything else (for us simmers)? Maybe September?
Some sort of Apple VR device. It will be super high-end, have some white/chrome on it and probably be even more expensive than the Aero. It might not even have a PC input. Maybe next year, but it’s coming for sure?
Playstation VR 2 might buck the Sony trend and actually hook up to a PC stream plus be better than what we have. Soon, but likely to be console only even if the lenses/panels are great.
Varjo Aero 2. It’ll come, it depends on how soon. Maybe September this year?
Quest 2 Pro or some other miracle Facebook device. They have excellent tech people working for years now on variable focus, eye tracked foveated and non-Fresnel lenses, so eventually they’ll do some leap forward on a consumer device. It is possible it might not be able to be side-loaded and be a Oculus Store only thing just for its own software. That may seem stupid to us but we’re not their market at all now.
HP did update their Reverb SKU like 3 times in 12 months, so not impossible to get a Reverb 3 this year. Don’t really feel any energy from Microsoft or their vendors with VR though, especially where Bro Spencer is not keen and all about energy drinks and looking too old in tight t-shirts.
So 4 months isn’t really that long a time, but it might mean we get more concrete info on some of the above.
Yes, price plays a part here.
I mean, lens design cost a lot, judging from the different prices I see everytime I need new glasses. Looks like the software may need a few extra lines of codes too…
Gotta love customer support like that. 
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