Finnish VR Tech Firm Opens New Factory

Leading Virtual Reality pioneer Varjo has recently opened a new manufacturing facility near Helsinki.

The firm, which makes Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) headsets, was selected as the XR technology provider for the U.S. Army’s Reconfigurable Virtual Collective Trainer (RCVT) Air program in 2023.

XR — short for  eXtended Reality — is an umbrella term encompassing AR, VR), and MR. Under the terms of the US Army deal Varjo is helping to providing a portable training solution for three different types of helicopter: Apache, Chinook, and Blackhawk. To achieve this the firm has been working closely with Cole Engineering Services Inc. (CESI), the key contractor for the RVCT program.

The new factory will help Varjo meet the increased demand; as per a recent press statement, it expects the training simulation market to be worth at least $900 million by 2027.

Varjo CEO Timo Toikkanen commented: “Varjo’s technology plays a vital role within the U.S. Army’s synthetic training program, providing soldiers with a fully immersive, highly realistic training environment where they can interact with physical controls in real-time."

He added: “Our new facility ensures that Varjo can meet the high-security requirements of our governmental customers while supporting the rapid growth of XR demand in the defence sector.” 

• You can read more details on the Varjo website