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Varjo

Health Tech & Medtech · Helsinki, Finland · Founded 2016

Helsinki-based Varjo Technologies Oy, founded in 2016, develops and manufactures high-end virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (XR) headsets for the professional and enterprise market. The company was established by a team of former Nokia and Microsoft executives: Niko Eiden, Klaus Melakari, Roope Rainisto, and Urho Konttori. This founding group leveraged their extensive experience in hardware, software, optics, and user experience to address a gap in the market for high-fidelity immersive technology. Their vision was to create headsets capable of rendering virtual and mixed reality at a resolution comparable to the human eye, a concept that has driven the company's product development. Varjo's business model is centered on selling high-performance tethered headsets directly to enterprise clients and through a global reseller network spanning over 40 countries. This is complemented by a subscription-based software and support service, which provides access to Varjo's proprietary software suite and unlocks advanced features. The company primarily serves demanding industries such as aerospace, defense, automotive, medical, and research, with clients including major corporations like Boeing, Volvo Cars, Siemens, and Lockheed Martin. These organizations use Varjo's technology for complex applications like pilot and astronaut training, vehicle design and prototyping, and advanced scientific research. The company's product line began with the VR-1 in 2019 and has since evolved through several generations, including the XR-3 and VR-3 in 2020, and the more recent XR-4 series. Varjo's key technological differentiator is its 'Bionic Display,' which uses a high-density display in the center of the field of view to mimic the fovea of the human eye, providing extreme clarity where the user is looking. Its headsets feature integrated eye-tracking, hand-tracking, and, in the XR models, LiDAR and high-resolution video pass-through for seamless mixed reality experiences. In addition to hardware, Varjo offers a software ecosystem including the Varjo Reality Cloud platform, designed to stream and share immersive 3D environments, and provides professional consulting services to help clients deploy XR solutions at scale. Keywords: extended reality, virtual reality headsets, mixed reality, enterprise XR, human-eye resolution, professional VR, training and simulation, aerospace simulation, automotive design, medical VR, industrial-grade XR, LiDAR, video pass-through, eye-tracking technology, immersive computing, digital twin, high-fidelity VR, pilot training, defense technology, engineering visualization, Varjo Reality Cloud, photorealistic VR, enterprise software