HTC Vive and Qualcomm are creating a HTC Vive standalone virtual reality (VR) headset powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835. Specifically made to tackle the Chinese market, this should not be confused with the other stand alone Daydream headset announced at Google IO which Qualcomm are also supporting.
Qualcomm has been very busy in the VR space, and besides working on these two standalone headsets they also support Viveport – HTC Vive’s content platform. It’s clear that headset manufacturers realize that a standalone VR headset is the way forward. This means you do not need a phone that is compatible with the headset like the Samsung Gear VR or that you would need to get a high-end VR PC or laptop, cables or wires with large room dimensions. It means that you can simply pop it on your Mum or Dad’s face, your friend’s face or your own and it works.
What’s really interesting to note – is that in Qualcomm’s press release they say “HTC Vive is working with Google to deliver the best-in-class standalone VR solution to the western markets. However, today HTC and Qualcomm are jointly announcing a premium stand-alone VR experience to the China market.” I’m really curious to see what the difference in quality and standards would be for the Chinese market versus the Western Market.
China has a lot more VR arcades and their consumers are more tech savy – what does this mean for the headset? What to do you think the future of VR headsets are? What do you think the pros and cons will be of this?