HTC Holiday Sale Discounts up to $300 off Vive PC VR Headsets & Accessories

HTC is doing a week-long holiday sale starting today that is bringing deep discounts to many of its PC VR headsets, as well as accessories such as the Vive Wireless Adapter and Deluxe Audio Strap.

The promo is in effect starting today, and goes until December 19th (or until supplies sell out).

We’ve listed prices in US dollars below, however you’ll find similar savings across both EU and UK regional sites. Here’s the full list of VR hardware currently on sale:

VIVE Cosmos Elite Kit — $650 (reg. $900)

Image courtesy HTC
  • 1,440 x 1,700 pixels per eye LCD at 90Hz
  • SteamVR 1.0 Base Stations
  • Vive wand controllers
  • Elite SteamVR faceplate
  • Built-in headphones
  • PC Required

VIVE Cosmos Elite Headset — $400 (reg. $550)

  • all of the above minus SteamVR Base Stations and controllers

VIVE Pro Full Kit — $900 (reg. $1,200) 

Image courtesy HTC
  • 1,440 x 1,600 pixels per eye AMOLED at 90Hz
  • SteamVR 2.0 Base Stations
  • Vive wand controllers
  • Built-in headphones
  • PC Required

VIVE Pro Eye Full Kit — $1,100 (reg. $1,400)

Image courtesy HTC
  • 1,440 x 1,600 pixels per eye AMOLED at 90Hz
  • Built-in Tobii eye tracking
  • SteamVR 2.0 Base Stations
  • Vive wand controllers
  • Built-in headphones
  • PC Required

VIVE Pro Eye Office Headset — $800 (reg. $1,000)

  • all of the above minus SteamVR base stations and controllers

VIVE Wireless Adapter — $200 (reg. $350)

Image courtesy HTC
  • Supports Vive Pro and Cosmos series
  • Supports up to 2,448 x 1,224 resolution and 90Hz refresh rate when used with VIVE Pro 2
  • Wireless Adapter for VIVE Cosmos Series & VIVE Pro 2 only work with the 21-Watt battery included in the kit
  • Requires PC with available PCIe slot

VIVE Deluxe Audio Strap — $70 (reg. $100)

Image courtesy HTC
  • Brings headphones and greater long-term comfort
  • Natively compatible with original 2016-era HTC Vive

We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for more savings in the coming days, as the usual rush of hardware and software discounts tend to arrive around this time frame, often seeing repeats of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Check back for more deals and discounts!

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HTC Vive Holiday Gift Guide: Accessories, Games, And More For HTC Headsets

The HTC Vive is one of the most popular and enduring lines of PC VR headsets. Whether you’re talking about the original HTC Vive or the newer Vive Cosmos, there are a bunch of different games and accessories you can use with the Vive system. We’ve put together this list for recommendations on accessories, games, and more for HTC’s line of PC VR headsets.

[When you purchase items through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission from those sales.]

HTC Vive Cosmos Video

Headsets

There are a few different HTC Vive headsets.

The original HTC Vive and the HTC Vive Pro both use outside-in tracking systems, which require external sensors mounted in your play area to track your headset and controllers. The newer HTC Vive Cosmos uses an inside-out tracking system with cameras on the headset, which doesn’t require mounting any external tracking system.

The original HTC Vive headset is now discontinued. However, HTC continues to sell used version of the original Vive headset for $399.

Currently, the HTC Pro Starter Kit is on sale for $799 down from $1098 on HTC’s site. This includes the headset, two Vive Wand controllers and two external tracking sensors for mounting. Vive Pro has improved resolution and comfort over the original Vive.

The HTC Vive Cosmos (see our review) is the newest headset in the HTC line (review here), and is available to purchase for $600 on the HTC website.

HTC Vive PC VR System Specs

We’ve got a dedicated guide to help you figure out if your PC is VR ready, but for a quick glance at the raw numbers of what you should look for on your rig take a look at the FAQ on HTC’s site. You can also download and run the Vive Quick Compatability check from there as well.

Games And Apps To Buy And Install

When you first get your HTC Vive system set up, there’s a lot of options on where to start with content.

