HTC Vive launches new accessories: Vive Tracker and Audio Smart Strap | CES 2017

Leifeng.com reported that HTC Vive held a new product launch conference during CES at around 7:00 am on January 5th, Beijing time. Two new products were launched at the conference, namely Vive Tracker and Vive Audio Smart Headband. It was also announced that the TPCast wireless VR set will be shipped in the second quarter, and a new VR content subscription service will be provided in the first half of 2017.

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Vive Tracker

According to reports, the Vive Tracker is a tracking module that can be combined with any real object, which can realize the motion tracking and positioning of various new objects in the VR world. The tracker weighs less than 85 grams, has a diameter of 99.65 mm, a height of 42.27 mm, and a battery life of 6 hours. At the press conference, Vive demonstrated 8 third-party Vive Tracker integration cases, including the first VR camera, multiple VR shooting peripherals, VR tactile gloves, and training applications designed for baseball players and firefighters.

Tracker demo, simulating a camera taking pictures

“To further advance VR, we want to help developers simplify the prototyping and go-to-market process, and bring more immersive controllers and accessories to consumers,” said Daniel O’Brien, General Manager of Vive Americas and EMEA. “Vive Tracker is our first step in building an ecosystem of third-party accessories that will change the way we interact with virtual experiences, providing endless content opportunities for consumers and businesses.”

At the same time, through connection settings, the tracker can be used with more VR accessories in the future to achieve a new VR experience. In order to promote the development of new VR accessories, Vive will distribute 1,000 Vive trackers to high-quality developers, and specific application information will be announced later.

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Vive Deluxe Audio Strap

The Vive Audio Smart Headband is equipped with comfortable and easy-to-use integrated adjustable headphones, which can instantly adjust the length of the headband to ensure that the headband can fit the user's head more tightly and comfortably, while achieving surround VR sound effects. It is understood that the headband adopts a cleaner and more convenient three-in-one cable laying design. The Vive Audio Headband allows users to wear the Vive helmet and headphones at the same time in one step, simplifying the wearing process and providing a more optimized wearing solution for high-frequency usage scenarios such as offline experience stores.

Both the Vive Tracker and Vive Audio Smart Headband will be officially released in the second quarter of this year, and the price will be announced. Users can then order them through www.vive.com.

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Wireless VR Kit

At the same time, Vive also announced that the TPCast wireless VR kit will begin shipping in the second quarter of 2017, with a price of US$249 in the US market.

"Our approach to wireless and VR remains the same as when we developed Vive: wireless will be open standards and we want to support all vendors who can provide low-latency wireless VR solutions," said O'Brien. "We believe wireless VR will be an important force driving the growth of the Vive ecosystem in 2017."

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Viveport Subscription Service and App Store

In addition to the new accessories, Vive will also launch the Viveport subscription service in the first half of 2017 to help users discover the latest VR content and provide a new content profit channel for developers. It is reported that there are currently 1,000 pieces of content on the Viveport platform, with 30 new pieces added every week. The content target for 2017 is to reach more than 3,000 pieces, and there will be more 3A masterpieces released. In addition to games, Vive will also introduce VR movies and music content.

Users can pay a subscription fee to access the subscription service content library at any time, and discover and obtain their favorite latest apps at the first time. Content developers can continue to publish independent apps, or choose to join the subscription service content library and enjoy the benefits of this additional revenue channel.

The subscription service is currently available for free trial.

In addition, a Viveport Mobile VR Store will be set up in China and open to international developers.

“We’re excited to launch our VR subscription service, which has become the most popular way for consumers to consume content,” said Rikard Steiber, President of Viveport. “This is an important step for the development and evolution of VR enthusiasts, developers, and the entire VR ecosystem.”

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Viveport Arcade for location-based experiences

For offline experience stores, Vive has launched the Viveport Arcade content management and publishing platform, which can charge according to the running time of the content to ensure the accuracy of the revenue sharing between operators and developers. Vive has already reached a cooperation with Leke in China. For the enterprise level, the Viveport Enterprise Edition application store will be launched for corporate customers in the medical, architectural, design, training and other fields.

Viveport Arcade currently has over 300 high-quality VR content, covering 1,000 offline experience stores in China, and is expected to enter more than 5,000 offline VR experience stores around the world by the end of the year. The Viveport Enterprise Edition App Store will be launched in 2017, which can help business owners give full play to the creativity of immersive VR, while effectively managing the types of content obtained and usage by employees.

The following is the official website, which can be viewed as needed.

developer.viveport.com (Viveport subscription service)

www.viveport.com (VR enthusiasts)

www.viveportvrarcade.com (offline experience store owner)

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