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Comment by ianai | Hacker News Reader

Is the computer in the headset? Why? (!!!)

Looks like a great way to cause your neck muscles to spasm horribly painfully.

If I were designing these, they’d either be completely transparent so AR or the headset would be only the LCD and maybe sensors.

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The compute pack is detachable, but leaving it in the back of the headset is good for front/rear balance. Most gaming headsets on the market today are very front-weight biased.

Our headset supports an "AR Mode" with two front-facing high-res RGB cameras.

Did you consult any physiologists? Anyone who knows what’s acceptable to those muscles? There’s a reason eye glasses use lightweight materials. Then all the various treatments to make the lenses visually clear and comfortable.

Good idea. We're mostly working off experiences with other headsets and e.g. bike helmets here, but having harder data would be good.

It’s a cool idea. I remember dreaming of this sort of thing in HS. I’m sure there are medical professionals who’d be able to inform you for a consultation. Perhaps even wiring up some volunteers to see muscular activity with various weights. Or yeah maybe helmet design has tread this well.

If it's well-balanced I would imagine that it would work for long periods of time. We already have some evidence from people modifying other VR headset straps to balance the weight. I wasn't able to find any information about the total weight of the Simula One VRC, but I know personally that my motorcycle helmet is close to 4lbs and I have often worn that for days at a time with lots of head movement.

We don't publish the weight officially yet since we're not that far along the development cycle yet. Our target is 800g, but we need to find a good balance between battery life, thermal solution, and weight.

Actually, it probably isn't that bad if it's well balanced. I own a Meta Quest 2 and I added an external battery at the back of the headstrap because it helps balancing the headset while playing, preventing it from dropping on my nose too much.

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