If you’re looking for something free, there are options such as Rec Room and VRChat, which are sort of social networks full of worlds to explore, games to play, and people to meet with your own customized avatar. Then over on Steam there are tons of free VR experiences and games worth trying, such as Google Earth VR, The Lab, Oculus Dreamdeck, Dear Angelica, Henry, Waltz of the Wizard, Accounting, Bigscreen, AltspaceVR, Mission: ISS, and more.

For a curated list of recommended Vive games that are paid, check our best list that we try to keep updated. As of the time of this writing, it’s missing some more recent games like A Fisherman’s Tale, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son, and Pistol Whip though — which you should totally play.

Accessories

HTC Vive Wireless Tracking Adapter

htc-vive-wireless-adapter-main-imageThe Vive Wireless Tracking Adapter allows you to free yourself from the tether of the cord connected to your PC, and use your Vive headset wireless.

It is available for the original HTC Vive, the Vive Pro and the Vive Cosmos, however the Cosmos will also require an additional Cosmos Comparability Kit that will be added to the cart during checkout. You can read our review of the Vive Wireless Adapter here, reviewed using the Vive Pro specifically.

The Vive Wireless Adapter is available for the HTC Vive for $248, the HTC Vive Pro for $298, and for the Vive Cosmos for $298. If you already own a Vive Wireless Adapter and want to make it compatible with a Vive Cosmos, you can also buy the Cosmos Compatibility Pack for $49 separately.

Vive Tracker

Vive Trackers 2 New

The Vive Tracker is one of HTC’s more innovative ideas for its VR system. It’s a puck-shaped peripheral you can attach to other objects in compatible apps to bring them into VR. You might, for example, stick it to a toy gun to feel like you’re shooting a real one in VR. Take note, however, that the tracker only works with the Vive and Vive Pro; the Vive Cosmos’ tracking system will not register it. Also bear in mind that only select apps will support the tracker. Your best bet is to get them from HTC directly where you’ll find them for $99 apiece.

AFAITH Charger Stand

This AFAITH charger stand provides a neat and tidy solution to store your original HTC Vive or Vive Pro headset, while also charging your HTC Vive Wands. This looks like a nice option if you’re want to store your Vive or Vive Pro on display next to some other gaming consoles, or even other VR headsets. However, it’s important to note that this stand is not comparable with the newer Vive Cosmos.

The AFATIH Charger Stand is available for $49.

Ceiling Cables

Barring the adapter above, obviously one of the biggest downsides to using a PC VR headset is that, typically, it means having a thick, restrictive wire coming off the side of your face that makes it difficult to move freely and is often a tripping hazard. If you don’t want to shill out for the Vive Wireless Adapter, you could also install a ceiling pulley system so that your cable loops up through the ceiling mount and then goes back down to your PC to get it out of the way. We haven’t used these in our own home setups, but this has great reviews and is widely recommended.

The VeeR VR Cable Management Ceiling Pulley System is available for $17 right now (usually ~$30.)

VR Cover Accessories

htc vive vr cover

VR Cover is a company that’s been around for a while and is known for making accessories designed to make headsets feel more comfortable against the face as well as improve hygiene. We have tested their Quest covers and original Rift covers in the past, but have not tried their Vive and Vive Pro covers. They also don’t offer any covers for the Cosmos yet, but the covers are worth checking out for Vive or Vive pro owners.

Microfiber Cleaning Cloths

microfiber cleaning cloths

If you’re using your headsets a lot, the lenses are going to get foggy and dirty and you’ll want some microfiber cloths to quickly clean the lenses between games and sessions.

You can buy a set of 5 microfiber cleaning cloths for $7.49.


If you have accessories you’ve found improve your experience with the HTC Vive headsets please share in the comments. 

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HTC is Now Selling Certified Pre-owned Vive Systems for $400

HTC has been widely out of stock of the 2016-era Vive basically since the entrance of Vive Cosmos last month, the $700 successor to its consumer-focused PC VR product segment. If you still have your heart set on getting a whole Vive system though, replete with SteamVR 1.0 basestations and Vive wand controllers, HTC is now ready to sell you a reconditioned system for $400.

