Panasonic subsidiary Shiftall unveils new high-dynamic range VR glasses at CES 2022

In Virtual Reality News

January 4, 2022 – Shiftall Inc., a fully owned subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation, has today unveiled ‘MaganeX’, the company’s new lightweight, high-dynamic-range (HDR) virtual reality (VR) glasses at CES 2022. 

The MaganeX ultra-lightweight 5.2K HDR VR headset supports 6 degrees-of-freedom (DoF) head position detection and various SteamVR applications. The device has a small form factor thanks to its 1.3″ displays and slim all-plastic Pancake optics from Kopin Corporation, and incorporates Lightning 2.6K x 2.6K (2560 x 2560) resolution micro OLED (organic light emitting diode) displays on chip (DoC).

According to the company, the small and lightweight form factor makes the glasses comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. The glasses also provide for interpupillary distance (IPD) and diopter adjustments so that they can be used without corrective lenses. Furthermore, the glasses also feature a foldable frame with built-in speakers.

The 2.6K x 2.6K OLED DoC is designed with Kopin’s patented backplane architecture that helps to reduce power consumption and deliver high frame rates up to 120 Hz and 10 bits of color (30 full-color bits). Kopin’s all-plastic Pancake optics (named P95) optimized for its 1.3″ 2.6K x 2.6K OLED microdisplay also provide a large field of view (FoV) on the device, equivalent to > 200 inches viewed from a 3 meter distance, according to Shiftall.

“It is necessary for VR glasses to be lightweight and comfortable to wear as well as deliver life-like images in order to be widely accepted to consumers,” said Takuma Iwasa, CEO of Shiftall. “Kopin’s unique 2.6K x 2.6K OLED display and all-plastic Pancake optics are the key to achieving these objectives. We are very pleased with our close partnership with Kopin for the development of our VR glasses.”

Also commenting on today’s announcement, Dr. John C.C. Fan, President and CEO of Kopin, stated: “We have had a long-standing collaborative development program with Panasonic and Lakeside, and each company has contributed its core elements of the technology and design – for the ultimate VR Glasses that have both high-performance and a sleek, comfortable design.” He added, “We look forward to seeing Shiftall delight their customers with these magnificent VR Glasses.”

The Shiftall VR Glasses will be shown at CES 2022 at the Panasonic booth, and also on January 6 at Kopin’s suite at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. For more information on Shiftall and its new virtual reality MaganeX glasses, click here. To find out more about Kopin and its components for wearable headset products, click here.

Image credit: Shiftall

About the author

Sam Sprigg

Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.