BOXX Updates its MXL VR Mobile Workstation

The specs of the MXL VR mobile workstation. (Image courtesy of BOXX.)

Virtual reality (VR), once the domain of techno-futurists who imagined utopian realities mediated via machine, has started to emerge from its generation of exile. After promising a sea change in computer interfaces and entertainment, VR was felled in the mid-1990s by a lack of computational capacity and graphics capabilities.

Well, the times have changed, and today, processing power and graphics capability can deliver simulations that blur the lines of reality and simulation. As a result, businesses ranging from engineering to entertainment are not only taking notice, they’re also beginning to adopt VR workflows.

To meet these new demands, companies like BOXX are beginning to develop multiple platforms that are VR ready, right out of the package. A case in point is BOXX’s new MXL VR mobile workstation.

In its latest MXL update, BOXX has added a “desktop-class” 4.2GHz, four-core Intel i7-7700K processor, the ability to jam in 64GB of RAM and the lighting-quick storage that’s available in an M.2 SSD. To boost the machine’s graphics performance, the MXL can be outfitted with either an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 or a 1080discreet graphics card that will handle the intense streaming needs of an immersive VR presentation. Finally, the 8.6-lb MXL adds a 16.46-inch screen to its package.

“As VR becomes more integrated into professional workflows, a mobile solution is ideal for many organizations and industries,” said Shoaib Mohammad, VP of marketing and business development. “The challenge was to provide that mobility, but never compromise the quality of the immersive experience. BOXX has achieved that with GoBOXX MXL VR.”

While it can’t be argued that BOXX isn’t delivering on its promise to bring VR-capable computing to a laptop, those capabilities still come at a price. For a specced-out MXL VR, expect to pay somewhere north of $5,000. That’s about the same price you’d pay for a high-end desktop workstation—which is to say, it’s a massive improvement in the cost/performance ratio compared to the 1990s. Given that reality, I expect VR will be adopted by more engineering firms, and I don’t see it being exiled again.