Lenovo has announced the launch of a new virtual reality (VR) headset targeted at the enterprise that aims to make training employees easier.
The Lenovo Mirage VR S3 features a 4K display for clearer visuals, hands-free control for utilisation with or without the provided controller, integrated audio, and an easy to clean, hygienic faceplate, which makes it suitable to be shared across the business.
The device, which also boasts a battery life of up to three hours, will become available in the third quarter of this year in the UK, as well as North America and some parts of Asia and Europe. The headset will retail for “under $450” (around £360) in North America, but enterprise clients are requested to contact a Lenovo representative for information and pricing.
Lenovo’s commercial AR/VR lead Nathan Pettyjohn believes that “VR helps achieve better, faster training at lower cost”.
“Our enterprise customers are looking for solutions to build and enable more skilled and efficient global workforces. They are increasingly looking for cutting-edge solutions like VR and AR supported by ThinkReality’s flexible platform to scale applications enterprise-wide,” he said.
According to Lenovo, the Mirage VR S3 headset can be used to train frontline personnel as well as skill up technical teams. A study by Training Magazine has shown that employees who were trained through VR had measurably higher retention rates and performance gains, in comparison to those who used traditional means of training.
Ganesh Raghu, director of Lenovo’s Emerging Technology Solutions & Services, said that the company “is placing a significant amount of resources into developing emerging business solutions to support our customers’ sophisticated needs and endeavours”.
“These solutions require an elevated support model, like Lenovo Integrated Solutions Support, that goes beyond individual products and instead focuses on managing complex issues across the entire solution to limit downtime and create a better customer experience,” he added.
The launch of the Mirage VR S3 headset comes weeks after Lenovo announced that it would be partnering with the Fedora Project to pre-install Linux on a select number of its machines.
