Simula One: VR Computer

Milestones

Milestone: First Headsets Ship Target: Q2 2023 - Q3 2023

Our first batch of headsets is targeted for mid 2023. Preference will be given to Founders Edition units followed by the earliest pre-orders. Our preorder agreement guarantees headsets will ship by EOY 2023.

Milestone: Polished Review Units Complete Target: April, 2023

AR Mode (FPGA + Carrier Board) and

#45 - Early Review Unit in Transit 2023-03-21

First review unit shipped

#44 - Adding Diopter Adjustments 2023-02-21

Adding diopter adjustments to our lenses (while we wait for our Camera Boards).

#43 - FPGA Image Processing Pipeline 2023-01-30

Block diagrams showing the data flow among the Camera Boards, FPGA, & Host

#42 - 2023 Timeline (for Polished Review Units) 2023-01-11

What needs to happen (& how long we think it will take) between now and Polished Review Units.

#41 - Camera Boards Sent to PCB Fab 2022-12-19

Finishing our camera boards & discussing the next steps

#40 - X-Raying Our Boards for Imperfections 2022-11-30

X-Raying our boards to find imperfections faster.

#39 - Simula One's Auto-IPD System 2022-11-13

Discussing the Simula One automatic IPD adjustment system.

#38 - Meta's Subpoena Dropped; Simula One vs. Quest Pro 2022-10-21

Discussing the philosophical and spec differences between these two headsets.

#37 - SimulaVR Has Been Subpoenaed by Meta Platforms, Inc 2022-10-05

Some drama involving the FTC vs. Meta Platforms case

#36 - First Glimpse of Review Units 2022-09-20

We've integrated our boards into our headset exterior; Simula now runs!

#35 - PCBA Delays (& Syzygy Camera Adapter Update) 2022-09-09

Reporting on PCBA delays, plus a Syzygy Adapter update.

#34 - Camera Syzygy Adapter 2022-08-23

Discussing a new camera interposer board.

#33 - Board Integration Tests (Mostly a Success) 2022-08-12

Discussing the results of our first board integration tests.

#32 - Facial Interface Assembled (+ Board Integration Testing) 2022-08-04

Showing off our assembled facial interface, and discussing VXR integration testing.

#31 - First Batch of Our Assembled Boards 2022-07-29

Showing off the first batch of our assembled Review Unit boards.

#30 - Assembling Our VXR Boards (& Misc) 2022-07-22

VXR board assembly video + headset exterior shots + laminar flow bench HEPA filter

#29 - Creating a Dust-Free Lens Assembly Environment 2022-07-05

Constructing a laminar flow cabinet for dust-free lenses.

#28 - Taking Our Boards to a PCBA 2022-06-30

We've delivered our VXR, Connector, & Interposer boards to a local PCBA.

#27 - Review Units: Timeline Update 2022-06-23

Review unit timeline update: now expecting mid-to-late July.

#26 - Upcoming Price Increases (& FPGA Connectors) 2022-06-15

Discussing expected price increases, and an update on our FPGA board connectors.

#25 - All Units Upgraded to Alder Lake + 32GB RAM Upgrade Now Available 2022-06-07

Confirming that all units are being upgraded to 12th Intel; a 32GB RAM upgrade is now available for purchase in our preorder shop.

#24 - Simula One FPGAs 2022-06-02

Discussing the role of the Simula One's FPGA system.

#23 - Board Updates 2022-05-25

Progress made on VXR, Interposer, & I/O Boards.

#22 - Simula's Software Stack 2022-05-20

High-level overview of Simula's software architecture.

#21 - Latest Review Unit Print + VXR Board 2022-05-11

Showing off our latest review unit print and VXR board.

#20 - Paying for Productivity: Premium Workstations Over Time 2022-05-03

Chronicling premium workstations & first-in-kind computing hardware over time. We explore why consumers don't use premium workstations like they used to.

