HP

HP
Information
Type	Public
Industry	Personal computers, printing, virtual reality
Founded	November 1, 2015
Headquarters	Palo Alto, California, United States
Notable Personnel	Enrique Lores (President and CEO)
Products	Personal computers, printers, VR headsets, workstations
Website	https://www.hp.com

HP (HP Inc., NYSE: HPQ) is an American multinational technology company that makes personal computers, printers, and related hardware. In the Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality space, it is best known for the HP Reverb line of high-resolution PC VR headsets built on Microsoft's Windows Mixed Reality platform, most notably the HP Reverb G2, which it co-developed with Valve and Microsoft. HP Inc. was formed on November 1, 2015, when the original Hewlett-Packard Company split into two firms, and it retained the personal computer and printing businesses along with the historic HPQ stock ticker.

The company is headquartered in the Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto, California. It is led by president and chief executive officer Enrique Lores, employs roughly 55,000 people, and reported revenue of about 55 billion US dollars in its 2025 fiscal year. HP entered VR through its workstation and commercial business beginning in 2017, expanded into consumer headsets with the original HP Reverb in 2019, and reached its peak in the category with the Reverb G2 in 2020. Its VR efforts wound down after Microsoft moved to retire Windows Mixed Reality.

History

Corporate background

The Hewlett-Packard Company traced its roots to 1939, but the modern HP Inc. dates to November 1, 2015, when the firm completed a split into two independent public companies. The enterprise infrastructure, software, and services businesses became Hewlett Packard Enterprise, while the personal systems and printing businesses kept the HP name and were renamed HP Inc. Shares of the two companies began trading separately on the New York Stock Exchange on November 2, 2015, with HP Inc. retaining the historic HPQ ticker and Hewlett Packard Enterprise trading as HPE. Because HP's VR products were developed and sold by the personal systems and workstation organization, that activity stayed with HP Inc. after the split.

Entry into VR (2017)

HP's first VR hardware came from its commercial and workstation business rather than the consumer market. At SIGGRAPH 2017 the company introduced the HP Z VR Backpack G1, a wearable workstation-class PC that it billed as one of the first professional wearable VR computers. The system used an Intel Core i7 processor and an NVIDIA Quadro P5200 graphics chip with 16 GB of video memory, weighed about 10 pounds, used hot-swappable batteries so a session need not be interrupted, and could dock to work as a desktop. It started at 3,300 US dollars and was aimed at uses such as product design and employee training.

That same year HP shipped its first head-mounted display, the HP Windows Mixed Reality Headset (VR1000), one of several launch devices for Microsoft's Windows Mixed Reality platform. Announced in 2016 and released in October 2017, it offered 1440 by 1440 pixels per eye, a hybrid 60/90 Hz refresh rate, inside-out tracking with two cameras, and a bundle with motion controllers for 399 US dollars.

HP Reverb (2019)

HP moved upmarket in 2019 with the original HP Reverb, announced on March 19, 2019. The Reverb pushed resolution to 2160 by 2160 pixels per eye, far higher than rival headsets of the era such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive Pro, while keeping a relatively light design. It used Windows Mixed Reality inside-out tracking with two cameras, which reviewers identified as its main weakness, and a 114-degree field of view. HP sold it in two versions: a Consumer Edition at 599 US dollars and a Professional Edition at 649 US dollars. The headset was set to launch on May 6, 2019, but suffered supply shortages and repeated sell-outs through the summer of 2019.

HP Reverb G2 (2020)

HP's highest-profile VR product was the HP Reverb G2, announced on May 28, 2020, and released in the fall of that year at 599 US dollars. It was developed as a three-way collaboration: HP handled the overall design, manufacturing, and high-resolution LCD panels; Valve contributed lens and audio design carried over from the Valve Index; and Microsoft provided the Windows Mixed Reality tracking and spatial audio software. The G2 kept the 2160 by 2160 per-eye resolution and 114-degree field of view, ran at 90 Hz, and was the first Windows Mixed Reality headset to ship with four tracking cameras instead of two, roughly doubling the controller tracking volume compared with the first Reverb. It also worked with SteamVR in addition to Windows Mixed Reality. Its sharp picture and off-ear speakers made it especially popular with flight and racing simulation enthusiasts, though its inside-out tracking remained less precise than the external base stations used by SteamVR headsets.

HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition (2021)

HP previewed an enterprise variant, the HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition, in 2020 and detailed it on April 7, 2021, with a release the following month at 1,249 US dollars. The Omnicept Edition added a suite of biometric sensors to the standard G2: eye tracking, pupillometry (pupil size measurement), a lower-face camera for mouth movement, and heart-rate sensing. HP paired the hardware with the Omnicept software development kit, offered in several licensing tiers, and pitched it at training, research, and analytics uses where measuring a user's responses was valuable. The company emphasized that sensor data was protected at the point of capture and was not stored on the headset.

Wind-down

By late 2022 there were widespread reports that HP intended to leave the VR market, accompanied by steep discounts on the Reverb G2, broader HP cost cuts and layoffs, and the departure of the executive who had led its VR launches. When asked, HP did not directly confirm a discontinuation, saying only that its XR work gave it a foundation to build on. The platform HP's headsets depended on was itself ending: Microsoft announced in December 2023 that it was deprecating Windows Mixed Reality, and the Windows 11 version 24H2 update in October 2024 removed the software entirely, leaving HP's Reverb and Reverb G2 unable to run on up-to-date Windows without third-party workarounds.

Products

Product	Year	Type	Notable specs and notes
HP Z VR Backpack G1	2017	Wearable VR workstation PC	Shown at SIGGRAPH 2017; Intel Core i7 with NVIDIA Quadro P5200 (16 GB); ~10 lb; hot-swappable batteries; docks as a desktop; from 3,300 US dollars
HP Windows Mixed Reality Headset (VR1000)	2017	PC VR headset (Windows Mixed Reality)	HP's first headset; 1440x1440 per eye; 60/90 Hz; inside-out tracking with two cameras; 399 US dollars with controllers
HP Reverb	2019	PC VR headset (Windows Mixed Reality)	Announced March 19, 2019; 2160x2160 per eye; 114-degree FOV; two tracking cameras; Consumer Edition 599 US dollars, Professional Edition 649 US dollars
HP Reverb G2	2020	PC VR headset (Windows Mixed Reality / SteamVR)	Announced May 28, 2020; co-developed with Valve and Microsoft; 2160x2160 per eye; 90 Hz; 114-degree FOV; four tracking cameras; Valve lenses and off-ear speakers; 599 US dollars
HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition	2021	Enterprise PC VR headset	Detailed April 7, 2021; adds eye tracking, pupillometry, lower-face camera, and heart-rate sensing plus the Omnicept SDK; 1,249 US dollars

Technology

HP's VR headsets were built on Microsoft's Windows Mixed Reality platform, which used inside-out tracking: cameras on the headset itself watched the surroundings to estimate position, so no external base stations were required. The original HP Windows Mixed Reality Headset and the first Reverb each used two cameras, while the Reverb G2 increased that to four to widen the area in which its controllers could be tracked. The approach made setup simpler than the external sensors used by SteamVR headsets such as the Valve Index, but it also tracked controllers less reliably when they left the cameras' view, a recurring point of criticism in reviews.

The Reverb line emphasized high pixel density, using dual LCD panels at 2160 by 2160 pixels per eye, among the highest resolutions available in consumer PC VR at the time. For the Reverb G2, HP brought in Valve to design the lenses and the off-ear speaker system derived from the Valve Index, combining HP's display and manufacturing work with Valve's optics and audio expertise. The Omnicept Edition extended the platform with sensing hardware, adding eye tracking and pupillometry, a camera that read lower-face and mouth movement, and a heart-rate sensor, all exposed to developers through HP's Omnicept SDK for building applications that respond to a user's physiological state.

Market position

HP was never a pure VR company; its headsets were one line within a much larger personal-computer and printing business, and they leaned on its strengths in manufacturing and display sourcing rather than on a standalone VR platform of its own. Within PC VR, the Reverb G2 carved out a clear niche as a high-resolution, comparatively affordable option, and it found a durable following among simulation users even as its Windows Mixed Reality tracking lagged competitors. Because HP's headsets were tied to Windows Mixed Reality, their fate was bound to Microsoft's: when Microsoft moved to retire the platform, HP's already-discounted hardware was effectively stranded on modern Windows, marking the practical end of HP's run in consumer VR.