Varjo Announces First-Ever Mixed Reality Dimensional Interface for Professional Immersive Computing
‘Varjo Workspace’ Introduces a New Way of Using Computers by
Integrating Desktop Applications Inside Immersive VR/XR Environments,
Providing an Infinite Desktop VR Experience for Microsoft Windows
Which Seamlessly Bridges Mixed Reality and Creative Workflows
December 16, 2019 – Helsinki – Varjo™ (Shadow in Finnish) Technologies, the leader in enterprise-grade VR/XR headsets, today announced it has developed an innovative new 2D/3D immersive user interface. Code-named ‘Varjo Workspace’, the company’s new Dimensional Interface introduces a new paradigm allowing professionals to easily use Microsoft® Windows® applications and 3D software tools within a human eye-resolution VR or AR environment. With Varjo Workspace, users can seamlessly switch between real, virtual and mixed reality modes and modify their creations while experiencing them in 3D.
Varjo’s Dimensional Interface gives access to the Microsoft Windows desktop at any size and with extreme resolution. All of this is made possible through Varjo’s human eye-resolution capabilities, as no other headset can display readable text on a virtual screen or be able to mix the virtual and real worlds seamlessly together. With Varjo Workspace, it’s now possible to have infinitely-adjustable multiple monitors and to work simultaneously within 2D and 3D worlds – this is a critical part of Varjo’s vision of the future of computing.
The new user interface can be experienced with the company’s recently-announced XR-1 Developer Edition headset, bridging the current 2D UI with the photorealistic 3D world made possible by Varjo’s video pass-through-based mixed reality. Professionals in design, engineering and training can now work within an immersive VR/XR environment while simultaneously using the full power of existing desktop applications. Through Varjo’s Dimensional Interface, professional users can now both experience and modify their 3D models without ever taking off their headset.
For example, Varjo Workspace can be used in the automotive industry to modify a 3D car model using existing CAD and visualization tools like Autodesk® VRED™, Unity™ or Unreal™ while simultaneously observing the model in mixed or virtual reality.
“Varjo Workspace shows how professionals will use and interact with computers in the future. Unlike other immersive computing UIs, Varjo Workspace is not built on ‘hand-waving’ Hollywood UIs with no practical basis in reality, but instead integrates the way we work today using professional 2D applications – all enhanced by the capabilities of Varjo’s XR-1 Developer Edition,” said Urho Konttori, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Varjo. “Varjo is unique in being the only product maker capable of photorealistic visual fidelity in both VR and XR, with perfect color accuracy and control. This is a key enabler for the next computing paradigm. Today, the XR-1 and Varjo Workspace greatly expand the value of mixed reality for professionals by enabling immediate iterations and radically faster 2D/3D workflows.”
Varjo Workspace is currently shipping to customers and partners as part of the software delivered with the XR-1 Developer Edition. The XR-1 Developer Edition headset is available for purchase immediately at $9,995 (USD and Euros), and is sold together with Varjo’s Software and Support service at $1,995 (USD and Euros). Varjo plans to implement customer and partner feedback in 2020 to further deepen its integration with professional design, engineering and simulation tools.
Example videos of Varjo Workspace and ‘Infinite Desktop in VR’, directly captured through the Varjo headset, are available at vimeo.com/varjo.
About Varjo:
Varjo Technologies Oy is based in Helsinki and is creating the world’s best hardware and software for groundbreaking VR/AR/XR computing devices, merging the real and digital worlds seamlessly together in human-eye resolution.