The company says its certified pre-owned Vive systems have been “carefully tested by HTC to ensure all features and functions work properly. They have been inspected to ensure they have little to no cosmetic damage and may contain used components and refurbished parts.”

The company is also selling some of the certified pre-owned accessories on their own now too, including single wand controllers for $112 ($130 new) and single SteamVR 1.0 basestations for $115 ($135 new).

Image courtesy HTC

With prices like that, you’d be better off buying the whole $400 package, which includes the Vive headset, two SteamVR 1.0 wand controllers, two SteamVR 1.0 basestations, and all of the necessary cabling to get you up and running to play games and experiences sourced from Steam or Viveport, HTC’s own digital distribution platform.

SEE ALSO
HTC Aims to Fix Vive Cosmos with Tracking Software Update, Beta Now Live

The original Vive was last selling for $500 new, now bringing the used option to the same price-point as a new $400 Rift S, which admittedly comes with a higher resolution display, inside-out tracking, better controllers, built-in audio, and more advanced headset ergonomics. And that’s without the Black Friday deal Lenovo is advertising, bringing Rift S to an even cheaper $350. Although if you’re looking for the lowest barrier of entry into the SteamVR tracking ecosystem, $400 is thus far the lowest we’ve ever seen it go.

On the whole, it’s a wonder HTC isn’t practically giving away the now dated controllers and tracking basestations, however considering Vive Cosmos is soon to include its own modular SteamVR-compatible tracking faceplate which swaps its inside-out tracking for the more precise (albeit more finicky to setup) SteamVR tracking standard, they may be saving their stock-flushing package deals for a later date.

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HTC Urges Ryzen PC Users Experiencing Issues with Vive Wireless Adapter to Return Purchase

HTC’s Vive Wireless Adapter released for $300 back in late September for Vive and Vive Pro, but some users running AMD Ryzen CPUs who’ve had issues with the wireless adapter are now being urged to return their unit, as HTC is still figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it.

“We have seen and are actively looking into multiple reports of Ryzen incompatibility with Vive Wireless Adapter,” the company writes in a recent blog post. “Our current data shows this is occurring with a subset of Ryzen-based PCs. Our investigation will take time as we are working with multiple component manufacturers to identify the root cause.”

The issue, affecting some Ryzen users, appears to serve up a nasty bluescreen on the headset, something that isn’t cleared up after rebooting or any other trick known at this time.

Pending a software fix, HTC is urging affected users to return the units in the meantime—possibly a sign that the Ryzen issues goes deeper than anticipated.

Starting today, HTC says they’ll be honoring Ryzen-related returns from retail partners and vive.com “outside of typical return windows.” After contacting customer service, users will be asked to certify their system’s components and proof of purchase of the Vive Wireless Adapter.

The company says that moving forward they’ll be making sure users know some Ryzen PCs have unresolved compatibility issues.

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HTC Publishes Vive Wireless Adapter Setup Instructions, Suggesting Nearby Launch

HTC’s Vive Wireless Adapter, which was first unveiled at CES earlier this year, doesn’t have either a price or precise launch date yet (HTC recently said ‘late summer’), but now a setup manual has appeared on the company’s UK-facing site that details the process of installing the Intel-powered WiGig transmitter.

Uncovered by Reddit user ‘Dal1Dal’, the page details the entire setup process. While you’ll probably want to read the actual web page during setup—whenever the adapter arrives on your doorstep—here’s a quick breakdown anyway of the things you’ll need to do:

The Vive Wireless Transmitter, which transmits video and audio signals wirelessly to your headset, is said to come with a PCIe WiGig card that you’ll have to install into your desktop. After installing the included WiGig card, you then hook up the wireless link box and clip it to your monitor.

From there, you’ll need to follow the individual instructions on how to mount the adapter to your Vive headset, whether it be an original Vive with standard floppy headstrap, the original Vive with Deluxe Audio Strap, or the new Vive Pro. Both original Vive setups seem fairly straight forward, with some Velcro and shorter cables to faff about with.

