HTC unveils Vive Pro - Higher resolution, integrated audio, front facing cameras, etc. - Sensationalist Headlines

[media]https://youtu.be/DPMJDXmYwiY[/media] [quote]HTC is refreshing its Vive headset with a new Pro model today. The original Vive debuted nearly two years ago, and the new Vive Pro is clearly designed to address some of the complaints of that earlier headset. HTC is increasing the resolution of the dual-OLED displays to 2880 x 1600 (1400 x 1600 per eye, and 615 ppi), a 78 percent increase from the 2160 x 1200 (1080 x 1200 per eye) resolution in the current Vive. This resolution increase should help with clearer text rendering and overall graphics, and the bump puts the Vive Pro beyond the Oculus Rift or Windows Mixed Reality headsets. Alongside the resolution increase, HTC has also redesigned the Vive Pro’s headstrap and added built-in headphones. One of the complaints of the original Vive was that it was difficult to adjust and heavy, and you had to plug in headphones, creating another cable dangling to potentially upset your VR experience. The Vive Pro’s headstrap includes a sizing dial so the headset is a lot more balanced, and it hopefully won’t feel too top heavy at the front. We’ll be testing it out later today to find out if this redesign has helped with the comfort, and whether the headset feels lighter as a result. HTC has also added dual microphones and dual front-facing cameras which are designed for developers to take advantage of. The headset itself looks far less clunky than the original, and HTC has added a blue color to the key elements and the front display. The two front-facing cameras look like eyes, and it’s a design that will clearly differentiate it from the original Vive. HTC is promising release dates and pricing will be “available soon,” but the company is not providing either today. HTC’s Vive Pro is also backwards compatible with both 1.0 and 2.0 SteamVR tracking, and you can use up to four base stations for room tracking on the Vive Pro. HTC says the current Vive will remain on sale throughout 2018, and HTC will sell the Vive Pro headset standalone to existing customers this quarter. A full bundle, and pricing, will be available later.[/quote] [url]https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/8/16863136/new-htc-vive-pro-vr-headset-announced-ces-2018[/url] [quote]In addition, HTC showed off the Vive Wireless Adaptor, which can hook onto either the original or Vive Pro and wirelessly connect to a nearby PC. While there have been third-party add-ons that turn the Vive wireless, HTC is offering an official accessory. It will be available in the summer.[/quote] [url]https://www.cnet.com/news/htcs-vive-pro-makes-your-virtual-world-a-whole-lot-clearer/[/url] [quote]We’ll get details about the price and final availability in the next few weeks, but the hardware will first be available as an upgrade for existing Vive owners in the first quarter of 2018. After that, it will be made available with the updated base stations and controllers early in the second quarter of the year. The new base stations will allow up to four sensors to be connected in a VR space, offering a play area of up to 10 meters by 10 meters, a size that will likely only be attempted by location-based arcades and professionals using VR for high-level design or testing purposes.[/quote] [url]https://www.polygon.com/virtual-reality/2018/1/8/16863124/htc-vive-pro-price-release-date[/url]

ok but what about knuckles?

[QUOTE=kyle877;53036107]ok but what about knuckles?[/QUOTE] this is just a hardware refresh to keep up sales while HTC waits forever for Valve to do anything. not sure why there's two front-facing cameras other than "because". seems like it will just add 100+ to the base cost and they're not using those for inside-out tracking.

[QUOTE=Foda;53036123]this is just a hardware refresh to keep up sales while HTC waits forever for Valve to do anything. not sure why there's two front-facing cameras other than "because". seems like it will just add 100+ to the base cost and they're not using those for inside-out tracking.[/QUOTE] I don't understand why they'd add another front-facing camera, either. the Vive has one that I don't even use.

[QUOTE=Foda;53036123]this is just a hardware refresh to keep up sales while HTC waits forever for Valve to do anything. not sure why there's two front-facing cameras other than "because". seems like it will just add 100+ to the base cost and they're not using those for inside-out tracking.[/QUOTE] AR

[QUOTE=kyle877;53036107]ok but what about knuckles?[/QUOTE] Found another source that says they'll be available Q2, unless the 'new controllers' they mentioned aren't knuckles

[QUOTE=kyle877;53036107]ok but what about knuckles?[/QUOTE] Waiting on Valve for that. So see you in 2022

Waiting to see what all this is going to cost. I've been waiting for 2nd gen before diving in and it seems like the resolution bump might be worth it.

[QUOTE=kyle877;53036130]I don't understand why they'd add another front-facing camera, either. the Vive has one that I don't even use.[/QUOTE] The camera is so that you don't have to bump into walls. Its for looking around quickly with the chaperone system.

"Pro", cant wait for it to cost 1000€. Maybe it can bring down the original Vive cost closer to what Rift goes for now, that would be nice. Time to look out for used Vives.

[QUOTE=Str4fe;53036133]AR[/QUOTE] that's seems like a rather poor decision considering there's no ARKit or ARCore like libraries available natively for Windows, OSX, or Linux.

It would make sense to have AR for devkit but not for a consumer grade product at the moment. But being a rift owner I could live without the cameras tbh.

