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VRChat has become a second home for many enthusiasts: a place to connect, create, and explore. But as users rack up hours spent in its worlds, they've discovered that not all VR headsets are created equal.
Enter Bigscreen Beyond, the world's lightest VR headset. Thanks to its exceptional comfort, ultra-light design, high-resolution OLED displays, and SteamVR tracking, Bigscreen Beyond is becoming the go-to choice for people who spend hundreds or even thousands of hours gaming, creating, and hanging out with friends in VRChat. In fact, many VRChat employees chose the Bigscreen Beyond over any other headset!
From Skepticism to Obsession
The road to VR obsession often begins with a healthy dose of skepticism. Take Digital Frog, an EMT and firefighter who first dipped his toes into VR back in 2018. "The Vive just was not a good headset," he recalls. "VRChat was fun, but not many people actually had VR. It wasn't high enough resolution to read text." He actually sold his first headset after six months.
This sentiment was echoed by many early adopters. Nullreff, a tech enthusiast, initially wrote off early VR experiences entirely due to motion sickness. But everything changed during the pandemic. "A friend let me try his Index with a very powerful gaming PC," Nullreff says. "Suddenly I could spend a lot of time without getting motion sickness."
For others, like musician 2TD, VR offered a creative lifeline during lockdowns. "I needed an outlet for creativity when live music was dying IRL," he explains. "VRChat opened so many doors."
Tupper, a well-known figure in the VRChat community with a trusted guide to modern VR setups, shares a similar journey. "I didn't consider comfort a thing until I started working for VRChat," he says. "I noticed that my work-provided Rift was way more comfortable, much lighter. I could do short stints in the Vive, but spend 4 hours in the Rift."
As users spent more time in VR, they found themselves bumping up against the limitations of their existing headsets. That's where Bigscreen Beyond entered the picture.
Why Weight Matters
One of the most significant advantages of Bigscreen Beyond is its featherweight, 127 gram design. "Holy ####, I can never go back to my Index after this," Nullreff says of his first reaction to wearing a Beyond. "The sheer amount of clarity, the lightweight size, the colors... I sometimes sleep in VR and it's good for that."
For 2TD, Beyond was a life-changer. "It solved the biggest problem of my Index: severe neck pain from sustained use. Looking down at music equipment put a lot of strain on my neck. I would need to ice my neck after events. The weight and comfort is more important than anything else."
Digital Frog puts it simply: "The Bigscreen feels like nothing, like glasses. The difference between the Bigscreen and the Index is insane."
Tupper echoes this sentiment: "Comfort was paramount. The Beyond actually felt like I was wearing nothing. Of course I was going to wear this, no question." He adds, "I'm most engaged when I can forget the headset is on my head, which comes from weight."
Crystal Clear Resolution
Bigscreen Beyond's microOLED displays are a revelation for many users. 2TD notes, "Before I had a Beyond, I couldn't use Virtual Desktop, couldn't read anything. Now I can fully run Shelter with virtual windows and don't need to leave the experience. I can run the full work setup in VR."
It's important to note that our OLED display panels don't just come with rich, deep blacks. Bigscreen Beyond packs in 2560 × 2560 pixels per eye, a higher resolution than any headset you can buy today from the Meta Quest lineup with 44% more pixels than the Meta Quest 3.
This clarity delivers immersion and comfort. The ability to read text clearly and see fine details without needing to move closer or strain your eyes transforms the VRChat experience, allowing users to fully appreciate the intricate worlds and avatars created by the community.
Beyond's Mic Magic
The importance of high-quality mic audio in social VR can't be overstated. It's not just about being heard - it's about being understood, conveying emotion, and truly connecting with others in the virtual space. A headset's built-in mic or the microphone on someone's cheap earbuds can ruin a moment.
Tupper is effusive: "Love love love the Beyond mic. So glad y'all understand." This sentiment is echoed by Midnights in Valhalla, who bartends late into the night for patrons, "People tell me how clear I sound with them, I am so happy I got it."
