Recently we presented you with two approaches to VR, the Oculus Quest & Nintendo Labo VR. With HTC announcing the formation of a new business unit, VIVE Enterprise Solutions, as well as more and more games coming to HTC Vive and HTC Vive Pro, the time has come to expand the VR world.
HTC’s new unit aims at expanding the extended reality (XR) solution for businesses. This means that HTC wants to provide enterprises with full customer journey—from concept to tailor-made solutions. With these news come some updates for the HTC Vive headset models, as well. So, let’s dive deeper into the VR world.
HTC Vive Pro Eye
VR headsets have undergone massive improvements since the launch of HTC Vive and Oculus Rift in 2016. What differentiates the HTC Vive Pro Eye from the HTC Vive Pro is most importantly the eye-tracking feature. In addition, according to HTC’s blog post, the headset is already available on the American and Canadian markets with the price tag of $1,599.
Evidently, VR and eye-tracking go hand in hand together. HTC Vive Pro Eye allows users to perform actions using their eyes and not their hands. Furthermore, eye-tracking in VR allows the production of higher fidelity VR images with less processing power. This is possible because of a technique called foveated rendering. It allows for high resolution rendering only for the parts of a scene that the user is actually looking at. In that way, it doesn’t waste resources on the user’s peripheral vision. In addition, eye-tracking allows for the creation of more life-like avatars. For example, in virtual meetings, the other users will be able to see where your avatar is actually looking.
Ovation and Vive Sync
HTC’s plans for providing businesses with VR solutions are becoming a reality. For example, they have created a speaking training tool, called Ovation. It uses the new Vive Pro eye-tracking feature to help people realize what direction they are looking at while giving a public speech. In addition, the users can choose from a variety of venues and size of the audience. The main purpose of the Ovation tool, is to help people overcome their fear of speaking in front of people by providing training and practice.
On top of that, the company is also developing a business collaboration tool, VIVE Sync. It allows decentralized teams of up to 30 people worldwide to meet in a virtual space to share ideas, materials and make decisions. The Vive Sync tool can be used with the entire Vive headset family, like Vive, Vive Pro and Vive Focus. In that way, Vive Sync improves companies’ communication and productivity.
HTC Vive Cosmos
Another huge reveal from HTC is that of the Vive Cosmos VR set. It will empower VR at 90 frames per second, and will have 88% higher resolution display than the original HTC Vive. You can now see what the new HTC Vive Cosmos will look like at HTC’s web page, however, they still do not mention anything about its release date and price. According to the company’s website, the new Vive Cosmos will come with six cameras, flip-up design, detachable headphones, a faceplate and a vented front. Most importantly, the detachable faceplate will allow users to change it when upgraded versions are available.
The Vive Cosmos’s LCD display will have a 2880 x 1700 combined resolution as well as real RGB panels. The lens clarity will also be improved by 40% with the help of incorporating more subpixels. On top of that, there are minimum requirements for the installation of the system, which means that customers can start using it straight out of the box. Additionally, HTC declared that the Vive Cosmos will come with new more practical and gamer-friendly controllers.
What does the future hold?
Surely, we will be able to see the next generation of VR sets coming up in the near future. What remains a mystery, however, is whether VR can be used for something other than entertainment. When you think about it, blockchain was also first developed to support Bitcoin. But today, blockchain is disrupting industries beyond finance. Is that the future of VR technology? Well, you can stay tuned with the most recent news by subscribing to our newsletter!
