Bigscreen has unveiled its latest VR headset, the Beyond 2, which is a significant upgrade from the last one. The Beyond 2 is a super-light headset weighing just 107 grams, which makes it one of the lightest VR headsets available. It boasts a wide 116° field of view and features new pancake lenses that enhance clarity and visuals.
One of the defining features of Beyond 2 is its independent lens placement adjustment, which allows users to manually move each lens to exactly fit their eyes. This is accomplished by a small hex tool that is inserted into holes on either side of the headset, allowing for precise adjustments without the use of buttons or wheels. This not only contributes to the comfort but also makes it extremely easy to share the headset with others.
Bigscreen is offering two versions of the Beyond 2: the standard Beyond 2 and the Beyond 2e. The Beyond 2e offers an optional eye-tracking feature, which is integrated in the headset using the world’s smallest eye-tracking suite. This suite features sensors the size of a grain of sand and utilizes AI-powered computer vision for low-latency and privacy-focused tracking. The eye-tracking solution is configured to work with applications like VRChat, allowing users to control their avatars’ eye movements and blinking to enable more social VR experiences.
The eye-tracking solution of the Beyond 2e is performance-friendly, running primarily on the GPU rather than the CPU, which reduces system load compared to other PC VR eye-tracking solutions. First and foremost, the first use of eye tracking will be to power avatar expressions in VRChat. However, Bigscreen is planning to add more features later this year, including support for eye-tracked foveated rendering, which enhances performance by directing rendering resources to where the user is actually looking. This is particularly useful for performance-intensive games like Microsoft Flight Simulator.
In addition to its enhanced optics and eye tracking, the Beyond 2 also features a universal Lightseal facial interface, eliminating the need for custom face scans. It will be joined later this year by a Halo Mount accessory, which will provide users with more flexibility in how they wear the headset, including being able to use custom-fit pads, universal pads, or no pad at all for an open peripheral view.
The Beyond 2 and Beyond 2e are priced at $1,019 and $1,219, respectively, although early adopters of the original Beyond can get them for promotional prices of $849 and $1,049. The headsets will be released in April, with the Halo Mount accessory following at some point in Q3 2025. Both models will come in three colors: Carbon Black, Crystal Clear, and Nuclear Orange.
Overall, the Bigscreen Beyond 2 is a massive leap in VR technology, combining super-light design, next-gen optics, and innovative features like eye tracking to provide a more immersive and achievable VR experience.