#19 - Review Units Progress 2022-04-29

Discussing progress made on our Simula One review units; includes headset prints and updated renderings.

#18 - Lenses & Schematics 2022-04-20

We run our newest lenses through some optical tests + show off our VXR7200 board schematics (now open-sourced).

#17 - Gramsy (YouTuber) Discusses Simula One 2022-04-13

Vlogger discusses the Simula One and some of its design tradeoffs.

#16 - How Long Until Review Units? 2022-04-07

We're releasing (stripped down) review units, likely within the next 1-2 months.

#15 - Upgrading to Alder Lake 2022-03-31

Simula is upgrading to 12th Gen Intel compute.

#14 - Demoing Our Displays 2022-03-24

Discussing the Simula One's display system

#13 - Camera Considerations: Resolution, Bandwidth, & Latency 2022-03-16

Discussing camera considerations for our front-facing AR Mode cameras.

#12 - How Simula's Optical Design Achieves its PPD 2022-03-09

How our lenses exploit the human eye to extract maximum pixel density from our displays

#11 - Preorders are now available! 2022-02-14

Kickstarter-style description of our headset

#10 - We're Launching This Weekend (With a Lower Price) 2022-02-11

Why we're hosting our own pre-orders instead of using Kickstarter. TLDR: Price reductions & greater flexibility.

#9 - Simula One Video Teaser 2022-02-03

Launch video for our preorder campaign

#8 - The Ghost Howls interviews Simula's team 2022-01-28

A virtual reality blog asks us questions about the Simula One

#7 - Why VR Computers are better than PCs & Laptops 2022-01-20

We spend all day working on our PCs & laptops, so if there really are benefits to working in VRCs, upgrading to one could have big impacts to our work productivity.

#6 - Why is the Simula One so expensive? 2022-01-13

Comparing the Simula One to premium laptops, standalone AR headsets, & VR headsets.

#5 - The Simula One's Pricing & Kickstarter Goal 2022-01-09

We discuss the pricing & campaign goals of Simula's imminent Kickstarter campaign.

#4 - How We Designed the Simula One 2022-01-02

History of how we came to our headset design

#3 - VR Comparison: Simula One vs. Valve Index vs. Quest 2 2021-12-26

Comparing Simula One's specs against the Valve Index & Quest 2

#2 - Technical overview of Simula's VR Computer 2021-12-11

Discussing the specs, performance, & design choices of Simula's VRC.

#1 - Simula One Teaser 2021-12-11

First teaser shot of the Simula One headset; waitlisters will start receiving weekly updates on our headset progress.

The Simula One is an office-focused, portable VR headset built on top of Linux VR Desktop. It provides comparable specs to a premium office laptop, but with the power of VR.

Provides Linux VR Desktop with unlimited screens
Become more focused and immersed in your work with VR
6DOF hand tracking
AR "Passthrough" Mode (see your keyboard/surroundings while working)
Connects with Bluetooth keyboards/mice via Bluetooth module
Contains the highly customizable, open-source SimulaOS

Headset specs

35.5 PPD
2448x2448 per eye display resolution
100° FOV
90-120 Hz refresh rate
55mm-77mm IPD
Features dual wide-angle high-resolution RGB cameras for AR passthrough
Supports Tethered Mode for gaming on other platforms (Windows/SteamVR)

Compute pack specs

i7-1265U Processor (12th Gen)
16 GB Memory (optional: 32 GB)
Iris Xe graphics
1 TB SSD
Wi-Fi 6
Bluetooth 5.2
3.5mm Audio Jack
Exposed ports: 1x USB4 (including Thunderbolt 4), 2x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2/DP Alt-Mode, 2x USB-A 3.2
Comes pre-installed with SimulaOS Linux VR distro

SimulaOS: VR Linux Distro

SimulaOS provides the Simula One with a highly customizable, open-source VR Linux distro.

