Introducing a Dimensional Interface: Varjo Workspace

Today we are introducing the world to our new user experience, code named Varjo Workspace.

Varjo Workspace is the world’s first dimensional interface, and a completely new way to use computers. It enables us to step beyond physical monitors and work in a space in which flat 2D applications blend seamlessly with immersive spatial 3D experiences.

Since Varjo was founded, we have always believed that for the immersive computing revolution to happen, we would need to bridge the present and the future with the world’s best VR/XR hardware, the most powerful software, and a user interface that frees us from the constraints of the physical world. With the recent launch of our photorealistic mixed reality headset and now Varjo Workspace, we are now shipping all three: hardware, software and interface.

When it comes to creating spatial content, currently the problem is that you need to go back and forth between using 3D creation tools like Unity® Editor on a flat monitor and seeing your creation come to life through a headset. Instead of just introducing new tools, we wanted to enable bringing existing 3D creation tools into the immersive world with customizable virtual monitors that let you use the same applications you normally would – all in a photorealistic 3D environment.

This way, instead of needing to learn to use new software applications, you can use your decades-long mastery of your favorite design tool – be it CAD, a game engine, or a 3D graphics suite. As always in CAD, you need to be able to operate complex commands from your keyboard, and Varjo is the only product that also lets you see the keyboard.

All this is made possible by Varjo’s mixed reality headset and its video pass-through technology. We are already seeing incredible innovation around our mixed reality devices from companies like Bohemia Interactive Simulations, Volvo, Flight Safety, and CAE, all of whom are introducing a paradigm shift in the simulation and training space, mixing the real and the virtual in completely groundbreaking ways. Varjo headsets are already utilized in simulators, car development sites, and training facilities, where training can now be done more cost-effectively than with traditional setups such as domes.

The next step is to make this technology personal, allowing you to decide when, where and how you want to use it with your favorite design or development tools. The complete freedom to move naturally between virtual, mixed and traditional realities creates endless new possibilities and allows you to reach entirely new creative heights.

Varjo Workspace is a developer edition, meaning that it’s still early days and we’re still exploring the vast potential of this new computing paradigm. We’ll continue working on the many aspects of Workspace during the upcoming months, collaborating with our partners and customers to deepen the integration with professional design, engineering and simulation tools and to make the Dimensional Interface part of everyday work.

Our vision hasn’t changed since we founded Varjo: We are creating a new kind of immersive computing, where virtual, augmented and traditional realities become one. One where you can no longer tell the difference between what is real and what is virtual. To this end, we are working on perfecting the light, shadows and reflections – making them exact replicas of the world around you. You can see this in the adjacent video – it’s the current state of the art, working in any Varjo powered 3D model already today.

We’re seeing today how the promise of spatial computing is already turning into reality with Varjo headsets. Next these devices will become personal, lighter, more approachable, and fully connected. Ultimately, spatial computing will become an everyday experience for professionals and consumers alike, ending the era of Desktop PCs as we know them.

Today, that future is closer than ever.

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