Last week HTC Vive presented its vision for the metaverse in a short video presentation and let’s just say it wasn’t exactly well-received. With Mobile World Congress 2022 (MWC) opening its doors for the first time in a while today, Vive has officially unveiled Viverse and the actual components that’ll contribute to the platform.
Much like Viveport, Viverse will be a hardware-agnostic platform, so you can enjoy it in virtual reality on a device like the new Vive Flow, on a PC, a tablet or even your smartphone. Accessing Viverse is as easy as opening up a browser, and that’s exactly how attendees at MWC have been demoing it.
Key to accessing Viverse is Vive Browser and Vive Connect. As you might expect, Vive Browser is a new VR-based web browser that supports Web3 login, WebXR and WebAssembly, whilst Vive Connect serves as a cross-platform hub from where you can access the various worlds, games and apps that make up Viverse. Another important aspect is Vive Guardian, a tool specific to Vive Flow so that parents, guardians and teachers can control what youngsters view using the device.
As mentioned, Viverse has been designed around an open ecosystem so HTC Vive has partnered with the likes of Engage, VRChat, Museum of Other Realities, and more. And what would a metaverse platform be without avatars and crypto? The new Vive Avatar tool allows the creation of one singular avatar to be used across the Viverse sphere plus you can manage and store NFTs and digital assets using WalletConnect.
“Viverse is the next chapter of our Vive Reality vision. Vive is our brand and means ‘life’, and Verse refers to the chapters of life. Viverse provides seamless experiences, reachable on any device, anywhere, and is enabled by the virtual and augmented reality, high-speed connectivity, AI, and blockchain technologies that HTC has invested in for several years. We invite partners to join us on his fantastic journey to the internet of presence,” said Cher Wang, Co-Founder and Chairwoman at HTC in a statement.
You can access Viverse today via an Android device or select HTC Vive headsets like Vive Flow. For continued updates on the metaverse, keep reading gmw3.
“Our HMD Accelerator Program has been a critical catalyst for ecosystem partners ranging from component suppliers and ODMs, to bring quality standalone XR headsets to consumers,” said Hugo Swart, senior director, Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Building upon the momentum of this program, we will extend it to XR viewers and compatible smartphones, starting with smartphones enabled by the Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform. In collaboration with ecosystem stakeholders, we are working towards the common goal of transforming how the world connects and communicates by offering premium, immersive experiences over 5G.”
Using Firefox Reality the company is aiming to open up WebVR to multiple platforms, with support already available for virtual reality (VR) headsets such as Vive Wave devices, Oculus Go and Google Daydream View, as well as an early developer preview for Magic Leap One. The version for HoloLens 2 is currently a prototype at the moment.
“The low latency of 5G in combination with distributed cloud unlocks a world of possibilities in mixed reality, allowing for a more realistic and immersive entertainment experience,” said