The Game Developer Conference (GDC) is coming up next week, which could give ByteDance’s XR subsidiary Pico Interactive a perfect opportunity to showcase what, according to a recent trademark and leaked controller model, could be its next standalone VR headset.
A post by X user and serial sleuth @Lunayian shows a 3D model scraped from the Pico Connect PC client, ostensibly showing off the right controller for the alleged Pico 4S.
These look similar to the alleged Pico 5 controllers leaked on Chinese social media in September 2023, which are notably different from the Pico 4 controllers, as they omit the Quest 2-style tracking IR rings.
Pico 4S controller 3D model, apparently found in the Pico Connect PC client data. pic.twitter.com/on6nJg900F
— Luna (@Lunayian) March 11, 2024
Lunayian noted late last week that Pico has also already trademarked the name Pico 4S, a naming scheme that may suggest more of a hardware refresh of the Pico 4 headset, which launched in Asia and Europe in October 2022.
Still, a report from The Information late last year maintained that Pico was pulling the plug on its next consumer-focused Pico 5 VR headset in favor of competing with Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro mixed reality headset.
At this point, it’s anyone’s guess what the company has planned in terms of a potential Pico 4S, Pico 5, or what some rumors suggest could also include a Pico 5 Pro Max.
Despite wide-reaching layoffs at Pico, the China-based headset creator is going to have it usual presence at GDC 2024, which takes place March 18th-22nd in San Francisco. We’ll be reporting on all things XR coming out of GDC, so make sure to check back soon for the latest in games and hardware.
