BERLIN—Acer is pushing the edges of VR, literally. Its new StarVR headset uses extra-wide screens to fill up your peripheral vision, and it will be incorporated into IMAX theaters, the company announced here at IFA.

Acer announced its partnership with Starbreeze, a game developer, back in May, and at the time it said its headset would be used at theme parks, so IMAX isn't that far off its original plan. IMAX also said in May that it's opening up six "virtual reality centers" later this year. According to IMAX exec Robert Lister, near-future movie-goers could go see a film that's set on an alien planet and then go into a separate room to experience short-form VR content about that planet, for instance. These "VR experiences" will cost $7-10 and last about 10 minutes.

So obviously, I had to put the thing on. StarVR's 210-degree field of view definitely adds to the VR experience, but the headset I was wearing was too pre-production to be viable.

First, the good news: the StarVR headset doesn't feel heavier or less comfortable than an Oculus or Vive headset, and the "wide screen" perspective definitely adds to the cinematic quality of the experience.

But it's clear that StarVR isn't in its final form yet. Most importantly, you can't put it on while wearing glasses, which counts out half the population. Trying it without my glasses, I could definitely see the seam between the two lens views as well, which was distracting. And if I moved my head quickly, there was some tearing of the image. While Acer has made its point with the wide screen, the headset experience still isn't finished enough to judge properly.

There's no single controller for StarVR, Acer reps told us. The demo I saw, as well as the IMAX movie versions, won't have a controller. An upcoming Walking Dead game uses a realistic shotgun; other games could come with their own controllers, Acer said. And while our StarVR and the IMAX version are for seated use only, tethered to powerful Windows laptops, they're working on room-scale tracking, according to demonstrators.

Acer is distributing StarVR to IMAX right now, the company said at today's presser.