I see that they took a page out of Sony's PSVR design. Not that it is a bad thing, the PSVR is by far the easier of the two to put on and adjust quickly.

The resolution increase is nice, but ultimately I think Oculus is in a much better position long term since they can offer lower prices with the cheaper and arguably just as good camera based sensor technology, plus the Oculus Go is just around the corner which offers an even more budget option, I can't honestly see HTC doing well once VR moves more in to the consumer market if they can't get their prices down.

why is everything from htc nowadays so fucking ugly

Im actually very curious about their wireless adapter. Tpcasts solution shows that it can be very well done, but they have outright terrible support for it. Hopefully this can be better [editline]8th January 2018[/editline] [QUOTE=J!NX;53036148]The camera is so that you don't have to bump into walls. Its for looking around quickly with the chaperone system.[/QUOTE] Chaperone is managed by the boundaries set during setup, and oversaw by the light houses. You can however have the chaperone bounds be camera projections if you want [editline]8th January 2018[/editline] [QUOTE=kyle877;53036107]ok but what about knuckles?[/QUOTE] I mean you can find him all over vrchat

[QUOTE=Mitsuma;53036151]Time to look out for used Vives.[/QUOTE] An idea that sounds good on paper

[QUOTE=ZombieDawgs;53036229]An idea that sounds good on paper[/QUOTE] Eye herpies is a thing I hear

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;53036179]I see that they took a page out of Sony's PSVR design. Not that it is a bad thing, the PSVR is by far the easier of the two to put on and adjust quickly.[/QUOTE] More accurately it's the Hololens they're all copying but I'm glad that they are, when I first used it my immediate thought was "why aren't any of the VR headsets doing this". It was a popular DIY mod for a while.

[QUOTE=J!NX;53036232]Eye herpies is a thing I hear[/QUOTE] Two factors for this to happen. 1. you don't clean the lenses 2. the person before you has poor hygiene.

[QUOTE=Nomad;53036260]Two factors for this to happen. 1. you don't clean the lenses 2. the person before you has poor hygiene.[/QUOTE] You're talking about a demographic that has traditionally checked these boxes. Also VR can work up a bit of a sweat regardless of the person.

So they're going to do a trade in program, right?

hold on, wasn't the primary complaint about the vive the exorbitant price or am I getting that wrong because why on earth would you release a pro model when your normal model isn't selling due to how expensive it is

[QUOTE=Cloak Raider;53036382]hold on, wasn't the primary complaint about the vive the exorbitant price or am I getting that wrong because why on earth would you release a pro model when your normal model isn't selling due to how expensive it is[/QUOTE] Well it is likely that this in one sense solves that issue from one standpoint. That being with the new headset coming out the old one will likely reduce in price. Will help the old model sell better and if they are lucky current vive owners will upgrade.

[QUOTE=Cloak Raider;53036382]hold on, wasn't the primary complaint about the vive the exorbitant price or am I getting that wrong because why on earth would you release a pro model when your normal model isn't selling due to how expensive it is[/QUOTE] as a vive owner, my primary complaint is def the resolution this could act as a pretty good way for them to sell off the old vive 1.0 models at a significantly cut price and offer the pro model for the people with cash to blow

[QUOTE=Cloak Raider;53036382]hold on, wasn't the primary complaint about the vive the exorbitant price or am I getting that wrong because why on earth would you release a pro model when your normal model isn't selling due to how expensive it is[/QUOTE] because HTC doesn't know what it's doing. here's their stock over the last few years [img]https://riftinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/vr-htc-vive-stock-2.jpg[/img]

I just bought a god damn vive for christmas... I feel like headbutting a wall right now... ._.

[QUOTE=Cloak Raider;53036382]hold on, wasn't the primary complaint about the vive the exorbitant price or am I getting that wrong because why on earth would you release a pro model when your normal model isn't selling due to how expensive it is[/QUOTE] I'm sure the gap is going to widen but as of the december steam hardware survey they're still about equal in sales. [QUOTE=alexojm;53036401]Well it is likely that this in one sense solves that issue from one standpoint. That being with the new headset coming out the old one will likely reduce in price. Will help the old model sell better and if they are lucky current vive owners will upgrade.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=DatHarry;53036403]as a vive owner, my primary complaint is def the resolution this could act as a pretty good way for them to sell off the old vive 1.0 models at a significantly cut price and offer the pro model for the people with cash to blow[/QUOTE] As a company marking down your old models doesn't help you in any way other than cutting your losses. The old headset doesn't get any cheaper to make because you have a new one, you're still losing money if you can't sell it at a margin above what it costs to make. It's possible their margins are higher than where they should be but without knowing the details of the deal between htc and valve you can't really say for sure.

[QUOTE=Aleal;53036419]I just bought a god damn vive for christmas... I feel like headbutting a wall right now... ._.[/QUOTE] I doubt you'd want to spend the extra for whatever this will cost. You probably made the right choice to be honest guy.

Haha what the hell, I worked on the game at 0:50, weird to see it in such a big trailer