Bigscreen Beta News

A new update has rolled out which features new premium toys and environments available for purchase in the Bigscreen Shop! This update introduces new features that allow you to spawn toys that can be shared with your friends as well as certain toys that can stick onto a wall or flat surface.

We added a few premium toys that feature this system:
- 🎯Darts
- 🏎️RC Car
- 📃Paper Airplane
- ♟️Chess

There are also two new premium environments now available:
- ⚽Sports Bar
- 🖼️The Gallery (Theater)

Shipments go out daily and are currently going to customers in the United States with international shipments beginning in mid to late Q4.

Since launching in February, demand was stronger than expected and we’ve got an overwhelming amount of headsets to build! We’ve spent the past few months ramping up production in order to ship tens of thousands of units in the coming months ahead.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



[h2]Customization in LA[/h2]



To accomplish this, we’re hiring more engineering and production staff for our Los Angeles, Calif. factory. We handle critical components of headset manufacturing in-house such as the custom-fit elements and quality control. Our team is also visiting our overseas manufacturing partners in China to ensure production goes smoothly.

[h2]International Expansion[/h2]
We’re now taking preorders from customers in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

The full list of supported countries includes the United States, the United Kingdom, most of Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Keep an eye out: we're planning to expand to South Korea, Israel, and more soon.

[h2]Don't have a VR-ready PC? Explore NZXT's Player PCs[/h2]
We've partnered with NZXT to recommend gaming PCs that work great with the Beyond. NZXT’s gaming PCs aren't just built by experts, they're designed by them too! NZXT’s Prebuilt gaming PCs are made with budget and experience in mind.

NZXT & Bigscreen VR Partnership



We recommend Player: One for watching movies in Bigscreen or playing Beat Saber. On the other hand, Player: Three is exceptional for the ultimate flight simulator experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator with the NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4090 but it's also perfect for demanding games like VRChat, Half-Life: Alyx and sim racing. Choose Player: Three for a truly unparalleled gaming experience.

[h2]Thank you![/h2]
🙏 Thanks for your trust and patience during the development journey of Bigscreen Beyond. We cannot wait for you to experience Beyond soon!

The latest Bigscreen update adds in support for using push to talk on PCVR headsets. Previously this was only available on standalone Quest headsets. The button to use for push to talk when enabled is B or Y equivalents for most controllers and with controllers primarily using a touchpad, the bottom quadrant.

Also in this update, we added two new options into the Bigscreen settings menu:

• Push to mute - similar to push to talk but the behavior is inverted.
  
• Hide avatar arms - this hides your avatar arms in only your point of view. This option is at the bottom of Settings > Visuals & Lighting.
  

If you are actively using any custom bindings with your controllers, you may need to configure in the new action called mic_toggle in order for push to talk to work with your custom bigscreen bindings.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Over the past few years, we have been continuously investing in research &
development in VR optics for current and next-generation VR devices. Thanks to improvements to our optical elements, coatings, canting, and manufacturing processes, we are excited to announce several key optics breakthroughs that have improved field of view (FOV) and optical performance.


The new technology has been successfully implemented in production, and Beyond remains on track for a Q3 ship date for the first wave of customers in the United States. Every Beyond customer will receive the following improvements, including people who preordered in the past few months. Let’s get into the details.

[h2]Improved field of view, up to 102°[/h2]
Field of view (FOV) has been increased to 102°, approximately 10° larger than before.



These improvements do not come at the expense of angular resolution (PPD) or stereo overlap. Bigscreen Beyond has stereo overlap equivalent to the Valve Index. All customers will receive improved field of view except those with a 70mm-72mm IPD due to physical size limitations.

[h2]Improved sweet spot, glare, and optical performance with 32 PPD[/h2]
Various optical characteristics such as clarity and sweet spot have improved. Lens artifacts such as glare have been reduced as well. Pixels per degree is now officially 32 PPD.





[h2]Increased IPD range, 55mm to 72mm[/h2]
It’s important to use VR headsets set to the correct interpupillary distance (the distance between a user’s eyes). When using VR at the wrong IPD, users can get headaches and the VR image may appear blurry.

Today, we’ve made Beyond accessible to more customers by creating new IPD sizes, now available in 18 different IPD sizes from 55mm to 72mm.

The optical design has a large eye box that allows users to comfortably use the headset even if the headset is not their exact IPD. Bigscreen Beyond accommodates people with a physical IPD of 53mm to 74mm to comfortably use the headset.




[h2] New financing options [/h2]



To make Bigscreen Beyond more accessible to customers, we’re excited to
announce a new financing program in partnership with Affirm.

[h3]Customers in the United States can now preorder a $999 Bigscreen Beyond
starting at $32.23/month for 36 months*.[/h3]

[h3] Pre-order now [/h3]

As preorders are expected to deliver in Q3 2023 (United States) or Q4 2023
(Worldwide), please note that monthly installment payments may be due before
you receive your Bigscreen Beyond.


Customers that opt to finance their purchase can choose to pay in installments
over a 6 month, 18 month, or 36 month period. Customers can choose financing
options from Shop Pay Installments and Affirm during checkout.


*Rates from 0 36% APR. For example, a $999 Bigscreen Beyond might cost $32.23/mo over 36 months at
10% APR. Payment options through Affirm are subject to an eligibility check and are provided by these
lending partners: http://affirm.com/lenders. Options depend on your purchase amount, and a down
payment may be required. CA residents: Loans by Affirm Loan Services, LLC are made or arranged pursuant
to a California Finance Lender license. For licenses and disclosures, including information for see
affirm.com/licenses.

This release adds a laying tilt feature on all platforms for cases of using Bigscreen while laying in bed. This option will allow you to tilt your virtual view downwards while laying face-upward. It will make you appear as if you are sitting up straight.

The new setting can be found in the Bigscreen menu under Settings > Visuals & Lighting > Laying tilt