The Vive Pro, the website says, doesn’t come stock with the necessary bits and bobs to attach to the Vive Wireless Adapter however, so you’ll actually have to purchase an additional package called ‘Attach Kit for Wireless Adapter’. Pricing isn’t available yet, but it’s an absolute mystery why they aren’t including it as a free add-on after users have already shelled out $800 for the headset alone, which doesn’t include new 2.0 SteamVR base stations or refreshed 2.0 Vive controllers.

Image courtesy HTC

Lastly, you’ll need to install the Vive Wireless software and you’re hypothetically done with setup and hopefully ready to cut the cables for good.

One interesting side note: to power the wireless experience, the website claims you should only ever use the HTC QC 3.0 Power Bank, a 10,050mAh battery with Quick Charging capabilities. At $80, this is nearly double the price of a similar Anker power bank however, and the company hasn’t specified exactly why it’s so important that users shell out the extra money.

The Vive Wireless Transmitter still hasn’t hit the FCC, which is usually the last step before commercialization. So while it may not be landing on doorsteps yet, it appears we’re inching ever closer to the device’s eventual launch date. In the meantime, check out our latest hands-on here from our time with the near-finalized version of the device, as seen at E3 last month.

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HTC Launches $300 SteamVR 1.0 Tracking Bundle for Vive Pro Users

HTC today announced they’re launching a hardware accessory bundle for $300 that will include all necessary bits for new Vive Pro customers starting from scratch (besides the headset, that is).

The tracking bundle includes two SteamVR base stations and two Vive controllers, representing a $220 savings off the current price when purchased individually. This “Vive Pro Starter Kit” will be made available on Vive.com starting April 5th.

In an effort to make Vive Pro more backwards compatible, it works with all 2016-era 1.0 SteamVR base stations and original Vive controllers.


 

Some of this is no doubt related to the backlash the company received when they first announced Vive Pro’s $800 price tag. Those $800 only fetches you the headset itself, something HTC said was intended for Vive owners looking to upgrade to Vive Pro’s higher resolution, improved ergonomics, and other changes.

We have a hardware review for Vive Pro coming out later today, so make sure to check back for our deep dive into everything that makes the newer, higher resolution headset tick.

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HTC Vive Pro to Arrive With Redesigned Link Box Featuring DisplayPort and Power Button

HTC Vive Pro, the company’s higher resolution VR headset targeted at prosumers, isn’t on sale yet, although developers have been receiving Vive Pro as early as mid-February. While there still isn’t a comprehensive look at all of the gubbins to go along with the headset, Cloudgate Studio co-founder Steve Bowler recently tweeted a few snaps of Vive Pro that give us a clearer view of some of the differences coming to the headset’s Link Box.

As first reported by Tom’s Hardwarethe Vive Pro has done away with the “3 in, 3 out” cable scheme seen in the original Vive’s Link Box, which features a two-sided suite of ports including spaces for USB, HDMI, and power cables. On the ‘PC side’ of the original there’s also find a mini DisplayPort in addition to the HDMI port.

original Vive Link Box, image courtesy HTC

Now, the Vive Pro’s Link Box features a single proprietary cable leading to the headset that unites power, data, and video, making for a less confusing first-time setup to boot. You’ll also notice a handy blue power button on the ‘VR side’ of the box now.

The Vive Pro’s Link Box has also done away with HDMI, instead only offering DisplayPort as the only video connection option. Considering most VR-capable GPUs have several DisplayPorts, the change shouldn’t be that significant to the end-user.

The bump in resolution from the original Vive’s dual 1080×1200 pixels displays to Vive Pro’s dual 1440×1600 displays is noticeable at 78% more pixels. Vive Pro still doesn’t have a price or specific launch date outside of the ‘late Q1’ mentioned previously by HTC, so in the meantime take a look at our hands-on with Vive Pro from CES 2018 to get an idea of what’s in store hardware-wise.

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XRI: Cross-Reality Interaction

Widespread consumer adoption of XR devices will redefine how humans interact with both technology and each other. In coming decades, the standard mouse and QWERTY keyboard may fade as the dominant computing UX, giving way to holographic UI, precise hand/eye/body-tracking and, eventually, powerful brain-to-computer interfaces. One key UX pattern that must be answered by designers and developers is: How to input?