Val, another VR enthusiast, ran with their enthusiasm for Bigscreen Beyond's microphone:
Tupper elaborates on the importance of audio quality in social VR: "Being social with someone means having a good microphone and other technical things, but it also means not getting tired of spending time doing what you're doing. The small amount of inconvenience that weight brings is nearly gone with the Beyond."
SteamVR and Full Body Tracking
One critical pillar for a VR headset is the quality of tracking. A headset can excel in every other metric but poor tracking quality would ruin the experience. It can cause. nausea and headaches, and immersion killing distractions that pull you out of VR. Valve's SteamVR technology is widely known to have some of the most accurate and reliable tracking capabilities. Knowing this, Bigscreen integrated SteamVR tracking technology supporting both SteamVR 1.0 and SteamVR 2.0 Base Stations.
This has two additional benefits. Most Bigscreen customers previously owned an HTC Vive or Valve Index which included SteamVR Base Stations. This makes the cost of upgrading to the Bigscreen Beyond more affordable, as people can reuse their existing trackers and controllers without needing to buy something new.
Secondly, this enables support for SteamVR Full Body Tracking using the HTC Vive Trackers or Tundra Trackers. Full Body Tracking is one of the most immersion enhancing additions for VRChat users, and rather than incorporate unreliable or expensive solutions, Beyond supports best-in-class Full Body Tracking.
Customization is Key
For power users, the ability to customize their headset is crucial. Digital Frog appreciates Beyond's potential in this area: "I love how it's so small and allows people to customize it. If people in the community want something, the solution will be discovered by someone 3D printing it."
The compact design of Beyond opens up possibilities for mods and add-ons. Nullreff dreams of the potential: "If the Bigscreen had face tracking, I would never need another headset." This sentiment is echoed by many in the community, who see eye and face tracking as the next frontier for social VR.
Few have likely gone so far as Digital Frog, who posted this picture of their Beyond rigged out for face tracking after our interview:
We've gone out of our way to support our users taking these kinds of steps to make their Beyond the perfect VR headset for their exact needs, like publishing 3D files that make it easy to 3D print mods and highlighting open source projects that bring eye tracking to the Beyond.
Marathon Sessions
Perhaps the most telling testament to Beyond's value is the sheer amount of time people spend in social apps once they've upgraded.
Nullreff, who has logged over 3,000 hours in VRChat, says, "I can now spend very extended time in VR, often working in VR." He even talks about sleeping in VR: "I can actually roll around while sleeping without the Beyond falling off."
This ability to use VR for extended periods is crucial for the VRChat community. Whether it's attending virtual events, creating content, or spending intimate time with friends, Beyond allows users to stay comfortable for hours on end.
Tupper's experience further illustrates this point. "These days I spend 99% of my VR time in VRChat," he shares. "A lot of that time is spent at music events, especially in the last 3-4 years. I'm often chilling, listening to music, and occasionally DJing."
He even describes how he's adapted the Beyond for his DJ sessions: "I'll occasionally wear the Beyond without the face cushion and with the Audio Strap on so I can see the VRChat space and my physical space. It takes 2 seconds to get the cushion back in for normal VRChat experience after that."
Join the Bigscreen Beyond community
For these VRChat enthusiasts, Bigscreen Beyond represents a significant step forward in their VR journey. In summary, Bigscreen Beyond is the ideal headset for VRChat thanks to 4 key elements: the ultra-lightweight design making long VRChat sessions comfortable, the vibrant colors, and ultra-high resolution microOLED displays, the high-quality microphones, and accurate SteamVR tracking with Full Body Tracking support.
If you're ready to join the Bigscreen Beyond community, you can purchase a Bigscreen Beyond from our website and it will ship in 1 week from our factory in Los Angeles, California.
Thinking about the upgrade? Join us on the Bigscreen Beyond Discord server to connect with fellow VR enthusiasts and chat with Beyond owners about their experiences.