HTC has announced the new Vive virtual reality (VR) headset and Grip fitness tracker to expand its product portfolio. Given that HTC is new in both product categories, the company has partnered with gaming firm Valve for the VR headset and Under Armour for the fitness tracker.
It is a full-fledged VR headset unlike Samsung’s Gear VR, and is powered by Valve’s SteamVR technology, however it is being designed by HTC. It sports a 1200x1080p screen in front of each eye with refresh rate of 90 frames per second. The company claims that fast refresh rate will eliminate the jitter common to other VR headsets.
Vive also includes a gyrosensor, accelerometer, and laser position sensor to track your head movement, allowing you to look around the virtual reality naturally. The company will also provide SteamVR base stations to track your physical location, so that you can walk around the virtual world.
In addition, HTC will ship Vive with two wireless controllers to help consumers play games and explore and interact with virtual world.
HTC has already partnered with multiple firms to develop games or virtual experiences for the Vive headset.
Availability
According to HTC, A developer edition of the Vive will arrive in the spring and the commercial version is expected by the end of 2015. There is no word on the pricing at this point.
