Going inside the Windows-based virtual reality device.

The Acer Windows Mixed Reality is a virtual reality headset introduced in 2017. The form factor is 2.9" x 7.78" x 4.3" (152.7 x 119.1 x 119.1mm) and weighs 6 oz. (171g) with the battery. It comes with a 2.9" x 2" high-resolution LCD module. The headset has two “fish-eye sensors” on the front of the device for inside-out tracking, which eliminates external sensors, an integrated gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer for six-degrees-of-freedom positional tracking.

The motherboard is double-sided SMT. The active components include an STM ARM Cortex-M3 74MHz microcontroller, Lattice LIF-MD6000 FPGA (possibly for image processing), Cypress CYUSB3064 MIPI CSI-2 to USB bridge controller, CYUSB3304 USB 3.0 hub, Realtek ALC4040 audio chip, Analogix SlimPort HDMI-to-display port converter, an Analogix SlimPort Display port receiver, and a VR chip that outputs to two displays. The memory is Winbond 8Mbit serial flash.

Two flex circuits connect the LCD board to the main board, and a third flex circuit connects the IR sensor. The two cameras are also connected by flex circuits. Each camera has an underside heat sink.

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Figure 1.  The main board of the Acer AH101 VR headset.

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Figure 2. Are headsets like these the new “reality?”

Ed.: Figure 1 is courtesy of Shachar Weis (callmevice.com).

Mike Buetow is editor in chief of PCD&F/CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY; mbuetow@upmediagroup.com.

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