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HTC follows Oculus along the Stand-Alone VR Trail: Vive Focus & Vive Wave

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

HTC has finally come out with their Official Stand Alone VR Headset called, Vive Focus. And it will run on a Platform called, Vive Wave (Powered By), and integrate with Software from Vive Port.

Over 40 pieces have been developed as part of Vive Wave for Vive Focus. As was announced in September, the Focus will host Viveport content in China, and will run on the newly announced Vive Wave.

Vive Wave marks a push by HTC to expand the scope of the Vive platform and unite its community.

According to the official website, Vive Wave “an open platform and toolset that will enable easy Mobile VR content development and high-performance device optimization for third party partners. The VIVE Wave VR SDK offers an open interface enabling interoperability between numerous mobile VR headsets and accessories, supporting mainstream game engines. This allows players with different VR devices an easy access to your extraordinary content.





I think it's a smart move by HTC to abandon Room-Scale in favor of World Scale:
Vive Focus takes us from room-scale to “world-scale” tracking. Users don’t need any lighthouses or sensors to move about and operate in the virtual worlds of Vive Focus.


In fact, I called it back in July 2016:
Zenbane said:
What I find fascinating about common pro-room-scale constructs is the
lack of emphasis on the need for "Wireless VR." Until you can walk
around anywhere in the world (not just your home), then room-scale is
little more than adding a few more of these in your home...




https://forums.oculus.com/community/discussion/comment/414072/#Comment_414072


First impressions:
This is a Stand Alone headset similar to the Oculus Santa Cruz, only without all the great stuff like quality hand-controllers. Instead it gets a mobile VR "remote" similar to Samsung GearVR and Oculus GO. I wonder if Vive owners will finally realize that a remote is a game controller with this release? lol

Full Article:
https://vrscout.com/news/htc-vive-focus-standalone/

30 REPLIES 30

kevinw729
Honored Visionary


Interesting how this market ("sector" - Kevin) is developing. Is it a case of looking at the success of the Gear VR and attempting to go one step further? It's a shame for enthusiasts though - like the Samsung Odyssey - these are restricted to specific markets, but I guess it highlights the risk factor of releasing a HMD in what is an ever growing playground. Playing it safe by releasing closer to home or in more viable markets is a testament of how much a risky business VR is at this stage.

It's also another excuse for Zelator to maniacally laugh in the face of HTC. 😛



Yep, the sector of the market is developing in a unique manner - though as has been stated this head-mounted display may only be sold in China for the beginning of its cycle.

I am interested that some call this the "abandonment" of room-scale - but when people suggested that Oculus GO was the abandonment of High-end, the statement it was attacked. The same is true here - this is just another revenue stream; another sector they can invest in to hopefully generate a market.

I am curious how much of this investment will be supported by the Google investment, and if the system is eventually forced down a Daydream route! 
https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
Ahh Evil Dead 2 my favourite movie of all time.  

"Groovy".

 ❤️ 

@Kojack 😮


System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
Yes but I think we can mostly agree that if Oculus releases an untethered HMD and it performs worse than the current rift we can all cry like babies because being tethered isn't so bad especially if you are playing seated/standing experiences.

Zenbane said:
When Facebook announces a wire-free product, the outcry is that "Oculus is abandoning PCVR." When HTC announces a wire-free product, the response is that  "HTC never really had a firm grip on PCVR in the first place."

My only interest is to put a spotlight on the futile perspective that this is all new to Oculus when in fact they have been instrumental with the Gear VR (the first wire-free HMD not including Cardboard) and its market lead out of all the HMDs.


 B) 


System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.

kevinw729
Honored Visionary


Yes but I think we can mostly agree that if Oculus releases an untethered HMD and it performs worse than the current rift we can all cry like babies because being tethered isn't so bad especially if you are playing seated/standing experiences.
....



That's just the point, they did not just "announces a wire-free product" - they announced a product that has lower performance than the original release hoping that its wire-free and price point will be accepted, even with lower performance.

If it was only about wire-free then they would have been more receptive to the TPCast approach last year to offer developing their system first on Rift!

Standalone sits between Rift and Go for a reason - the reason is that Facebook VR looked at the mess they inherited from the previous management and decided that that business model needed to be addressed - in doing that they created a middle ground, and at the same time made a decision to push any new iterations of the CV1 line out till after SC launches (expected 2019).

The question is, can the High-end market wait that long for a CV2, or will another pretender to the throne come along and eat their lunch?
https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
I believe brand loyalty and past experiences with said brand count for a lot according to many posters on this board and elsewhere. It happens everywhere even outside of the hardware sector (there's that word again Kevin). I return to McDonalds because I know I'll get a cardboard tasting squidgy burger without fail anywhere in the world rather than try an alternative like Flipping Burger Joint, or Pick Yer Burgers (which might offer a superior tasting experience). I would assume then, many folks here would gladly wait for the next PC HMD from Oculus (regardless of how long it takes) rather than succumb to another brand.  Look at how dismissive some people are of Pimax as a company due to it being an untested entity despite already releasing the Pimax 4K. It appears some people over-blow anything negative and use that to reinforce their affinity with a brand that is tried and trusted. This is sensible and human nature, but not always the right course of action especially if you want to rest on the cusp of potential cutting edge.

