Acer is teaming up with Starbreeze to build a high-end virtual reality headset designed for theme parks and arcades. Starbreeze has been showing off the headset during the past year, but future development of StarVR will be a partnership between the PC giant and game studio.
The key feature of StarVR is the wide field of vision. It reportedly better mimics what a person can view in the real world including their peripheral vision, according to The Verge.
In fact, Starbreeze designed the VR device with a 210-degree field of view (FOV). That is almost twice as wide as the 110-degree FOV on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
Starbreeze Studios joined the VR gaming market when it introduced StarVR about a year ago in June 2015. It also reported 5120x1440 resolution made possible by dual 5.5-inch displays.
The "Payday 2" developer has already received outside help from partners such as Toshiba, according to Engadget. However, the collaboration with Acer can help the Swedish company become a major player in the VR world.
Starbreeze's move to bring the Taiwanese electronics corporation on board brings its knowledge about hardware development. That can speed up the building of StarVR. Meanwhile, Acer is developing personal computers that are compatible with Starbreeze's VR devices.
Acer is also wants to expand its business after the PC market plummeted. Even after Microsoft's launch of its Windows 10 OS, computer shipments dropped 10.6 percent in Q4 of last year.
Desktop and laptop sales also fell sharply in 2015. Gartner reported that global PC shipments showed a year-over-year decrease of 8 percent.
The two companies report that StarVR will be built for professional applications. Their goal seems to be offering a better VR experience than what is available in the expanding market of virtual reality theme parks.
For example, during the past six months the Utah-based VR theme park named The Void has been trending in the tech world. The immersive experience sends users to another world they can view, feel, and even interact with.
Theme park visitors wear a supercomputer backpack-powered VR headset. They also put on a haptic suit that tracks movements and delivers a sensory experience.
Here's a hands-on for StarVR: