Acer has invested $9 million in StarBreeze to create an ambitious virtual reality headset.

Computer hardware company Acer and software developer Starbreeze formed a partnership, venturing into designing, promoting, manufacturing, marketing, and selling StarVR Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Displays. Acer and Starbreeze will each own 50 percent of the new company, which is temporarily named Acer Starbreeze Corporation. The two companies have also authorized capital of up to $25 million, which will be shared equally between the two.

Like Us on Facebook

“Together, we will keep pushing the frontier of VR technology. With the Acer production partnership for the StarVR headset, our joint venture with IMAX for location-based entertainment, and the content platform collaboration with Smilegate, we now have a perfect ecosystem for our VR centers,” said Bo Andersson Klint, the chief executive officer of Starbreeze, in a press release.

StarVR's main feature is its wide field of vision, which is supposed to more closely imitate what a person can see in real life, all the way down to peripheral vision. Starbreeze designed its headset to have a 210-degree field of view, which is far wider compared to the 110-degree field of view on the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

The headset will have quad displays in each eye for a total resolution of 5120 x 1440, allowing users to look around and lessen the “black box” effect common in VR. Acer and Starbreeze will imitate actual human vision as closely as possible, without resorting to a circular and full-face display.

The StarVR system will be targeting high-end uses, mostly “location-based.” The headsets will be mostly helpful in theaters, at arcades, automotive retail stores, and in training simulations. Starbreeze also recently inked a deal with IMAX to install StarVR HMDs in a number of IMAX locations.

It is expected that StarVR units will be in full mass production in 2017.

TagsAcer, Starbreeze, StarVR, Virtual Reality, VR, VR headset