ByteDance’s virtual reality unit Pico has launched a new s virtual reality (VR) headset to rival Meta Platforms’ Quest 2 gadget.

The VR headset called Pico 4 is powered by 7nm Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor, it has a 4K+ resolution display and a pair of touch controllers and supports 105-degree field of view. Comparing with previous generation, Pico 4 has a similar standalone design but a larger 8 GB RAM and larger 4,320 x 2,160 resolution.

Pico 4’s visor weighs just 295 grams without the strap, the company said in a press release. Pico 4, which begins pre-orders on Friday, is priced at 429 euros (US$422) with 128 gigabytes of storage and 499 euros for 256GB. In comparison, Quest 2 sells for 449.99 euros and 549.99 euros for the same storage options in Europe.

Founded in 2015, Pico employs 300 people by far with offices in China, the US, Spain, South Korea and Japan, its team size and sales numbers are still tiny compare with peers like Oculus Quest 2 from Meta, which sold 10 million units between its launch in September 2020 and November 2021. Pico is reportedly sold roughly 500,000 VR devices in China, according to Chinese media LatePost. Pico was acquired by ByteDance for CNY9 billion in August 2021.

ByteDance has allocated resources and staffs to the VR unit since the acquisition of Pico. 

Earlier this yar, ByteDance assigned senior managers from its short video app Douyin to Pico Interactive. Song Binghua and Wu Zuomin, who are responsible of leading TV show production and entertainment content at Douyin, TikTok’s China version, has already moved to Pico, following the appointment of Ren Lifeng, who co-created Douyin and then headed ByteDance’s Xigua short video app in his early career. ByteDance also acquired PoliQ, the operator of virtual social entertainment app Vyou, which was integrated into Pico shortly after the acquisition.     

Both virtual reality and augmented reality are widely regarded as underlying technology to support the application and adoption of Metaverse