HTC and Valve's partnered virtual reality headset
You can read more and see an over the top trailer here: http://www.htcvr.com/
HTC just announced that their VR headset and Valve's VR headset are the same headset.
That's what it looks like.
They're releasing a developer kit to select developers in spring (before summer) and will be releasing a consumer version before the end of this year.
It has a positional tracking range of 15 feet by 15 feet.
It runs at 90 hz.
It has two 1920 by 1200 displays.
It has an audio jack for headphones on it. The consumer version will apparently have integrated headphones.
It will also come with two wireless handheld controllers that are tracked in 3D space, for VR interaction.
No word on pricing yet I think, but I think an article from like a few days ago HTC said it would be like $300.
This could be huge. Steam machines give the average users a way to guarantee good performance in VR (very important in VR, low FPS is far more intolerable in VR than on a monitor). Oculus don't really have anything in the way of target hardware they can do a bundle with.
Also Valve will be showing off GLNext at GDC. A new version of OpenGL which will compete with DirectX 12 and Mantle, with the huge draw call performance improvement.
And their work on SteamVR API which they hopefully can push more heavily with this headset. The SteamVR API allowing you to develop for all VR headsets simultaneously.
I think Oculus might be in a little trouble, and I'm absolutely fine with that.
But maybe at GDC or E3 they will have something to show off that could solidify their position a bit. Oculus do seem closer to a consumer version than Valve. They will likely be releasing this year too. I wonder which consumer version will come first though, Oculus's or HTC/Valve's. I think if one of them gets a month lead on the other that could mean a lot.
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