That is, by what means does a user communicate and interact with your software and to what end? Aging 2D input paradigms are of limited use, while new ones are little understood or undiscovered altogether. Further, XRI best practices will vary widely per application, use case and individual mechanic.

The mind reels. Though these interaction patterns will become commonplace in time, right now we’re very much living through the “Cinema of Attractions” era of XR tech. As such, we’re privileged to witness the advent of a broad range of wildly creative immersive design solutions, some as fantastic as they are impractical. How have industry best practices evolved?

Controllers

These may seem pedestrian, but it’s easy to forget that the first controllers offering room-scale, six degrees-of-freedom (6-DoF) tracking only hit the market in 2016 (first Vive’s Wands then Oculus’ more ergonomic Touch, followed by Windows’ muddled bastardization of the two in 2017). With 6-DoF XR likely coming to mobile and standalone systems in 2018, where are controller interfaces headed?

Well, Vive’s been developing its “Grip controllers” (aka the “knuckles controllers”) — which are worn as much held, allowing users freer gestural tracking and expression — for over a year, but they were conspicuously excluded from the CES launch announcement of the Vive Pro.

One controller trend we did see at CES: haptics. Until now, handheld inputs have largely utilised general vibration to indicate haptic feedback. The strength of the rumble can be throttled up or down, but limited to just one vibratory output, developers’ power to express information with physical feedback has been limited. It’s a challenging problem: how to simulate physical resistance where there is none?

VR Controllers
Left: the HaptX Glove, Right: the Tactical Haptics Reactive Grip Motion Controller

HaptX Inc. is one firm leading advances in this field with their HaptX Gloves, two Nintendo Power Glove-style offerings featuring tiny air pockets that dynamically expand and contract to provide simulated touch and pressure in VR in real-time. All reports indicate some truly impressive tech demos, though perhaps at the cost of form-factor — the hardware involved looks heavy-duty and removing the glove would appear to be several degrees more difficult than setting down a Vive Wand, for contrast.

Theirs strikes me as a specialty solution, perhaps more suited to location-based VR or commercial/industrial applications. (Hypothetical: would a Wand/Touch-like controller w/ this type of “actuators” built into the grips provide any UX benefit at the consumer level?). Meanwhile, Tactical Haptics is exploring this tech through a different lens, using a series of sliding plates and ballasts in their Reactive Grip Motion Controller, which tries to simulate some of the physical forces and resistance one feels wielding objectives with mass in meatspace. This is perhaps a more practical haptics approach for consumer adoption — they’re still simple controllers, but the added illusion of physics force could be a truly compelling XRI mechanic (for more, check out their white paper on the tech).

Hand-Tracking

Who needs a controller? For some XR applications, the optimal UX will take advantage of the same built-in implements with which humans have explored the material world for thousands of years: their hands.

Tracking a user’s hands in real-time 27 degrees of freedom (four per finger, five in the thumb, six in the wrist) absent any handheld implement allows them to interact with physical objects in their environment as one normally would (useful in MR contexts)— or to interact with virtual assets and UI in a more natural, frictionless and immersive way than, say, the pulling of a trigger on a controller.

And of course, I defy you to test such software without immediately making rude gestures with it.

Pricier AR/MR rigs like Microsoft’s Hololens will have hand-tracking technology baked in — though reliability, field of view and latency vary. However, most popular VR headsets on the market don’t offer this integration natively thus far. Thankfully, the Leap Motion hand-tracking sensor, available as a desktop peripheral for years, is being retrofitted by XR developers with compelling results. For additional reading, and to see some UX possibilities in action I’d recommend checking out this great series by Leap Motion designer Martin Schubert.

These hand-eye interaction patterns have been entrenched in our brains over thousands of years of evolution and (for most of us) decades of first-hand experience. This makes them feel real and natural in XR. As drawbacks go, the device adds yet another USB peripheral and extension cable to my life (surely I will drown in a sea of them), and there are still field of view and reliability issues. But as the technology improves, this set of interactions works so well that it can’t help but become an integral piece of XRI. To allow for the broadest range of use cases, I’d argue that all advanced/future XR HMDs need to feature hand-tracking natively (though optionally, per application, of course).

