Varjo: A 20/20 Vision of VR Porn’s Future

Varjo, the Finnish maker of high-end VR headsets geared towards industrial and enterprise use, has released its latest devices, the VR-2, and VR-2 pro. They are already pointing towards the next evolution in both mainline VR technology and a brighter, more immersive and tactile future for VR porn.

Eyes: Windows to VR’s Future

Image: HTC Vive Pro (L) and Varjo VR-2’s Bionic Display system (R) compared.

Continuing from its work with VR-1’s Bionic Display system, a combination of macro and microdisplays achieving high-density resolution at the center of a wide FOV, Varjo’s latest models increase that central area resolution to 60 PPD (pixels per degree), the rough equivalent of human 20/20 vision. The VR-2’s increased contrast ratio provides “the deepest blacks and individually calibrated colors,” while Bionic Displays provide the users with left- and right-eye refractive-index lenses to minimize reflections, optical distortion, and assorted visual aberrations.

With its VR-2 models, Varjo aims to rid the user of their reliance on physical controllers. Instead, an improved eye-tracking system allows for intuitive, device-free operation within a VR environment. The 20/20 Eye Tracker used in the earlier VR-1 has been upgraded with performance speed and accuracy in mind, but there is something your hands can contribute to the experience – no, besides that.

A Very Different Hands-On Experience

Image: Varjo’s current VR-1 and VR-2 Virtual Reality, and XR-1 AR headsets.

VR-2 Pro offers hand-tracking capabilities relying on an active infrared sensor system developed by UltraLeap (formerly Leap Motion) that utilizes two wide-angle cameras and LEDs. Users can manipulate objects in their VR environment using the same tools they use in the real world, the most natural tools at their disposal. Effectively pulling hands into a VR porn experience is an apparent ambition of many studios.

Varjo isn’t the only hardware company advancing hand-tracking tech. Still, its contributions are nonetheless pushing things forward and provide a clear indication that VR porn lovers will soon be able to ditch controllers altogether and finally let their fingers do all the dirty work.

Image: Exploded view of Varjo VR-2

Having struck partnerships with Volvo, Lenovo, and other firms, Varjo is clearly positioning its VR-2 models as industrial and enterprise devices. Impressive evidence of VR-2’s capabilities already appears online. These clips will likely lead any serious VR porn fan to ponder the possible enhancements to virtual sex. Varjo’s enterprise-side VR innovations will inevitably end up in the hands of VR porn creators who’ll now be better able to assess their products at a higher, more critical level and bring new kinds of immersion into view.

The Porn Effect

Image: Watch Your Step (BaDoinkVR)

Imagine you’re deep in a virtual sex experience with your favorite porn star, and she whispers something you can’t quite hear. Instead of nudging your volume a little higher – by hand, using a physical control device – you just lean in closer to listen to it again. The resolution stays high, so you’re not distracted by screen-door effect pixilation. In fact, you’re pulled in even closer by the depth of the detail with which your partner’s face is rendered.

Hands, too, become far more useful in this scenario, allowing you gestural control and influence over a program. Throw in the next wave of haptics, and we’re suddenly facing a virtual sex experience that’s far closer to a real-life interaction than anything seen (or felt) before. With companies like Varjo pointing the way, we’ll soon be customizing virtual sex with no more than gestures and glances, and literally feeling the benefits.

Trickle-Down Techonomics

Image: VRBangers developed this headset for recording VR porn. What might a headset designed specifically for viewing VR porn look like?

Priced at $4,995 and $5,995 respectively, the VR-2 and VR-2 Pro units are beyond the budgets of most VR porn fans. Still, the advanced tech Varjo continues to develop will make the inevitable creep onto other, more affordable systems. More importantly, they point towards truly advanced interactivity achievable without the use of physical controllers, and to lifelike visuals that even perfect human vision will soon be unable to trump.

Which tech company will be the brave entity to partner directly with a porn studio to create the perfect VR porn viewing headset – and just what would such a device involve? VRBangers developed a dedicated headset camera system for shooting VR porn, but home viewers are still left with nonspecific (if excellent) VR devices. With companies like Varjo leading the way, it’s starting to feel like the next major VR porn revolution is right around the corner.

What excites you most about the next evolution of virtual porn? Is the idea of full haptic feedback sending you wild with anticipation, or are you more interested in a simple but powerful resolution upgrade to bring all your favorite VR stars that much closer to reality? Leave a comment and share what has you most excited about the future of VR porn!