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HP Puts VR to Work With Second Generation Wearable Backpack

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Virtual reality isn't all about gaming. It's found a home in architectural offices, for example, where it lets planners take virtual walkthroughs of buildings that are still on the drawing board. To serve that market, HP introduced the HP VR Backpack G2 today, the second generation of its wearable untethered VR computer. This versatile device can be docked and connected to a monitor or loaded into an included harness and worn like a backpack.

News 2The upgraded G2 model delivers smooth images with the 8th generation Intel Core i7 processor, and Intel QM370 chipset, up to 32GB SDRAM, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 graphics. Feedback from the first gen device showed that even business users want high-end gaming graphics, so HP upgraded the card. HP has also redesigned the harness to make it easier to clean, important in commercial gaming centers, plus improved the location of the hot-swappable batteries for comfort. Because it's a demanding system, a pair of external batters is only good for an hour of use.

HP claims this second gen device offers 30% greater performance and 25% more powerful graphics than the first. It will work with any VR headset, but definitely consider the HP Reverb introduced in March. Offering 2K resolution per eye, it's a great choice for anyone sick of the screen door effect.

The HP VR Backpack has a starting price of $3,300, and will be available this summer.

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