Interestingly enough, the upcoming Vive Pro features dual forward-facing cameras in addition to its beefed-up pixel density. We now know, having been confirmed by Vive, hand-tracking can be done using these. Developers and designers would do well to start grokking XR hand-tracking principles now.

Eye-Tracking

Though the state of the art has advanced, too much of XRI has been relegated to holographic panels attached at the wrist. While this is no doubt an extremely useful practice, endless new possibilities for UI and gameplay mechanics emerge once you add high-quality, low-latency eye tracking to any HMD-relative heads-up display UI and/or any XR environment beyond it.

Imagine browsing menus more effortlessly than ever using only your eyes to exact selection, or to target distant enemies better in shooters. Consider also the effects of eye-tracking in multiplayer VR and the possibilities that unlocks. Once combined with 3D photogrammetry scans of users faces or hyper-expressive 3D avatars, we’ll be looking at real-time, photorealistic telepresence in XR spaces (if you’re into that sort of thing).

Wrist-Mounted UI
Wrist-mounted UI has proliferated in XR — but only goes so far. Eye-tracking will usher in many HMD-relative UI possibilities.

Imagine browsing menus more effortlessly than ever using only your eyes to exact selection, or to target distant enemies better in shooters. Consider also the effects of eye-tracking in multiplayer VR and the possibilities that unlocks. Once combined with 3D photogrammetry scans of users faces or hyper-expressive 3D avatars, we’ll be looking at real-time, photorealistic telepresence in XR spaces (if you’re into that sort of thing).

Eye-tracking isn’t just promising as an input mechanism. This tech will also allow hardware and software developers to utilise a technique called foveated rendering. Basically, the human eye only sees sharply near the very center of your gaze — things get more blurred further out into your visual periphery. Foveated rendering takes advantage of this wetware limitation by precisely tracking the position of your eyes from frame to frame and rendering whatever you’re looking at super precisely on (theoretically) higher-resolution screens. Simultaneously, the quality of everything you’re not looking directly at is downgraded – which you won’t notice because your pathetic human eyes literally can’t. This will allow for more XR on lower-powered systems and will allow high-end systems to stretch possibilities even further with higher-resolution screens.

Tobii & HTC Vive
Tobii’s eye-tracking technology embedded in a custom Vive

While Oculus and Google have acquired eye-tracking companies in recent years, the current industry leader appears to be Tobii. Their CES demos were reportedly extremely impressive ;  but considering they retrofit a new Vive for each devkit, their solution is not mass-market at this point – and likely pricey, since you have to seek approval to even receive a quote. Still, the potential benefits of eye-tracking for XRI are so great, surely we’ll see native adoption of this tech by major HMD manufacturers in coming hardware generations (hopefully through a licensing deal with Tobii).

Voice & Natural Language Processing

As the trend of exploding Alexa use has taught us, many users love interacting with technology using their voices. Frankly, the tech to implement keyword and phrase recognition at relatively low cost is already there for developers to utilise — it’s officially low-hanging fruit in 2018.

On the local processing side, Windows 10 voice recognition tech runs on any PC with that OS — though it currently fairs better with shorter keywords and a low confidence threshold. (Check out this great tutorial for Unity implementation on Lightbuzz.com). Alternatively, you can offshore more complex phrases and vocal data to powerful, highly-optimized Google or Amazon processing centers. At their most basic, these services transform vocal data into stringvalues you can store and program logic against — but certainly many other kinds of analyses of and programmatic responses to the human voice are possible through the lens of machine learning: stress signals, emotional cues, sentiment evaluation, behavior anticipation, etc.

