HTC Vive’s standalone headset the Vive Focus has yet to see a release on western shores for the average consumer, only available for the business market. Now the headset will be superseded after only a short window of availability as the company has just announced a brand new version, the HTC Vive Focus Plus.
HTC still isn’t aiming the new standalone device at consumers, solely focusing on the enterprise market with this redesign. Just like the original Vive Focus, the new headset will have everything built in and ready to go with one big exception. Instead of a 3 degrees of freedom (3DOF) controller, the Vive Focus Plus will include two 6DOF controllers.
These controllers are tracked using ultrasonic technology to greatly improve accuracy. Alongside the normal face buttons and trackpad, the controllers include an analogue trigger that gives users the ability to control objects or interactions with pressure-sensitive input.
Keeping with the original Vive Focus, the new HTC Vive Focus Plus is still powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile VR Platform with a single AMOLED display at 2,880 × 1,600 resolution. HTC has said visuals should still see an improvement with reduced ring effects thanks to all-new lenses, and the headset should be more comfortable as it’s been re-balanced to sit easier on users heads. In keeping with its enterprise led design, a new soft, easy-to-clean material has been fitted making it ideal for high-usage environments.
“At Vive, the announcement of Vive Focus Plus furthers our commitment to rapidly iterate and refine the VR market for both businesses and consumers,” said Daniel O’Brien, General Manager Americas, HTC Vive in a statement. “This rollout of Vive Focus Plus leads the way for deeper immersion, more realistic training and simulation, and easier porting of experiences from PC to the stand-alone category.”
The HTC Vive Focus Plus will support the Vive Wave Platform with content coming from Viveport. Customers will have access to the new Viveport Infinity service, able to use a single account across their portfolio of VR devices when the service launches on 2nd April.
The headset will be available for purchase starting in Q2 2019, across 25 markets worldwide, supporting 19 languages. It’ll ship with several features designed to business including Kiosk Mode, Gaze Support, and device management tools to remotely enroll, monitor, and manage multiple headsets all at once. For further updates on the HTC Vive Focus Plus, keep reading VRFocus.