HTC has announced plans to launch its own virtual reality headset this year, with a ‘developer edition’ this Spring and a consumer version by the end of 2015.
Its announcement was made at Mobile World Congress 2015 and involves a partnership with gaming software specialist Valve.
The new HTC Vive VR headset includes a 1200 x 1080 pixel screen for each eye, with a gyrosensor, accelerometer and laser position sensor tracking the user’s head to within 1/10th of a degree. There’ll also be a pair of hand controllers
Cher Wang, HTC’s chairwoman, said “It’s rare that a company has an opportunity to forever transform the ways in which people interact with the world and communicate with each other but that is exactly what we plan to do with Valve. Vive creates an exciting opportunity for all developers and content creators, to help us bring virtual reality into the mainstream with an end-to-end solution that completely redefines how we entertain ourselves, communicate with each other, learn and, eventually, how we become more productive. HTC Vive is real, it’s here and it’ll be ready to go before the start of 2016.”