Horses for courses I think, or is that Horses for burgers?

 😛 


System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.

Zenbane
MVP
MVP


Yes but I think we can mostly agree that if Oculus releases an untethered HMD and it performs worse than the current rift we can all cry like babies because being tethered isn't so bad especially if you are playing seated/standing experiences.

If it was worse than the Rift it wouldn't be released until that was remedied. Assuming that by "worse" you are referring to something that is unusable. If not, then define "worse." Afterall, Mobile VR like the GearVR performs "worse than the Rift" but no one really cries like babies. And it is selling more than every other VR unit.

Anonymous
Not applicable


If anyone is interested here's the link to the official page.  Those people don't look very Chinese to me which suggests a Euro release then at some point.

https://www.vive.com/eu/product/standalone/

Edit. Isn't this what we all dreamed of though way back when but with the increased res and fov? Obviously these wireless options right now aren't going to compete with the high end PC tethered experiences, but at least some progress is being made in this area so it's all good right?



Yup. Both Oculus and HTC are launching these headsets to drive VR adoption to mainstream customers. I've mentioned it a few times before, there are 3 demographics that need to adopt VR before VR goes mainstream: enthusiast gamers, mainstream gamers and mainstream consumers.

Each of these demographics have a sweet spot with regards to price. We're seeing widespread enthusiast gamer adoption now that the retail price has hit the sweet spot of $400, we'll start to see mainstream gamer adoption happening around this time next year when the price of the Rift and Touch comes down to $300 and the mainstream consumer adoption will start when the Oculus Go launches at $200 but won't really start to pick up until that retail price is halved.

We're also going to see mainstream consumer adoption pick up when sports and films start to factor in too but that's at least a few years away from happening.

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

Shadowmask72 said:
Look at how dismissive some people are of Pimax as a company due to it being an untested entity despite already releasing the Pimax 4K. It appears some people over-blow anything negative and use that to reinforce their affinity with a brand that is tried and trusted. This is sensible and human nature, but not always the right course of
action especially if you want to rest on the cusp of potential cutting
edge.



That might be something you are just telling yourself to make you feel better about the money you spent to back the Pimax 8K; which is also human nature but not always the right course of action especially in a world where honest advertising is needed and Kickstarter scams are in high order.

I do not criticize the Pimax products due to some brand loyalty at all, I criticize it for the same reasons that people have spent 2 years criticizing Oculus and Facebook: because it is good for VR (allegedly).

The same excuses people make to defend anti-Oculus rhetoric suddenly disappear when the target of ridicule shifts.

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
To make myself clear, I meant worse as in not as good in terms of performance/visuals compared to a desktop PC with top end GPU, specifically talking about standalone HMDs here vs what people already have Rift/Vive etc.  If wire-free is important to some people then sure it's a no-brainer but it won't be on par with the tethered experience imo. I am assuming most people on this forum are actually waiting for the CV 2 to improve on what the CV1 offers, any standalone HMDs released at present aren't going to offer that. A wire-free solution could do in the future, but when that releases what of the advances made in tethered technology? My  crying comment referred to people here looking for those improvements from Oculus which they are likely not going to get from what's coming next from Oculus or anyone else making a standalone HMD. It's going to take a while for standalone to catch up with what PC VR can offer.

As for people being dismissive, there are a number who feel this way towards Pimax not just on these forums. As for criticism based on brand loyalty, sure that might not be your angle Zen but I am certain it's the basis for others, not just here. 
I have no regret with my gamble/investment in Pimax or for them to deliver, however the only doubt I do have is on the final quality and how that presents itself.  Yes you're right, the advertising has been a little misleading but the advertising hasn't drawn me in rather, the testimonials from people who have provided hands-on. You are also correct that a high amount of caution is sensible when handing over money to Kickstarter projects. However, I can afford to take the risk at this time so not a big deal for me. As I said, the biggest danger is the possibility of Pimax fulfilling the Kickstarter orders but the end product being a pile of crap. Anyway this thread isn't about Pimax so my mistake for bringing it up in this thread.

Edit: just to add and to reinforce my point about brand loyalty. Look at how some people go on with regards to PC, PS4, XBox and Nintendo as gaming platforms. Brand loyalty wars are very real.



System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.

Some people are getting confused.  I want the Oculus Go because it will be the best mobile HMD - it will be different to the CV1.  Not worse, different.  It will free me just like the Gear VR did - i'll sit where i want, i'll spin around in my chair as much as i want and i'll take it to work and wherever else i want to.

I'm hoping it will blow the Gear VR HMDs out of the water due to user experience - i expect the games and apps will be very similar (there was no dedicated controller when i used the Gear VR).

Not too keen on the styling of this Vive HMD.

Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3