Pimax Announces the Sword and Sword Sense VR 2.0 Controllers

Featuring a replaceable and rechargeable battery With Sword to enter production soon and begin shipping in the 2^nd Half of 2019

May 1st, 2019—Pimax, a leading innovator in immersive virtual reality hardware, has named its two new controllers “Sword” and “Sword Sense” and has announced that Sword will be shipped within the 2^nd half of 2019. As a community-based project, the design of the Sword controllers has been iterated numerous times,taking into account a great deal of feedback from the VR community and from providing demos at exhibitions since prototypes were first unveiled in last year.  

The name of “Sword” refers to “the sword of virtual reality”, and the idea is that the Pimax new controller resembles the hilt of a sword that connects the VR enthusiasts with a more immersive virtual world. Armed with Pimax Sword and Sword Sense, users will feel like a true hero while wielding the blade in sword fights and be able to get interactive and immersive motion controls in virtual reality.

To realize the goal, Pimax has dedicated a great deal of time and resources to ensure the new Sword Series controllers set new standards in battery, comfort and ergonomics. Compared with the prototype released in January this year, the new controller now features a 900mAh lithium battery that is replaceable and rechargeable. “Many of our users have complained to us that while being immersed in VR, they often find the controllers suddenly dead and then they have to go back to the real world to recharge the controllers. In this situation, they have to always remember to charge the battery. These are the main reasons for the development of a replaceable and rechargeable battery.” said Kevin Henderson, NA and EU Head of Operations and company spokesperson at Pimax VR. Now, with the new design of battery, users will be able to be fully immersed in the virtual world without worrying about being interrupted or taking time to recharge the battery in the middle of gaming.

Besides, the design of the grip handle and of the ring of the controllers has been optimized to be fully integrated with the palm. The surface of the grip handle is designed more curved to perfectly fit your hand and the center of gravity of it has been optimized to give a balanced feeling of weight when grasped. The sensor ring of the controller is now optimized to give more interior space and enhanced comfort for both holding and rapid controller movements.

“During the development of the new controllers we joked the most popular prototype resembled a swashbuckling sword and the name stuck. These new controllers represent the next step for Pimax in offering top notch hardware to end users and B2B customers looking for designs that are both attractive and robust. The balance these controllers have in your hand and the level of comfort will certainly please a lot of VR enthusiasts.” said Kevin, “Our goal is to provide the best VR experiences available and as we release these new controllers along with the latest lighthouse technology this will allow us to offer complete VR systems that are more expandable and versatile than any other VR offering.”

Compared with other controllers in the market, Pimax offers two options, both thumbstick and trackpad styles, giving more flexibility to users to choose from. The Pimax Sword controller is a wireless 6DOF controller with a trackpad style design and it can be attached to the user's palm when playing games with a strap. The Pimax Sword Sense is our flagship controller offering and shares the same functionality as the standard Pimax Sword controller except that it is upgraded to utilize sensors to detect all five fingers and finger movements with a thumbstick design and a touch panel. In addition, both types include a grip button, a menu button, a system button, and a trigger and are compatible with both version 1.0 and 2.0 versions of Steam VR Lighthouse tracking to ensure a better user experience.

“The Pimax community was instrumental in helping us achieve the right mix of functionality included with the Pimax Sword controllers. As a result of all the feedback we decided to make both types for the community to satisfy different demands, though it did extend the development and production time. We are very excited we have completed the design and moving on to the production stage.” said Kevin. Pimax is slated to begin mass production of the Sword controller soon will ship out in quantity in the 2^nd half of 2019. Together with its 5K+ and 8K headsets, Pimax aims to offer killer package deals for VR enthusiasts to enjoy VR fully in the era of 2.0.