HTC to Unveil a Lightweight VR Headset to Compete With the Meta Quest 2 - ExtremeTech

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(Photo: HTC/The Verge)For the past respective years Meta hasn’t had to look overmuch contention successful the virtual world (VR) market. Sure, there’s been a fewer companies with headsets, but nary person been capable to deed the price-to-performance people similar the Meta Quest 2. Valve tried with its Index, but its precocious terms tag made it inaccessible to a batch of people. HTC has offered VR headsets for galore years, but nary of them person breached done the mode the Quest has. HTC says it’s looking to alteration that successful 2023. It has shared an representation of an upcoming headset that looks amazingly thin, which it volition beryllium unveiling astatine CES successful aboriginal January.

The institution shared the image with The Verge (top), and alternatively of obscuring details, it shows rather a few. We tin spot that dissimilar the bulk of existing headsets, they look much similar goggles. HTC describes the merchandise arsenic a small, airy all-in-one instrumentality that does VR, augmented world (AR), and mixed world (MR). The instrumentality has front-and-side-facing cameras, and arsenic an all-in-one portion that doesn’t request a PC connection, it’ll beryllium utile for everything from gaming to endeavor scenarios. HTC presently separates its user and endeavor devices, but it seems it’ll beryllium unifying them with this upcoming headset.

Go tiny oregon spell home. pic.twitter.com/PUqqKn4V5E

— HTC VIVE (@htcvive) October 6, 2022

The caller headset volition reportedly connection a scant 2 hours of artillery life, astir adjacent to that of the Meta Quest Pro. It’ll beryllium paired with controllers that supply six degrees of state and hand-tracking. The biggest diagnostic is the outward-facing cameras let for full-color passthrough for MR, which volition let experiences similar seeing virtual items successful your ain enactment oregon gaming area. This is seen arsenic 1 of the adjacent large things successful this space, arsenic you could person a virtual yoga teacher successful your surviving room, for example. The HTC rep says the institution has precocious hopes for this feature, but couldn’t accidental precisely what the headset volition connection connected this beforehand conscionable yet.

Currently, HTC offers the Flow for mainstream consumers, which it describes arsenic “immersive VR glasses.” It’s priced astatine $449, truthful it competes straight with the Quest 2. It besides offers a Vive Pro, but astatine $1,200 it’s successful the aforesaid territory arsenic the Valve Index and Quest Pro. However, the Vive Pro, similar the Index, is tethered to a PC. It seems this caller headset wants to divided the quality betwixt the 2 existing headsets. If so, we would expect a terms of astir $800 oregon so.

The Meta Quest 2 looks downright bulky compared to HTC’s teaser image. (Image: Meta)

The HTC spokesperson said successful the study that it expects its caller headset to person respective advantages implicit the Quest Pro. It says it includes a extent sensor, which Meta removed from its headset, to much accurately exemplary a user’s environment. HTC says the cameras are truthful good, you tin work substance connected a laptop portion wearing it, which is precise hard to bash connected different headsets.

The AR/VR marketplace is expected to truly prime up successful 2023, arsenic it’s been somewhat dormant for a portion now. Apple is expected to motorboat an costly device that volition apt situation the presumption quo. Sony volition besides beryllium releasing its $549 PSVR2 headset successful February, which has a batch of precocious features. Now that HTC has officially renewed its dedication to VR with a lightweight headset, it’ll beryllium absorbing to spot what it comes up with astatine CES.

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