Samsung HMD Odyssey: Windows Mixed Reality Device Specs, Features Explained

Samsung Electronics launched the product of its collaboration with Microsoft late last year — a head-mounted device called Samsung HMD Odyssey that’s specifically designed for the Windows Mixed Reality platform. Today, the company’s official blog, Samsung Newsroom, published a detailed hands-on review of the sophisticated gaming peripheral.

Samsung takes pride in developing a head-mounted tdisplay that fuses rich visuals with crisp acoustics for a premium experience of mixed reality, which is basically the combination of virtual reality and augmented reality. Samsung HMD Odyssey may look like a typical head-mounted display, but it actually offers more bang for the back because it is a strategic amalgamation of high-quality parts and components.

In building Samsung HMD Odyssey, Samsung and Microsoft utilized high-resolution displays, AKG headphones and a good quality microphone. The premium mixed reality the device offers is also not complete without the two 6 Degrees of Freedom (6DOF) motion controllers that track movements in the mixed reality world and enable users to perform a wide array of virtual motion.

Samsung HMD Odyssey has two 3.5-inch AMOLED displays; each has 1440x1600 high-resolution picture quality. Such display technology allows users to enjoy a burst of vibrant colors, deep blacks and sharp contrast being rendered directly into their eyes. Picture quality is so good in this head-mounted display that wearers will only see a fluid and lifelike virtual experience.

To ensure that its new display device stands out from its rivals, Samsung incorporated a 110-degree Field of View into HMD Odyssey. The scope is not only greater than what competitors offer, it is also closer to the average person’s 120-degree real world field of view. Hence, HMD Odyssey is capable of delivering heightened realism because users can view and explore mixed reality worlds without viewing distortion just like how it is in real life.

Samsung also saw to it that the HMD Odyssey provides comfort as much as it provides quality entertainment. The device comes with hard type headband that has a cushioned Forehead Pad. The headband is easily adjustable so users can make necessary adjustments for long periods of comfortable gaming. What’s more is that the headband can accommodate eyeglasses, thus, user’s won’t have a problem if they are wearing spectacles. Meanwhile, the device’s Inter Pupillary Distance Control Wheel under the googles provides a way for users to adjust the distance between the dual AMOLED displays for the perfect viewing experience.

Samsung HMD Odyssey has built-in AKG headphones and mic that add another dimension to the premium mixed reality experience the device offers. Samsung says its head-mounted display’s 360° Spatial Sound simulates 3D sound using direction, distance and environment. Therefore, sounds in the virtual realm are crisp and are easy to distinguish and locate in the mixed reality world. Samsung particularly chose AKG headphones for they produce clear, world-class acoustic and bass. The built-in mic, on the other hand, enables users to communicate with each other during a game and is also used for voice commands.

Completing the mixed reality experience are the two 6DOF controllers that are designed to track movements inside the mixed reality world. The two have sensors that allow for intuitive and natural movements in the virtual world. Samsung pointed out in the hands-on review that the 6DOF controllers allow a variety of movements including forward, back, up, down, left, right, as well as rounded and rolling motions. Each controller has a clickable touchpad, a trigger, thumbstick, indicator light, menu button and a Windows/Controller power button.

The HMD Odyssey’s setup is pretty straightforward. Users only need to connect the device to a compatible Windows 10 PC that has the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and they can have it up and running in an instant. It’s worth noting thought that at the start of every session, users need to point the headset toward the PC monitor in order for the device to map out the physical space surrounding it and build virtual walls to represent the walls in the real world.

Samsung HMD Odyssey users can obtain a wide range of apps and games for their head-mounted display from the Microsoft Store. The product of Samsung and Microsoft’s collaboration also has support for Steam VR, so users are free to scan the platform’s more than 2,000 VR game entries.