During Microsoft’s press conference today in New York, they unveiled their plans to tackle the VR industry with their newly developed headset designed for the next Windows 10 update. Microsoft will be partnering with HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus and Acer for delivery and distribution.
This new VR headset is said to have six degrees of freedom sensors that make other headsets such as HTC Vive seem “old.” The technology will essentially replace the need for room scale sensors and nullify the need for add-ons and accessories as such.
Terry Myerson, Microsoft Executive Vice President of the Windows and Devices Group said, “These headsets will be the first and only to ship with inside-out, six degrees of freedom sensors… Unlike every other virtual reality headsets in the market today this means there’ll be zero need for a separate room, zero need for a complicated setup. And while those other less immersive accessories today cost over $500, most of the time requiring a new, expensive device, we’re announcing today that these Creators Update accessories will start at just $299.”
With these headsets starting at $299 it’ll make a tremendous impact in the VR community. The surprising thing about it all is that Microsoft has had good relationships with the 2 leading VR headset manufacturers being Oculus and HTC. Microsoft has been providing Oculus with Xbox controllers for their Rift bundles. If Microsoft follows through with the distribution plans, we can see these VR headsets shipping as early as next spring mixing up the level of competition between the companies.
And let’s not forget about Project Scorpio that Microsoft is working on. This next generation gaming console will be VR ready and will go toe to toe with Sony’s Playstation which may be the reason why they’ve made this rapid distribution plans. They haven’t formerly announced any specs for the new VR headset so that’ll play a big role in future adoption. Let the games begin.