At the OS/always-on level, some Alexa-like voice-controlled task rabbit has to be in the pipeline (Rift OS Core 2.0 already gives me access to my Windows desktop, and therefore Cortana) —that’s assuming Amazon’s automated assistant doesn’t grace the XR app stores herself. At the individual app level, this powerful input may be the most widely available yet underutilised in XR (though for the record, I do see it as primarily an optional mechanic, not one that should be required for many experiences). When I’m dashing starboard to take on space pirates in From Other Suns, I want to be able to yell “Computer, fire!” so badly — this would be so pure. In Fallout 4 VR, I want to yell, “Go!” and point to exactly where Dogmeat should run (I pulled this off with my buddy BB-8 in a recent project). Developers and designers should look for more chances to use voice recognition more often as the implementation costs continue to fall.

Brain-Computer Input

Will we eventually arrive at a point where the most human of inputs —our physical and vocal communications—are no longer necessary to order each and every task? Can we interact with a computer using our minds alone? Proponents of a new generation of brain-computer-interfaces (BCI) say yes.

At a high-level, the current generation of such technology exists as helmet- or headband-like devices that use generally use safe and portable electroencephalography (EEG) sensors to monitor various brain waves. These sensors will generally output floating point values per type of wave tracked, and developers can program different responses to such data as they please.

Neurable HTC Vive
Neurable’s Vive integration

Though studied for decades, this technology has not yet reached maturity. The major caveat right now is that a given person’s ability project and/or manipulate the specific brainwaves tracked by accurately (as tracked by each device’s array of EEG sensors) will vary and can sometimes require lots of calibration and practice.

Still, recent advances appear promising. Neurable is perhaps the leader in integrating an array of EEG and other BCI sensors with a Vive VR headset. On the content side, the Midwest US-based StoryUp XR is using another BCI, the Muse, to drive a mobile VR app with the users’ “positivity,” which they say corresponds to a particular brainwave picked up by the headset that users can learn to manipulate. StoryUp, who are part of the inaugural Women In XR Fund cohort, hope to bring these kinds of therapeutic and meditative XR experiences to deployed military, combat veterans and the general public using BCI interfaces as both a critical input and a monitor of user progress.

It will likely be decades before you’re able to dictate an email via inner monologue or directly drive a cursor with your thoughts — and who knows whether such sensitive operations will even be possible without invasive surgery to hack directly into the wetware. (Yes, that was a fun and terrifying sentence to write). I would wager, however, that an eye-tracking-based cursor combined with “click” or “select” actions driven by an external BCI will become possible within a few hardware generations, and may well end up being the fastest, most natural input in the world.

Machine Learning

Imagine an AI-powered XR OS a decade from now: one that can utilise and analyse all the above inputs, divining user intent and taking action on their behalf. One that, if unsure of itself, can seek clarification in natural language or in a hundred other ways. It can acquire your likes and dislikes through experience and observation as easily as you might for a new friend, constructing a model your overall XR interaction preferences — with the AI itself, with other humans, and with the virtual realities your visit and the physical ones you augment. This system will, at the very least, be able to model and emulate human social graces and friendship.

Any such system will also have unparalleled access to your most sensitive personal and biometric data. The security, privacy and ethical concerns involved will enormous and should be given all due consideration. In his talk on XR UX at Unity HQ last fall, Unity Labs designer and developer Dylan Urquidi said he sees blockchain technology as a possible medium for context-aware, OS-level storage of these kinds of permissions or preferences. This allows ultimate ownership and decision-making power re: this data to remain with the user, who can allow or deny access to individual applications and subsystems as desired.

I’m currently working on a VR mechanic using a neural net trained from Google QuickDraw data to recognize basic shapes drawn with Leap Motion hand-tracking — check out my next piece for more.

Machine learning is likely the most important yet least understood technology coming to XR and computing at large. It’s on designers and developers to educate themselves and the public on how they’re leveraging these technologies and their users’ data safely and responsibly. For myself, machine learning is the first problem domain I’ve encountered in programming where I don’t grok all the mathematics involved.

As such, I’m currently digging through applied linear algebra coursework and Andrew Ng’s great machine learning class on Coursera.org in an effort to better understand this most arcane frontier (look out for my next piece, where I’ll apply some of these concepts and train neural net to identify shapes drawn in VR spaces). While I’m not ready to write the obituary for the QWERTY keyboard just yet, these advances make it clear that in terms of XRI, the times are a-changin’.

