A lot of excitement has been building up with a ton of new announcements in regards to new VR hardware. Most recently, Oculus has announced an OEM mobile VR headset called the Oculus Go which will provide a tetherless experience. The headset will be compatible with all Gear VR games and experiences that are available today.
HTC has also announced that they’ll be releasing a tetherless mobile VR headset in partnership with Google. While the descriptions of the headset are particularly unknown, we know that it will provide mobile VR experiences, similar to how Oculus Go will operate.
So far, we know that the Oculus Go is set to release some time early next year in 2018. You won’t require a PC to operate the device and is an all-in-one solution for mobile VR. The cost of the headset will be at $199 which makes it an affordable headset considering today’s market. Oculus has also described that the Go will come available with over 1,000 VR games, social apps, and 360 experiences.
The Oculus Go will feature a high-resolution fast-switch LCD screen which dramatically improves visual clarity and reduces screen door effect. And the next-generation lenses will provide a wide field of view with significantly reduced glare. Oculus Go also ships with integrated spatial audio. The speakers are built right into the headset, transporting you straight into VR and making the headset easy to share with someone else. There’s also a standard a 3.5mm headphone jack available for private listening.
The headset will also feature a simple motion sensor controller with a touchpad and a trigger at the bottom. There will be a strap in case you want to wrap it around your wrist for safety.
Suggested reports speculate that the upcoming standalone headset by HTC Vive will feature some state-of-the-art technology which includes Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 chip with inside out positional tracking. News surrounding the Vive standalone headset was first announced during this year’s Google I/O conference where it was also announced that Lenovo will be releasing a pair of standalone VR headsets.
It’s also been uncovered by the same Chinese outlet that HTC has registered for a trademark under the name Vive M.
This doesn’t mean that the new standalone VR headset will be named the Vive M but might be a possibility. There’s still no clear indications as far as specs go for the headset but with the incredible job that HTC has done with the Vive so far, we may want to look forward to this upcoming headset. More information is set to be unveiled on November 14th during the Vive Developer Conference. HTC has yet to provide a clear price point for the upcoming headset but we believe that it’ll be right around the same price as the Oculus Go.
Currently, the two headset manufacturers are leading the way when it comes to PC based VR headsets. They provide quality hardware that’s able to support immersive VR experiences. But soon, the two companies will be competing yet again only this time, it’ll be on the mobile side.