It has been several years since Pico, an XR company under the ByteDance umbrella, released the Pico 4 VR headset, which was launched as a competitor to the Meta Quest 2 The new product is believed to be the Pico 4S (or Pico 4 Ultra in some regions)

Recently, regular tipster Steve Hemmerstoffer (OnLeaks on X) published a number of images purportedly of the Pico 4S on Android Headlines

Like the much-rumored Meta Quest 3S, the Pico 4S appears to be a cheaper headset with some improvements; the design in the OnLeaks images also looks very similar to the current Pico 4

There appears to be an additional set of stereoscopic cameras on the windshield, which may be intended to improve the pass-through or mixed reality experience

The new headset also comes with hand controls that appear to have the loop removed, but the pictures show off a new wrist strap to keep the controller nearby rather than spread around the room Other than that, the controller appears to be unchanged

Earlier leaks discovered by UploadVR showed the Pico 4S passing Korea's regulatory system and showing off some potential specs; the 4S version will be a replacement for the Pico 4's Gen 1 to Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset and should be paired with 12 GB of RAM For comparison, the Meta Quest 3 has the XR2 Gen 2, but only 8 GB of RAM

Currently, the Pico 4 uses a 256” 2160 x 2160 LCD screen with a 90 Hz refresh rate However, we have yet to see any news on whether a potential 4S will have the same display or if it will be improved

For a while, the Pico 4 was mostly relegated to Europe and Asia and was supposed to land in the US last fall However, due to a last minute decision, it will not be released in the US Nevertheless, it is available now on Amazon for $47499

Pico may be caught up in the problems ByteDance is facing with TikTok and the US government's decision to ban the social media platform, but it is not 100% clear

Pico may not be the only Chinese manufacturer fighting the US ban Just recently, the House of Representatives passed a ban on the sale of DJI drones in the United States The bill has yet to pass the Senate, but that could change in September Cell phone maker Huawei has been effectively banned from selling its products in the US since 2019, when Trump was still president

Still, it seems obvious at this point that social media companies would make headsets; even Snapchat still has Snapchat Spectacles Sorry X, but Twitter has not developed a VR headset I'm surprised Twitter hasn't developed a VR headset He's busy