DJI Goggles Have Landed – All You Need to Know

DJI’s long awaited FPV goggles have landed. They are available for pre-order now for pilots keen to experience a bird’s eye view of the world in full HD.

The new product line has been heavily anticipated since it was hinted at during the Mavic launch, but until now we haven’t had any major details.

Now they’re launched, DJI Goggles look to be a lot more sophisticated than some of the basic virtual reality headsets on the market at the moment. In part that’s because of the quality of the screens and their connectivity with your drone.

DJI Goggles rely on a pair of large, 1920×1080 HD screens. The Chinese drone giant has also factored in the range and latency issues that can occur with wireless connectivity. As well as getting a crisp picture of what your drone is seeing while you stand on the ground, DJI Goggles will give pilots control of photo and video capture and, if you fly a Mavic Pro or Phantom 4,  access to intelligent flight features using a touchpad on the side of the visor.

“DJI pilots deserve a first-person viewing experience with the same quality, power, and performance they have come to expect from our aerial platforms. We fully expect that they will be thrilled with the fun and immersive experience of flying with our goggles,” said Paul Pan, DJI’s Senior Product Manager.

“We have refined every element of DJI Goggles to the same standards as our aerial platforms, and we have optimized their connectivity to provide the most amazing drone experience yet.”

High-Quality Optics & Low Latency Transmission

For a truly immersive flight experience DJI has pulled out all the stops. These FPV goggles use a beam splitter to display an image in front of each eye and polarization to prevent image overlap. The result is a full HD view, with more than twice the amount of pixels of a typical 2K display. DJI says that “wearing the DJI Goggles is like looking at a 216″ home cinema screen placed about three meters away.” Specific.

On top of seamless image transmission, DJI’s OcuSync allows up to two pairs of goggles to be connected to pilots flying a Mavic Pro. The Mavic offers a direct feed at either 720p at 60 fps or close range 1080p at 30 fps. Latency is as low as 110ms.

DJI Goggles let you do more

DJI’s new goggles feature an integrated touchpad, allowing pilots to navigate the internal menu and pick from different intelligent flight modes like ActiveTrack, TapFly, Terrain Follow, Cinematic and Tripod.

Most exciting for DJI pilots will be the Head Tracking technology built into the new goggles. This will give Mavic Pro and Phantom 4 pilots the ability to use head movements to control both the aircraft yaw and the camera tilt. Turning your head, says DJI, is like moving the control sticks: “Turn left, or right to yaw left or right, and straighten your head to stop the turn.”

Alternatively, DJI Goggles can be used to control the gimbal exclusively. This feature could come in handy when two operators are attempting to film tough shots during complex manoeuvres.

Compatibility & Performance

Will DJI Goggles work with your DJI drone?

Probably, yes. But with different drones you’ll get different features through the touchpad.

DJI Goggles can sync with the Mavic Pro via DJI’s OcuSync transmission system, while the Phantom 4, Phantom 4 Advanced, Phantom 4 Pro, and Inspire 2 drones can connect via the controller’s USB port. An onboard Micro SD Card allows operators to download files from the aircraft to the goggles or review video files on the spot.

DJI Goggles’ first-person viewing experience works with DJI aerial platforms including the Mavic Pro, Phantom 4 series, and Inspire series.

On a full charge, DJI Goggles will run for a maximum of six hours.

Use cases

There are two ways of looking at the release of DJI’s Goggles. On the one hand, the price below can be justified by the potential commercial applications of this technology. It’s easy to imagine aerial inspections using drones and beaming images straight to an engineer wearing the goggles for an FPV view.

On the other, there is an obvious consumer market here. We all want to experience that feeling of flight, of the freedom that comes with gliding high above. Indeed, the popularity of FPV racing can be partly explained by that basic human instinct.

Perhaps that potential for use cases in both secotrs of the drone market explains why the price is as follows…

DJI Goggles: The Price

All of the above probably sounds incredibly appealing. But DJI’s latest prosumer product doesn’t come cheap. It’s been priced at US$449. For some perspective that’s more than double Yuneec’s FPV goggles, and also the same price as a Phantom 3 Standard.

But as long as they dominate the hardware market, pilots are going to have to suck it up when it comes to expensive accessories. DJI Goggles will start shipping after May 20, 2017.