AMD joins VR race with new ‘spatial mapping’ headset

AMD today announced its entry into the VR arms race by way of its new Sulon headset, an ostensible hybridization of augmented and virtual reality.

“When you experience augmented reality the Sulon way, your physical world is not replaced, it’s enhanced,” the Sulon site reads. “Everywhere you look your full field of view is the physical world you know, seamlessly augmented with new realities.”

The Sulon experience is built on its “spatial processing unit,” which AMD describes as a veritable link between worlds. Hardware specifications reveal multiple sensors supporting the system, including an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer.

“Sulon spatial redirection allows you to move beyond the walls of your home or office without leaving your physical space,” the Sulon site reads, “because when mapping your physical environment its limitations and obstacles are accounted for.”

Unlike the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, Sulon also features untethered design. Its rendering and processing is handled internally, without the aid of another computer. Conceptually, this pushes AMD’s headset closer to the likes of Samsung’s Gear VR, but the Sulon’s “expected specs” belie the comparison: it sports a 4-core CPU and 8-core GPU unified through “heterogenous system architecture.”

Additionally, Sulon delivers 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, two USB 3.0 ports and Wifi/Bluetooth support. Curiously, a micro HDMI out port is also included, perhaps to export or project images. Then there’s the screen, a 2560×1440 OLED display running at 90 Hz. Altogether, this hardware delivers “video game console-quality visuals,” AMD said in a press package. Notably, a price point has yet to be revealed.

On top of gaming, Sulon also supports more pragmatic functions such as Windows 10-powered “spatial computing” and “digital decorating.” The former leverages the headset to create a virtual workspace; the latter lets you virtually tweak the appearance of real-world objects, like your clothes or the lighting of a room.

It’s still unclear where along the VR/AR spectrum Sulon rests. For the unfamiliar: VR puts players in purely virtual 3D spaces, whereas AR uses real-world objects as a base for digital imagery. It’s the difference between seeing and looking around an unending prairie, and seeing a horse bound into your living room. Sulon seems to have a penchant for both, and while AR and VR aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, they also aren’t the same. It will be interesting to see where AMD steers the two when Sulon launches this spring.

Source: AMD

Via: GameSpot