14 DAY TRIAL // HTC Vive is the virtual reality gear developed by Valve and HTC, and it looks like the commercial launch has been delayed until 2016.
The virtual reality market is getting really crowded and it looks like there is room for everyone, or, at least, this is the impression until all the companies start releasing their gear. The new HTC VR should have been out sometime by the end of 2015, but there has been a lot of speculation regarding its launch.
This is really new technology, and it's not easy to pin down. The collaboration between HTC and Valve has been a surprising one, but Valve needed a new partner after Oculus was acquired by Facebook. The new partnership seems to be very productive since they plan to sell the new hardware in just a few months, even if it's with a short delay.
HTC Vive is coming in April
The plan is to have commercial versions of HTC Vive available in April, and it should be more than enough time to make it happen.
"We will be starting the new year by making an additional 7,000 units available to developers, followed by commercial availability in April 2016. We are incredibly excited about the future and look forward to sharing more information as we move forward towards launch," said the HTC Vive on the official blog.
A consumer release is an important step in the development cycle, especially for a hardware product. No matter how many Developer Kits you release into the wild, there comes a time when you need to see what the people who actually used them have to say, and that will be the real test.
Virtual Reality gear makers still have an important hurdle to overcome, and that is nausea that is experienced by a large number of people. It remains to be seen how HTC Vive will solve this issue.