HTC gives its first look at its lightweight Meta Quest Pro competitor

according to the edgewhich is provided with an appendix Introducing new devicesHTC plans to unveil another consumer-focused virtual reality and augmented reality headset at CES 2023 next month, with features likely to rival the recently announced phone. Meta Quest Proincluding full-color traffic video.

Although the full announcement and reveal is still a few weeks away, HTC has teased some early details About unannounced devices for the edge. Like the Meta Quest Pro and older Quest models, the headset will be a self-contained, integrated unit (unlike most HTC else offerswhich requires a permanent connection to a gaming PC) with around two hours of battery life and support for controllers with six degrees of motion detected, as well as hand tracking.

The unnamed headset will also include front and side cameras, allowing the wearer to see their surroundings in full color, facilitating augmented reality and mixed reality experiences. This was arguably the most compelling reason to splurge on the recently announced $1,500 Quest Pro, since the old Meta headphones only provide a grainy black-and-white video feed of the user’s surroundings to help ensure they don’t run into anything (or anyone). However, HTC’s new headset will likely outpace the competition, as HTC promises enough detail to allow users to read text on computers and smartphones through pass-through video, while the addition of a depth sensor will make it much better at accurately mapping a user’s surroundings and inputting virtual content. in it.

The display of the new headset doesn’t provide a lot of additional detail, though it doesn’t look dramatically different from the last one HTC Vive Flow, which looked like a pair of oversized safety goggles. This is in line with the hints that HTC released back in October that its next big product would be compact and lightweight.

HTC will also reveal details about the pricing of the new headset at CES, but Shen Ye, the company’s global chief product officer, said: the edge It doesn’t plan to subsidize the hardware by collecting and selling users’ data, and as a result, the new hardware will likely be much more expensive than Meta Quest 2’s $400 cost. This is good news for those who value their privacy, but it can make nElectronic headphones are a bit of a hassle for most consumers, who seem happy to trade in privacy for deeply discounted hardware.”

Update 12/16/22 at 2:05 PM:

This article originally stated that the Vive Focus 3 requires a connection to a PC, which is not the case. We are sorry for the error.