Varjo Releases XR-3 Focal Edition Mixed Reality Headset for Advanced Training Operations
HELSINKI, Finland / ORLANDO, Florida – November 28, 2022 – Today at I/ITSEC, Varjo, maker of professional-grade VR/XR hardware and software, announced its newest headset, XR-3 Focal Edition, which provides superior visual quality for mixed reality implementations where real-world objects such as cockpits, car dashboards, cell phones, and kneeboards are used. The XR-3 Focal Edition offers the ultimate visual precision for advanced use cases where visualizing small text and illustrations on physical instruments in mixed reality is mission-critical.
The XR-3 Focal Edition is best used for interacting with real instruments, gauges, panels, and meters in mixed-reality scenarios where the trainee is fully immersed in computer-generated content yet needs to interact with the physical world immediately adjacent to the viewer. The headset provides dual high-resolution, 12-megapixel cameras that are calibrated to provide improved image clarity for the range of 30 centimeters to 80 centimeters (12” to 31”) from the headset in comparison to a standard XR-3. Seeing crucial dials and knobs in proper focus with content close to the video sensor requires a closer focusing point. The optimized components in the mixed reality camera system change the distance of the focus so the lens brings a sharper depth of field, closer to the user.
Varjo XR-3 Focal Edition is fully TAA-compliant (the Trade Agreements Act and the Buy America Act) meaning that at least 50% of its overall manufacture cost originates from the US or designated countries and that the product has undergone substantial transformation in the US or designated countries. Trade Agreements Act (TAA) compliance is becoming an ever-increasing requirement enabling HMD-based solutions to be used for secure and classified operations. Sold with a perpetual, offline license that enables operations in non-internet connected environments that does not require users to create accounts, the XR-3 Focal Edition can support the most demanding security needed for the United States Department of Defense, intelligence, and security-critical infrastructure customers. Furthermore, for customers looking for the highest level of security, the XR-3 Focal Edition can be delivered with radio frequency capability removed as required to operate in some classified environments.
“The use of XR-based devices across the training and simulation segment has grown exponentially over the past year, and we’re pleased to be working with the world’s leading simulation and training companies across both civilian and defense sectors. We heard from our customers the need for more precise visuals at a closer distance, specifically when looking at dashboards, cockpits, and cell phones and we responded with the XR-3 Focal Edition to address the need,” said Seppo Aaltonen, Chief Commercial Officer of Varjo.
“Our engineering team has noticed a clear difference in the ability to read instruments on the avionics panel thanks to Varjo’s all-new XR-3 Focal Edition,” said Chad Schmitz, Product Manager for Mixed Reality Flight at FlightSafety International. “Our customers have already undergone installations with the XR-3 Focal Edition headsets and test pilots have given positive feedback on the resolution and high fidelity of the device. We can now offer our customers a fully TAA-compliant solution for the most demanding mixed reality training scenarios and deployments.”
Varjo’s mission and commitment is to provide the highest immersion virtual and mixed reality products and services for its advanced VR/XR users and customers. Varjo is already shipping the only true mixed reality headset available that uses video pass-through making it the only device where virtual images are seamlessly mixed with the user’s real surroundings and digital images look real instead of appearing as holographic augmentations. A majority of the world’s biggest western defense and aerospace customers are using Varjo’s professional mixed and virtual reality products, and 25% of Fortune 100 companies are using Varjo’s XR/VR hardware and software, delivering ROI in multiples to the world’s biggest companies.
Once purchased, users will have access to continuous software improvements over time. Varjo XR-3 Focal Edition is fully software compatible and supports all the same features of the Varjo XR-3. Visit Varjo at I/ITSEC from November 28, 2022 through December 2, 2022 at their booth located at #3010 to try the new XR-3 Focal Edition.
Media Contact: press@varjo.com
About Varjo:
Varjo (pronounced var-yo) makes revolutionary VR/XR hardware and software that together allow you to see and experience virtual and augmented content just as clearly as you see the analog world around us. Our virtual and mixed reality headsets take you to another level of performance and emotional immersion – recreating the exact feeling and conditions of real life, allowing you to perform better and learn faster. www.varjo.com
Partner & customer quotes:
“In mixed reality pilot training, having the visual precision to operate avionics is paramount,” Adam Breed, Strategic Technologies Architect at Lockheed Martin Training and Logistics Solutions, said. “Lockheed Martin’s simulators integrate with the Varjo XR-3 Focal Edition’s passthrough cameras for viewing the physical controls and dashboards in a cockpit.”
“With the Varjo XR-3 Focal Edition, our pilots can see all the avionics clearly, thanks to the high resolution of the headset,” said Daniel Jäger, TKI, Lufthansa Aviation Training Switzerland AG. “With this advanced mixed reality solution, pilots can also use physical controllers that are needed to operate commercial aircraft, strongly enhancing our training outcomes.”
“Throughout our different US Government run programs last year, we received feedback from pilots that physical objects in helicopter cockpits close to the eyepoint were difficult to read. We brought this to Varjo’s attention and they responded immediately with prototypes that eventually led to the creation of the XR-3 Focal Edition and it provided an immediate solution,” said Javier Castellar, CSO and co-founder of Aechelon Technology Inc. “With the XR-3 Focal Edition, we’re able to deliver world-class mixed-reality, multi-sensor, and visual solutions for a variety of advanced customers for the US Air Force, US Navy, US Marines, US Coast Guard, and Allied Partner nations on the most stringent use cases.”
“The Varjo XR-3 Focal Edition perfectly addresses our customer’s requirements for training in Mixed Reality,” said George Forbes, CEO of IDSI. “The requirement is to read text and interact with equipment within arm’s length and the Focal Edition provides the greatest clarity and highest resolution available.”
“By using the XR-3 Focal Edition, we can view training environments from every angle in 3D compared to a two-dimensional soda-straw view without it. We can convert quickly into full virtual reality to see from the trainee’s point of view just as easily as we can transition to a mixed reality view,” said Dan Meeks, Simulation Consultant of Battlespace Simulations. “The XR-3 Focal Edition provides the clarity to check if the wings of an aircraft miles away are level while also clearly and vibrantly showing something that is millimeters in size in the operations center.”
“Varjo XR-3 Focal Edition offers the required visual fidelity for advanced training simulations where operating physical instruments within mixed reality is mission-critical,” said Jarmo Lindberg, General in reserve and former Chief of Defence for the Finnish Defence Forces.
“We’re seeing a radical improvement when reading print and digital text in a mixed reality cockpit training scenario with the Varjo XR-3 Focal Edition. That is why all our flight and JTAC simulators at I/ITSEC this year use the TAA-compliant XR-3 Focal Edition devices. We are pleased to continue working with Varjo on delivering the highest-end XR simulators for our customers,” said Bert Haselden, mixed reality lead engineer at MVRsimulation.
