Everything we know about 3Glasses, the Chinese VR company that has partnered with Microsoft

Abhishek Baxi

3Glasses, or Shenzhen Virtual Reality Technologies Limited, is a Chinese virtual reality industry leader with experience in research and development, production, sales, and value added services across the virtual reality ecosystem – software, hardware, development tools, and platform.

According to the company, 3Glasses was the first to launch Asia’s first mass-produced PC class virtual reality helmet, the 3Glasses D1 (Developer Edition) as well as world’s first virtual reality helmet, the 3Glasses D2 2K (Pioneer). They’ve also launched the first VR helmet ‘space positioning + hand track’ program, the 3Glasses Wand.

Last week at the WinHEC conference in Shenzhen, China, Microsoft announced that 3Glasses will join the company’s VR platform as one of the VR hardware provider. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that Dell, Asus, and Lenovo will launch Windows 10 VR headsets with prices around $300. 3Glasses plans to offer a Windows 10-compatible headset in the first half of 2017 at the higher end of a range of specifications Microsoft will support.

Last month, 3Glasses announced its virtual reality head-mounted display, the Blubur S1. While the Occulus Rift and HTC Vive operate at 2160 x 1200 resolution at 90Hz, the S1 offers 2880 × 1440 resolution with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz.

The Blubur S1 is the first of a new line of technologically advanced virtual reality headsets designed for everyday use in work, health care, education and leisure. We want to encourage developers and publishers to embrace the affordable high performance Blubur S1 to help VR go mainstream.

– Philip Kong, Chief Operating Officer, 3Glasses

Priced at $449, the Bulbur S1 is targeted at the top-end of the segment and sports 24 infrared surface LEDs to ensure accurate positional tracking with the supplied external camera as part of the 3Wand Suite. 3Glasses has its own store called VR Show, which includes several VR titles and supports SteamVR via a plugin.

3Glasses Blubur S1 Specifications

  • Display: 2880 x 1440 pixels
  • Refresh Rate: 120Hz (Max)
  • Panel: Low Persistence LCD
  • Pixels Per Inch (PPI): 704
  • Panel Response Time: Optical Lens: 110° Field of View
  • Port: Display Port 1.2 | USB 2.0 or above
  • Operating System: Windows 7, 8, 10 (64-bit)
  • Dimensions: 18.8 x 8.2 x 5.2 cm
  • Weight: 358g (headset only)

3Glasses hasn’t yet announced a release date for Blubur S1. While this was unveiled before the partnership with Microsoft was announced, it does support Windows, although not the Windows Holographic platform. That could change as the company has also promised to unveil their first Windows 10-compatible headset in the first half of next year.