During the successful MWC event in Barcelona, HTC has finally announced that the HTC Vive will be available for pre-order. Starting February 29, 2016, HTC will be accepting pre-order and the product will be released to the public starting April 5 this year.
HTC's background in technology is prime to be working on the VR headset technology. The Vive has a resolution of 1080x1200px, which is divided across both oculars. It will have a 90Hz refresh rate. These specs are expected in the stage of this technology. The Oculus shift has a higher resolution of 2160x1200 while the PlayStation VR has it lower at 960x1080 per display, according to IT Pro.
What's keeping the Vive up to par with other VR headsets is its Lighthouse technology which uses motion trackers. It also has a gyroscope, accelerometer and a laser position sensor that tracks the user's head movement and detects where the user is looking. The Vive also sports two base stations, these are sensor boxes that sit in opposite corners of whichever space your using the headset.
The Vive sensors have a maximum area of 15 square feet that tracks the user's physical movement as well as interact with the real world. The device also has two handheld controllers that let users manipulate objects on the virtual field.
The Vive supports games that were initially developed for the Oculus Rift DK2. Experts, however, noticed that the games are a little bit shaky, and a reliably smooth and unfettered gaming experience could be a little off. According to CNet, when Oculus revealed that their price tag was $599 for the system, they faced a backlash as people find it a bit too high.
The Verge reported that the Vive headset would cost $799 in the US, but HTC has been silent regarding the price that it would have around the world. According to sources, though, the Vive will cost 689 pounds in the UK and 899 euros in Europe, CAD$1,149 in Canada, 111,999 yen in Japan and $899 in Australia. Prices for other countries are yet to be announced.
Certainly, techno companies are going all out just to give the consumers a new experience in the virtual field. With the era of virtual reality slowly creeping in, more and more of this technology will soon rise and consumers hope that with the rise comes better user experience and most importantly a lighter price tag.