HTC’s Vive Wireless Adaptor to Support Both Vive and Vive Pro at Launch

During HTC’s pre-CES event where the new flagship Vive Pro headset was revealed, the company also announced an official Wireless Adaptor for Vive. The optional accessory will allow for a tether-free VR experience, and will support both the Vive and Vive Pro systems when it launches in the summer.

As mentioned during our liveblog, the Vive Wireless Adaptor uses Intel’s WiGig technology and is “optimised for low latency.” Much like the third-party solutions we’ve seen from DisplayLink and TPCast, the official adapter operates in the 60GHz band in order to handle the significant data throughput requirements. Unfortunately, no battery estimates or pricing was announced.

According to the press release, the Vive Wireless Adaptor will be “the first to market with a truly wireless VR headset integration for both Vive and Vive Pro.” The technology could be using the DisplayLink XR codec that was demonstrated at Computex last year as a collaboration between HTC and Intel, but that hasn’t been made clear in the latest communication.

It is also unclear whether the TPCast Plus solution also announced at CES will support the Vive Pro.

“Wireless VR has been on nearly every VR user’s wishlist since the technology was unveiled,” said Frank Soqui, General Manager Virtual Reality Group at Intel Corporation. “By collaborating with HTC to commercialize Intel’s WiGig technology, we will guarantee that wireless VR meets the most discerning quality bar for home users and business VR customers.”

We have feet on the ground at this year’s CES, so make sure to check back soon, as we’ll be bringing you a detailed hands-on of the Vive Wireless Adaptor along with all things virtual and augmented to come from the show.

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HTC’s Black Friday Sale Gets You a Free Audio Strap with Vive Purchase, Free ‘Fallout 4 VR’ Code

HTC recently announced they’ll be sweetening the pot this Black Friday for potential Vive-owners located in North America by throwing a free Deluxe Audio Strap your way when you purchase an HTC Vive. The deal also includes the previous offer of a free Fallout 4 VR pre-order, bringing the overall savings to $160.

The Deluxe Audio Strap is a massive improvement over the headset’s stock elastic strap, offering both integrated audio and an improved fit that better distributes the weight of the headset across the head. Even at the price of $100, the Deluxe Audio Strap is definitely worth it to improve the Vive’s less-than-awesome comfort factor. Check out our review here.

photo courtesy HTC

For $600, you’ll get the Vive system (headset, basestations, controllers, etc.), a Deluxe Audio Strap, Google Tilt Brush, a redemption code for Fallout 4 VR ($60 value), and a free trial to Viveport Subscription. Remember: Fallout 4 VR launches on December 12, 2017, so the redemption code won’t be active until then.

The sale is going on between Friday, November 24th at 12:00am ET (your time here) through Monday, November 27th at 11:59pm PT (your time here), and will be offered online and in all retail locations where Vive is sold in North America, meaning you can pop down to Fry’s, the Microsoft Store, or Micro Center and get the deal too. You can see where Vive is sold near you here.

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HTC says the $600 bundle is for North American markets only, but more details on European markets will be announced shortly.

The company is also offering Black Friday deals on Viveport, their digital marketplace. The sale includes discounted pre-paid subscription packages for Viveport Subscription and discounts on titles from Vive Studios. The Viveport deals will start on Wednesday Nov 22nd and end on Monday Nov 27th.

Viveport Subscription offers you the ability to download up to 5 apps each month from a curated selection of games. The normal going rate is a flat monthly fee of $7, but the sale reduces that by up to 63% off, with a 6-month subscription costing $30 – or a total of 60 apps. Check out the deal here for more info during the sale.

The company is also putting up to 75% off Vive Studios titles, including games like Virtual Sports, Arcade Saga, Remembering Pearl Harbor, Front Defense, Jams Studio, Amazon Odyssey and True Scale. You’l find the deals on Viveport when the sale starts of the 22nd.


We’ll be bringing a more comprehensive article closer to Black Friday detailing the best deals in VR, so check back with us soon.

The post HTC’s Black Friday Sale Gets You a Free Audio Strap with Vive Purchase, Free ‘Fallout 4 VR’ Code appeared first on Road to VR.