Provides a Linux Virtual Desktop with unlimited screens
Compatible with any app that runs on Linux Desktop (apps like Firefox, LibreOffice, Emacs, Vim, ...)
Provides especially clear text quality (via our text-specialized rendering methodology)
Built on top of the Godot game engine
Comes pre-installed on the Simula One
Also works with the HTC Vive, HTC Vive Pro, & Valve Index

View Simula's source on GitHub

This is not a gaming headset

Not a gamer? Never used VR before? No problem. While the Simula One supports tethered gaming, it is primarily a work-focused headset. Take it out of the box and start working in VR immediately.

VR productivity with SimulaVR

Perfect remote work machine
Less distractions
Work in private no matter where you are
Work in The Future™

What people are saying

Exited to see concrete progress towards productivity computing in AR/VR space.

The "killer app" might just be "all the ones you already have". Getting rid of the boundaries of 2D screens will be the next revolution#SimulaVR #AR #VR https://t.co/SAALVQbRgh
— Gaby (@GitSquared) April 9, 2020

Crabcakes and happy Friday everyone! This week we take a look at @SimulaVR 's Simula One VR computer headset and break down what exactly this standalone PCVR experience is all about!https://t.co/h6udf6EyjE
— Gramsy (@Gramsy7) April 8, 2022

The vision of the @SimulaVR CEO certainly resonates with our view of VR/AR as general computing platform rather than just for gaming: "the first portable VR headset intended primarily to replace PCs/Laptops for office work (Linux or otherwise)".Great interview, exciting hardware! https://t.co/4YrrzmeLSi
— XR4work (@XR4Work) January 28, 2022

Simula One aims at becoming your portable Linux VR computer https://t.co/3yjkcD35IB #VirtualReality #VR #Linux
— TonyVT SkarredGhost (@SkarredGhost) February 1, 2022

“If you're interested in walking while computing, the Simula One supports an AR passthrough mode”

oh… cool!

We have also built an experimental "Keyboard Apron" which can help you walk while you compute.”

🤔🤓😬🙃🔥@SimulaVR push the concept up to 11!https://t.co/0hUxKU9zWN pic.twitter.com/PNt9FmZhtd
— Julien Dorra (@juliendorra) January 24, 2022

Simula One is a $2699 standalone headset running a VR Linux distro on an Intel chip, with color cameras for hand tracking & passthrough.

Preorders are available for with a "no earlier than Q4" shipping target.https://t.co/v6EZPR71sQ pic.twitter.com/1GKpmR7Fwf
— UploadVR (@UploadVR) February 16, 2022

The Simula One: Linux VR Computer (VRC)

"SimulaOS is built over the Godot game engine and NixOS (for reproducible headset configurations, and easy system rollbacks in case things go wrong)."https://t.co/cdtr1QAwuV https://t.co/ptxffVjYN3
— NixOS (@nixos_org) March 9, 2022

Just pre-ordered a Simula One. Lfg https://t.co/SHSIfU67s5
— Thomas Lisankie (@TomLisankie) March 24, 2022

https://t.co/BsTk25rSHn
While all current standalone VR headsets use Qualcomm Snapdragon chips, Simula One will use a Intel i7 chip intended for high end laptops - the most powerful chip in any announced standalone headset.
— Eager Beaver (@eagerbeavertech) February 17, 2022

ついにVR環境で作業ができるLinux PCヘッドセット、Simula Oneがオーダー開始したようですね！
PCヘッドセット版は23万円、スタンドアロン版は31万円。 https://t.co/EJW6pHWAa4
— 思惟かね(オモイカネ)📕🔔 (@omoi0kane) February 24, 2022

Our headset is purposefully designed to give off a "retro computing" vibe.

In the 70s/80s, PCs were conceived more as "general tools for the thinking" than they were "social networking or gaming devices" (though gaming was certainly one of the many things people did on them). pic.twitter.com/IXxY5UMUxQ
— George Singer (@georgewsinger) December 21, 2021

Real people testing SimulaOS

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