14 DAY TRIAL // A new version of HTC’s Vive virtual reality headset has been unveiled at CES 2016, and it looks like they made some interesting changes to it.
It seems like an unlikely alliance, but HTC and Valve decided to partner up for a virtual reality hardware solution and it looks like they are finally getting closer to the commercial release.
Some of you might remember that there was a great friendship between Valve and Oculus just a couple of years ago. Steam was getting Oculus support for various games, and it was a match made in Heaven.
On the other hand, Oculus didn’t really have any kind of competition, and it was the only game in town for a long time. It was bought by Facebook, and everything changed in their relationship with Valve.
Soon after that, Valve and HTC (of all companies in the world) announced an initiative to bring a VR solution to the market. We’ve seen some of their work so far, but the latest version of the Vive virtual reality headset comes with a new feature.
HTC Vive virtual reality has a frontal camera
The main thing that sets Vive apart from the competition is a new front-facing camera that will provide another level of interaction for the users. Or at least this is what the developers from Valve and HTC are telling us.
According to their CES 2016 presentation reported on Eurogamer, they plan to bring elements from real life into the virtual world, but it’s still unclear how that will work or what are the benefits of such a feature.
If nothing out of the ordinary happens, HTC Vive should arrive in April. The funny thing is that 2016 is the year of the VR, with Sony bringing their own hardware, and Oculus finally making a serious appearance. It remains to be seen if 2016 is also the last year of VR.