Varjo unveils ‘refreshed' XR-4 series mixed reality headset for air, land, and sea training

Screen-grab from video demonstrating real hands integrated into mixed reality in Varjo Base 4.12 for the XR-4 series. (Varjo)

Helsinki-based technology company Varjo has launched a refreshed XR-4 series headset with mixed reality for training across air, land, and sea, the company announced in an 8 October press release.

What Varjo calls the “refreshed XR-4 series” includes a redesigned headband with a new front plate compatible with SteamVR tracking, mixed reality for cockpits, and operational support through to 2030. The mixed reality allows pilots to interact with maps and avionics inside cockpits while in a simulated environment. The system can log eye-tracking data, using the so-called ‘predictive foveation', which predicts where a user's gaze will turn and reduces foveation latency by 15–25 ms.

The system also allows users' real hands to be visible while being blended with virtual objects. “The ideal situation is to have the machine knowing where your hands are, but what you see still is your real hands in a virtual environment, and I think the same applies to tools as well. You want to see then the real weapon with your real hands in a virtual space, and that's the nice frontier to draw,” Patrick Wyatt, chief product officer at Varjo, told Janes in a briefing on 25 September.

The XR-4 series, which was launched in 2023, includes ultra-high-resolution visuals with 51 pixels per degree, a 120°×105° field-of-view, and more than 20 megapixel stereo passthrough. The software is Windows-based and allows for scaled-up processing power, according to Wyatt. Artificial intelligence (AI) is used to improve the quality of the images, Wyatt said.

During the Varjo briefing, Janes