Cancels Daydream plans, though.
HTC’s Vive subsidiary has announced the launch of the Vive Wave VR Open Platform, and the first product to use it: The Vive Focus standalone VR headset with full inside-out tracking.
For those hoping HTC’s announcements at the Vive Developers Conference this week would include something for the PC crowd, there was disappointment: The two biggest proclamations of the event were the launch of Vive Wave and the Vive Focus headset, both of which are designed for the Chinese market in mobile VR.
‘ We are taking another huge step in driving the most vibrant ecosystem for VR forward, ‘ claims HTC’s Matthew Gepp of the Vive Wave launch. ‘ Vive Wave will open up the path to easy mobile VR content development and device optimisation for third-party partners. Vive Wave is a clear step forward in bringing together the highly fragmented mobile VR market that has cropped up in China the last several years. It enables developers to create content for a common platform and storefront across multiple hardware vendors. ‘
While Gepp boasted of twelve Chinese hardware partners signed up to support Vive Wave, HTC isn’t leaving its success to chance: The company also announced Vive Focus, the company’s long-teased wholly-mobile self-contained VR headset. ‘ Vive Focus offers enhanced comfort for extended use, easy on-off capabilities, and is the first commercial standalone device to deliver inside-out 6-degree-of-freedom tracking (6DoF) which Vive calls « world-scale », ‘ explains Gepp. ‘ Without the need to be attached to a PC or a phone, Vive Focus provides unlimited freedom of mobility while reducing the total cost for users to own a premium VR device in China. Its high-resolution AMOLED screen delivers the best possible VR experience, with low latency and unmatched clarity. ‘
The Vive Focus will launch as both a consumer product and a demonstration of what can be achieved with the Vive Wave platform, HTC has confirmed, though presently as a Chinese exclusive. At the same time Google’s Clay Bavor confirmed via Twitter that HTC had cancelled plans to release a standalone headset compatible with the Daydream platform – seemingly in order to concentrate on Vive Wave.
