VRgineers Unveils XTAL, a New Smart Headset for Professionals Packed with Novel Technology

XTAL is a world’s first VR headset with AutoEye and embedded Leap Motion.

VRgineers introduces XTAL, a new VR headset built meticulously around the needs of professional designers and engineers who require superior image quality and accuracy, wide field-of-view, easy integration, and data security. Whether users want to virtually design, create, prototype, teach or train, XTAL offers the visual quality needed for even the most demanding tasks.

VRgineers goes even further by introducing a set of breakthrough technologies with XTAL. It is the only headset in the world to feature AutoEye, the company’s proprietary technology that automatically aligns lens positions with the user’s eyes. The setting of the interpupillary distance (IPD) is often neglected, though crucial for optimal image quality. AutoEye makes sure the IPD is always correct and allows an easy switching of headset users.

XTAL will be the world’s first headset on the market to feature an embedded Leap Motion sensor. The highly accurate 180×180º hand-tracking gives the user a seamless and intuitive way of interacting with a VR scene with bare hands.

Finally, the headset enables issuing voice commands in VR through its built-in microphone coupled with voice recognition software to further free the user to focus on what is he or she doing.

“Over the last year, we’ve invested hundreds of hours talking to our enterprise users across industries, gathering feedback and learning what makes VR usage in professional applications difficult,” says Marek Polcak, VRgineers CEO. “Then we put all our passion into creating the next generation VR headset that addresses these issues. We firmly believe XTAL will become an indispensable component of engineering, manufacturing, designing, and training processes, and enable you to do more while saving resources, money and time.”

VRgineers XTAL was developed in Prague with the challenging task of combining several contradicting requirements: keeping the best-in-class image quality with 5K resolution, 170º field-of-view, and patented non-Fresnel lenses; embedding new technology; and reducing the headset’s size and weight. XTAL’s design achieves this, bringing the weight down 12% from VRgineers’ previous headset, the VRHero. The slimmer, more compact body, and genuine leather face cushion makes XTAL comfortable to wear even for prolonged time periods.

“XTAL is a short way of writing crystal,” notes Martin Holecko, one of the VRgineers co-founders. “It symbolizes the new crystal-like polygonal structure of the headset and our obsession with a crystal-clear image in VR. Plus, it refers to XTAL’s country of origin, known for its ancient craft of Bohemian crystal glass.”

VRgineers’ focus on bringing a full hardware-software stack for professional VR users and industrial use cases has further expanded through cooperation with specialized software companies such as Autodesk, Dassault Systèmes, and ESI on integrating XTAL into their software suites. Similarly, for VR setups capable of handling highly complex VR projects, XTAL is optimized for NVIDIA Quadro professional GPUs.

“VR for professional use is broadly gaining traction,” says David Weinstein, Director of Enterprise VR at NVIDIA.  “When creating a product prototype or architectural plan you really need to see the details in your design, and that precision and clarity really comes through in the VRgineers headset’s high-resolution display combined with NVIDIA Quadro professional GPUs.”

“For ŠKODA AUTO engineers, it is crucial in the design revision process to display the digital model of the car in the highest true-to-life image quality possible and a corresponding field-of-view. For that purpose, the VRgineers headset is the only choice on the market achieving such quality standards,” says Leos Cerveny, Virtual Reality and Digital Factory Coordinator in ŠKODA AUTO, a part of Volkswagen Group.

The new VRgineers XTAL headset is available now for purchase in the U.S. for the price of $5,800 and will start shipping in September. Orders can be placed at vrgineers.com/order.