China-made virtual reality helmet debuts in Beijing

By Zhang Xiao (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2014-10-28 16:26

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A virtual reality helmet, launched by the Shenzhen-based Jingweidu Tech Co, has recently gone up for pre-order in China via the third-party retailer Jingdong?Mall at a price of 1,999 yuan ($325.83).

"The Three Glasses is an early-access, beta-version of the device for developers and enthusiasts to improve," said Wang Jie, CEO of Jingweidu Tech Co.

Wang invited all the content creators to experiment and build more new applications for the helmet. They want to build an ecosystem of virtual reality with platform, content, devices and applications together.

According to the manufacturer, the weight of the helmet is just half of its similar product, Oculus Rift, which has been developed by a US-based technology company, Oculus VR.

Oculus VR was acquired by Facebook for more than $2 billion in July this year.

During the Oculus Connect conference held in September in Los Angeles, Oculus presented an updated version of the Rift, codenamed Crescent Bay.

According to media reports, the consumer version of Oculus Rift will be released in 2015.

Virtual reality is a computer-simulated environment that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world or imagined worlds.

At the very beginning, this technology was only used in some special fields, such as the military and science. But now, virtual reality has come to our daily life.

The simulated environment can be similar to the real world in order to create a lifelike experience - for example, in simulations for pilot or combat training - or it can differ significantly from reality, such as in VR games.

One of the best aspects of this VR helmet is the 360-degrees environment: you put it on, and you're in a real world, rather than a big screen. That level of accessibility, combined with other partners'software to easily launch and transition between VR applications, really makes the experience magical.

A visitor plays with the Three Glasses, a virtual reality helmet, at a press conference on Oct 24, 2014 in Beijing.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]