The HTC Vive Pre will start shipping in April
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Virtual reality is getting closer and closer, and HTC presents their Vive Pre VR headset that will be their second edition after the original platform. As the CEO of HTC, Cher Wang, has stated, “today we stand on the precipice of a new era”. And the digital world is about to get a lot bigger.
This year will famously feature numerous virtual reality headsets that tech enthusiasts have been anticipating for a while. It will become part of our world and affect numerous fields ranging from gaming, to medicine, education, business, and many others. At the front line stand two giants: Facebook’s Oculus Rift, and HTC’s Vive which was made in partnership with Valve.
It appears to be rather clear where the latter is going, given its link to Steam, one of the world’s biggest gaming services.
Just ten months after the announcement of Vive, the company presented the HTC Vive Pre at the CES 2016 event. The new model arrives with significant improvements and one key feature that will set it apart from other headsets. Their target was to provide the best, clearest, and most comfortable platform where users could enjoy their experience in a safe and relaxing manner.
First of all, the HTC Vive Pre was announced to have enhanced comfort features. It’s smaller than the first version, with adjustable foam and rubber inserts, along with a new strap system for a better fit. It has interchangeable nose gaskets in order to provide their users with more options for sake of comfort. Furthermore, it will also be modifiable depending on the type of glasses the user will be wearing. So, no matter your vision or facial features, the HTC Vive will provide the best comfort possible.
The controllers have also seen an improvement, with a smoother texture and better grip pads. The headset boasts around 4 hours of gaming on one single charge. It’s quieter, more compact, and with a better lithium polymer batteries that are rechargeable through a micro-USB port. However, it’s new front-facing camera has garnered the attention of more testers.
The HTC Vive Pre will arrive with an exceptionally useful feature that will allow viewing of the real world without removing the headset. This could be incredibly beneficial after an hour long gaming session when you need a break. Or, naturally, to help the user avoid collision with objects within the room or the actual walls. The front-facing camera will provide a rough outline of the real world around the user.
It will also allow for a better immersing capabilities and interesting new interactions between the virtual and the real world.
The HTC Vive Pre virtual reality headset will be shipped off to 7,000 VR developers, and will likely hit the shelves in April of this year. The price, however, remains unknown for now, but it’s main target will likely be gaming due to HTC’s partnership with Valve’s Steam.
Image source: cnet.com
John Birks
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