HP Introduces New Era of Virtual Reality for Developers and Enterprises

The world’s most intelligent VR headset¹ with state-of-the-art sensor system captures physiological responses for a unique user-centric experience



Developers can now design applications that adapt to each user and take VR experiences to the next level         

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, HP Inc. unveiled the , bringing the world’s most intelligent VR headset and a developer focused SDK into a single platform, equipping VR software developers with an ecosystem to create new hyper-personalized, engaging, and adaptive VR experiences for enterprises. The HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition VR headset enables real-time human insights that improve training and education outcomes as well as enhance collaboration and design.

The VR landscape evolves to keep pace with how people interact with technology and the world around them to stay and feel connected. Facial expression and body language account for up to 50% of effective communication and with 25% - 30% of the workforce projected to be working from home in 2021³, new immersive tools are required for better remote collaboration in design and development workflows. HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition and the Omnicept SDK are designed to curate more human and personal experiences with technology. Since pre-Covid, there has been a 35% increase in the use of tech in training⁴ and VR is proven to significantly increase retention rates for learning and training. The HP Omnicept Solution is transforming how developers drive change and increase efficiency in enterprises by adding data for more insightful analysis.

“We’ve designed a powerful, adaptive VR solution to dramatically accelerate the use cases for VR, its potential to transform society, and the way we interact with technology,” said Jim Nottingham, general manager and global head, Advanced Compute and Solutions, HP Inc. “The HP Omnicept Solution will open new possibilities for VR development and its impact on enterprise training, remote education, collaboration, research and development, and specialized wellbeing. This type of data-driven approach will be fundamental to creating user-centric experiences for better VR in the future.”

The HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition is built with a highly secure pipeline for protecting end-user privacy. The headset’s firmware safeguards the sensor data at every moment of capture and no data is stored in the headset.



HP Omnicept-powered applications help ensure the capture and transfer of data comply with general data protection regulation (GDPR) requirements and keep user data confidential.

HUMAN CENTERED VR EXPERIENCES

Personalized experiences based on analytics and actionable insights increase retention rates for training and learning and improve wellbeing. Sensors on the headset, including eye tracking, heart rate, pupillometry, and face camera, enable the HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition to capture physiological responses. The integrated Omnicept SDK, powered by advanced machine learning algorithms, then interprets the data and allows developers to create a user-centric VR experience that provides actionable insights into how end users engage and respond during the experience.

With this end-to-end intelligent platform, experiences built by product designers and developers for training, design, wellness, and research become data-driven, adapting to users in real-time via objective metrics vs. subjective feedback. HP Reverb Omnicept Editions features include:

• Reverb G2 DNA: Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition builds on the foundation of the Reverb G2, the highest resolution VR headset among major vendors⁵, delivering cutting-edge optics, inside-out tracking, spatial 3D audio, and improved controllers with natural gestures.
• Eye Motion and Gaze: Understand how the user is responding to content based on their focus area and understanding engagement levels, based on where they instinctively look.
• Facial Expression: Enables naturally expressive avatars while collaborating around 3D designs for more natural and engaging conversations, helping enable faster and more efficient outcomes in a cross-functional development processes.
• Heart Rate: Understand how a user is responding to an experience or training, based on their heart rate. For example, practitioners can adapt wellness treatments in VR-based on their specific client’s reactions.
• Foveated Rendering: With integrated eye tracking, this HMD is able to discern the user's gaze direction⁶, enabling a reduction in GPU load and improved image quality within the user's foveal region, enhancing VR realism.
  
  

HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition Pricing and Availability

• The HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition is expected to be available in Spring 2021. Pricing will be shared closer to product availability.
• HP Omnicept SDK is expected to be available in Spring 2021 and will include a flexible business model. To view options and learn more, visit developers.hp.com/xr.

About HP

HP Inc. creates technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere. Through our product and service portfolio of personal systems, printers, and 3D printing solutions, we engineer experiences that amaze. More information about HP Inc. is available at .

©Copyright 2019 HP Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

¹ Based on HP’s internal analysis of VR headsets with intelligent rendering based on vision-tracking; and mouth camera, eye-tracking cameras, EMG and PPG sensors, and pupillometry to enable cognitive load (requires integration through HP Omnicept SDK software) as of September 30, 2020. 

² Based on HP’s internal analysis of VR headsets with intelligent rendering based on vision-tracking; and mouth camera, eye-tracking cameras, EMG and PPG sensors, and pupillometry to enable cognitive load (requires integration through HP Omnicept SDK software) as of September 30, 2020. 

³ HP Proprietary Survey, 2020

⁴ HP Proprietary Survey, 2020

⁵ Based on HP's internal analysis of companies that have shipped greater than 50,000 VR tethered headsets. Resolution based on panel pixel count as of March 2020.

⁶ NVIDIA VR Ready Quadro or GeForce Turing based GPU required for foveated rendering. For developers, Unity foveated rendering plug-in and run-time are also required and available from the Unity Store or HP Developer Portal /omnicept/downloads

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at