4299 yuan! PICO 4 Ultra released! The strongest Vision Pro alternative?

On August 20th, PICO unveiled its first MR integrated device, the PICO 4 Ultra, and Le Technology was invited to report on the event in Beijing. With a more powerful computing platform, improved cameras, and a series of changes in software, the PICO 4 Ultra has undergone a refreshing transformation compared to the PICO 4, bringing it closer to the experience of Apple Vision Pro.

At the same time, PICO is also undergoing changes in its application and content ecosystems.

Enhanced Computing Power and Algorithms Refresh the PICO 4 Ultra in MR

Let's set aside the changes to the controllers for now. The most noticeable change on the PICO 4 Ultra is the addition of two more cameras on the front of the device, in addition to the original one, making it three in total. These include an iToF depth-sensing camera and two 32-megapixel color cameras.

The core function of the iToF depth-sensing camera is distance measurement, which can accurately calculate the spatial distance of approximately 3 meters at a 60-degree angle. The two 32-megapixel color cameras, mimicking human eyes, are arranged symmetrically and can output an 8-megapixel, 20.6PPD (field of view) image to the PICO 4 Ultra's screen after capturing the real environment, right before your eyes.

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It's clear that these cameras are not only for capturing the real environment for the subsequent real-time reconstruction of highly realistic virtual spaces but also support the capture of spatial videos and photos with a resolution of up to 2048x1536 at 60fps. Moreover, PICO is the first Qualcomm platform MR product to support the entire process of shooting, editing, and broadcasting spatial videos.

Of course, both the MR experience and the capture of spatial photos/videos are built upon the computing platform. For the PICO 4 Ultra, PICO has chosen to equip it with the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, which brings a 2.5-fold increase in GPU performance and an 8-fold improvement in AI performance.

The most direct benefit of the chip upgrade may be reflected in the upgrade of game graphics, but in addition to that, the actual rendering resolution of the PICO 4 Ultra has also increased by more than 62% compared to the PICO 4, reaching 1920x1920. In other words, all images on the PICO 4 Ultra can become clearer.

Based on the MR experience and performance enhancement, the PICO 4 Ultra has expanded to offer new features in more scenarios. For example, the panoramic screen supports the simultaneous display of up to 20 application windows, which may delight F1 enthusiasts, and the multitude of windows may also trigger new usage habits, much like tab design in desktop browsers.MR is possible, and of course, so is VR. The PICO 4 Ultra supports a one-click switch between MR and VR modes. In MR mode, we can see the "real space" captured by the camera and reconstructed by algorithms in real-time, maintaining continuous contact with the outside world. In VR mode, the environment we see is a virtual space generated by computer graphics rendering, offering a highly immersive experience.

The PICO 4 Ultra also introduces AIGC scene generation for the first time. However, compared to the virtual scenes built using 3D graphics technology by PICO in the past, the current AIGC scenes still lack fineness and a sense of space, and there is a noticeable gap in the experience between the two.

As for the controllers, they represent a significant change in PICO 4 Ultra's hardware. The original tracking ring design has been removed, making the new PICO controller without a light ring lighter (approximately 15g lighter than the previous generation), and the design with the center of gravity closer to the palm is more ergonomic.

With the support of cameras and algorithms, the PICO 4 Ultra has also added gesture interaction, which can replace the function of the controller in some scenarios. Considering the development of cameras and image recognition algorithms that MR is bound to bring, I believe PICO will go even further in gesture interaction.

Embracing MR, PICO also embraces openness.

At the PICO 4 Ultra launch event, it was evident that PICO has made significant changes in its ecosystem, becoming more diverse, open, and forming a stronger synergy with its parent company, ByteDance.

Firstly, MR applications have been added. According to the introduction at the launch event, PICO 4 Ultra will offer experiences with over 50 MR applications, over 600 VR games, and over 300 non-game VR applications, covering various scenarios such as gaming, entertainment, music, and work.

PICO also announced that it will open its app store in the second half of this year, supporting a broader range of developers to upload applications, ensuring equal distribution rights. The "Early Experience Zone" will be upgraded, and there will be a gradual increase in services for individual developers.Additionally, the PICO 4 Ultra is fully compatible with Android applications, which means you can install and use common apps such as WeChat, Lark, Bilibili, and TikTok on the PICO 4 Ultra. Whether it's Android apps or games, they help to some extent to make up for the lack of a rich XR app ecosystem.

The PICO 4 Ultra also supports interconnection and screen casting between mobile phones and PC platforms, allowing you to cast the screens of your phone and computer onto the PICO 4 Ultra in the form of application windows. The accompanying keyboard and mouse support will be updated in the fourth quarter of this year.

Of course, the PICO 4 Ultra continues to improve the experience of streaming PC VR games, supporting WiFi 7 to reduce the wireless streaming transmission latency to 5ms, with a wired streaming bitrate that can reach up to 1000Mbps, presenting a more lossless image, and also supporting the higher compression ratio AV1 codec. However, possibly due to the complex on-site environment, only the wired connection experience of "Half-Life: Alyx" was available, and the improvements in wireless streaming could not be experienced.

In terms of content, spatial/photo videos are currently a development direction widely recognized by XR manufacturers. The PICO 4 Ultra not only supports playing and editing its own spatial videos but is also compatible with the spatial video formats shot by Apple devices, meaning that spatial videos shot by iPhone and Vision Pro can also be viewed on the PICO 4 Ultra.

PICO has also partnered with Canon, announcing the Spatial Video Creator Program at the press conference. In addition to collaborating with organized group creators (OGC) and top professional creators (PGC), they will also encourage individual user creators to join.

Since we are talking about spatial photos/videos, it is also necessary to mention AI-based 2D to 3D content conversion, which almost all companies are doing, and PICO is no exception. However, the difference lies in the fact that ByteDance has TikTok. According to the introduction, the PICO 4 Ultra will later launch TikTok 2D video to 3D, which may to some extent solve the problem of the scarcity of 3D content.

But the specific performance will have to wait for the effects shown by the 2D to 3D conversion. In addition, PICO also stated that this technology will be made available to PICO 3 Ultra users in the future, allowing users to convert their own 2D photos and videos.

In addition to this, PICO has also prepared two "big projects": one is the MR interactive drama "Da Vinci: Wings of Fantasy" that will be launched with the new machine, and the other is the unannounced "Three-Body" VR game "Three-Body: Expedition," both of which have attracted a lot of attention on site.

Starting at 4299, Pico aims to create an accessible MR headset.The price is, of course, a key concern for many people. Unlike the Apple Vision Pro's price tag of 10,000 yuan and the tens of thousands of yuan for the Dream MR, the PICO 4 Ultra, as PICO's first MR all-in-one device, is priced at 4299 yuan for the 12GB+256GB version. Pre-sales have already begun, and it will officially go on sale at 10 a.m. on September 2nd.

In addition, there is a 300 yuan discount for existing PICO users who purchase at launch, and a motion tracker worth 399 yuan is included for free. Besides providing more accurate feedback in applications such as dance and fitness, the launch event also highlighted the new generation motion tracker's support for the popular VR social app VR Chat, which can display a richer and more personalized range of movements.

As for the PICO 4 Ultra, with a price that is far more affordable than the Apple Vision Pro, it has achieved many breakthroughs in MR and even has a clear advantage in the VR ecosystem. It is indeed one of the most cost-effective products in the current VR/MR category.