What Is The Difference Between PICO 4 Enterprise and Neo3 Pro?
It’s an exciting time to be involved with the world of virtual reality, with the latest technological advancements making VR/XR hardware more powerful and flexible than ever before. With a wide breadth of applications, including immersive learning, training, and entertainment, there’s a world of possibilities that only gets better with each new VR headset on the market.
PICO recently launched in North America the latest in its line: the PICO 4 Enterprise. How exactly does PICO 4E compare to the previous model, the PICO Neo3 Pro? How do I decide which device is right for my use cases and needs?
Both PICO headsets offer graphic and functional performance that set the standard across the industry. But as the latest in the market, the PICO 4E’s upgraded screen, ergonomics, and tracking capabilities give it a strong edge over the Neo3 Pro for specific use cases.
Here’s a breakdown between the two and how you can pick the best option for your team.
Tracking & Full Color Video Pass Through
The PICO Neo3 Pro utilizes four external cameras on the headset — two on the top and two on its bottom edges. The PICO 4 Enterprise stays true to this design for the most part, but it also adds a fifth external camera on the front of the device. When you add in the three internal cameras used for face and eye tracking, the PICO 4E has eight total cameras.
This additional 16MP camera improves the headset’s tracking as well as cutting back on the tracking dead zones that resulted from the Neo3 Pro’s controllers coming too close to the headset.
While the PICO Neo3 Pro only has mono color passthrough, the PICO 4E’s fifth camera equips the headset with full-color passthrough, allowing the device to seamlessly blend the VR world with your real surroundings.
If you’re looking for even more advanced tracking, the PICO 4E provides the ability to track a user’s eyes, face and hands, giving this headset yet another input modality. These capabilities can used to give facial expressions of your virtual avatars, remove the need for controllers in exchange for hand-tracking, and incorporate eye-tracking as an input or as a way to measure effectiveness of your VR experiences.
Screen
The PICO Neo3 has a 4K screen resolution of 1832 x 1920 pixels per eye, making it a great option for VR immersion, including gaming or other immersive experiences.
However, the PICO 4E has a slightly higher 4K resolution of 2160 x 2160 pixels per eye. This translates to sharper and clearer visuals, making everything from gaming to educational experiences more detailed and vivid in the PICO 4E.
The field of view (FOV) also got an upgrade in the latest PICO headset. With a 105-degree FOV in the PICO 4E, users will feel more "surrounded" by the virtual environment compared to the PICO Neo3's 98-degree FOV. This wider FOV makes the PICO 4E even more immersive, giving you the sense that you're truly a part of the VR world rather than just observing it.
While both the PICO Neo3 Pro and PICO 4E are solid options for VR experiences, the PICO 4E's superior screen resolution and wider field of view make it the winner in terms of visual quality and overall immersion. If you're looking for the best possible experience in virtual reality, the PICO 4E's got that extra sparkle that might just be what you're after.
Compute and Graphics
While much has changed between the two headsets, one thing that has stayed the same is the chipset. The Neo 3 Pro and the PICO 4E both employ the Qualcomm XR2 chipset, which was announced in December of 2019. According to Qualcomm the XR2 provides double the CPU and GPU performance of the XR1, and 11 times the performance of for AI computation. This means that these PICO headsets can handle more demanding VR applications with higher polygon counts, resolutions, and tracking.
Ergonomics
Despite possessing a higher resolution on its screens, the PICO 4E is surprisingly lightweight, coming in at 296 grams without the head strap. This is 30% lighter than the Neo3 Pro, which weighs 390 grams. Both VR headsets are lightweight and comfortable for extended use, but some users might find it easier to wear the lighter PICO 4E for longer periods of time without fatigue.
In terms of controllers, the PICO 4E ditches the longstanding design of the tracking ring on top of the controller (as you’ll see with the Neo3 Pro). Instead, the PICO 4E’s tracking ring starts at the top of the controller and curves inward over the user’s hand to the bottom of the controller. Not only does this design choice give the PICO 4E more precise tracking of movement, but it’s also more comfortable than the Neo3 Pro controllers.
Other Specifications
One notable absence from the PICO 4E is a built-in display port, so unlike the Neo3 Pro, the PICO 4E cannot support display cable streaming. That said, the PICO 4E does fine-tune its wireless streaming capabilities, supporting 4K streaming at 90Hz.
PICO 4E also offers 8GB of RAM, which brings some serious advantages compared to the PICO Neo3's 6GB. More RAM means that the PICO 4E can handle more demanding applications, process data faster, and run multiple tasks simultaneously without a hitch. That's especially important for VR, where smooth performance can make or break the experience.
As far as storage, both the PICO Neo3 Pro and PICO 4E include 256GB of internal storage.
The battery life on both devices is comparable, with the PICO Neo3 Pro lasting for 3 hours on a single charge and the PICO 4E lasting slightly longer–sometimes reaching 4 hours, depending on the application usage.
PICO 4E vs. PICO Neo3: Which One Is Best for You?
The PICO 4E naturally provides several key upgrades to the PICO Neo3 Pro, but both devices are viable choices for a variety of VR programs. Both devices are ideal for large scale deployments with support for device management from well known companies like ArborXR, ManageXR, Microsoft Intune, and VMware WorkspaceOne. Additionally, both devices are supported by PICO’s Business Suite with solutions for sync, streaming, and kiosk mode, customized home, and more.
While the PICO 4E has some advantages in terms of screen resolution and field of view, the PICO Neo3 Pro still offers a solid 4K resolution and a respectable FOV, which may be more than adequate for employee training, simulations, or simple VR content.
On the other hand, the PICO 4E may be better suited for complex or resource-intensive applications that benefit from high levels of realism and immersion. With full-dive virtual reality, the higher resolution and FOV will be that much more impactful when creating an immersive experience. Higher levels of accuracy and fidelity can also lead to better results during advanced training where even the smallest details are crucial.
The Neo 3 Pro series continues to be adopted in the following industry verticals:
Education: Educators at primary school as well as college and universities are building VR based experiences into their curriculum or building VR development curriculum around the PICO devices to teach future generations how to create VR experiences
Location Based Entertainment (LBE): VR arcades, family entertainment centers have standardized on the PICO Neo 3 Pro to provide VR experiences for their guests.
The PICO 4E, while relatively new, is in high-demand in the following industry verticals:
Healthcare: Healthcare professionals are keen to utilize the PICO 4Es hand, eye, and face tracking technologies for patient education, part of medical treatments, medical diagnostics, as well as doctor and nurse training.
Enterprise use: Corporate training continues to be a major driver of VR adoption, and the PICO 4E’s enterprise friendly licensing, deployment, and ease of management along with the 4E’s performance hit the sweet spot for enterprise customers.
Your choice will ultimately come down to budget, use case, and software compatibility. If you want to discuss your VR program and needs in further detail, please contact us. We are happy to help!
Turnkey Enterprise Solutions in VR and AR
Strategically implementing an XR solution includes a variety of factors, and your choice of hardware is just one piece of the larger puzzle. You’ll also need software to fit your needs and a fleet management plan for organizing, updating, and sanitizing your devices.
With MACE Virtual Labs, your operation can count on our expertise in creating and implementing XR solutions of any size. We’ll help you pick out the best hardware, find a software solution to fit your needs, and coordinate fleet management services to protect your investment. Every step of the way, our team can help you build the immersive experience your team needs to step into the future.
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