HTC’s ‘Vive Enterprise Solutions’ Separates Professional And Consumer VR Offerings

HTC’s ‘Vive Enterprise Solutions’ Separates Professional And Consumer VR Offerings

There are two sides to HTC’s Vive VR business; consumer and enterprise. The original Vive targets the former market while the subsequent Vive Pro and Focus devices cater to the latter. The company’s messaging around which device belongs in what category hasn’t always been clear, however. With the launch of the consumer-focused Vive Cosmos pending, HTC is taking steps to clarify its target markets a little more with the launch of “Vive Enterprise Solutions.”

This “new business unit” serves as an umbrella term for all of the hardware and software work HTC is doing on the enterprise side. It covers the PC-powered Vive Pro, the eye-tracking enabled Vive Pro Eye and both the standalones Vive Focus and Vive Focus Plus, according to a press release from the company. It also covers the company’s development efforts, working with customers to provide specific solutions.

“We will continue to have consumer-focused product lines and with today’s announcement [of] enterprise-specific ones,” a Vive spokesperson wrote in an email. “The announcement from this morning focuses on developing an all-up enterprise strategy in specific use-cases. For instance, we’ve found our customers need more than just a Vive headset to deploy, so we’re focused on building those specific uses in training, collaboration, design and location based entertainment (LBE).”

Cosmos And Original Consumer HTC Vive

The move comes just as HTC ramps up marketing around the Cosmos, its first consumer VR headset since the original Vive in 2016.

Cosmos is HTC’s first PC VR headset to trade Valve’s SteamVR Tracking (aka ‘lighthouse” positional beacons) for an inside-out solution under the new term “Vive Tracking System”. As we learned last month, Cosmos uses six cameras and features a combined resolution of 2880×1700.

The kit is supposed to launch sometime in the next three months. We haven’t gone hands on yet with Cosmos but we hope to get that chance prior to pre-orders for the device opening up — whenever that may be.

One thing that’s still unclear is whether the original Vive will still be sold after the release of Cosmos. Facebook, for example, retired the original 2016 Oculus Rift with the May release this year of Oculus Rift S. Valve, meanwhile, released the Index VR headset and controllers which make sense as an upgrade for folks with an original Vive.

“We are working through options for the original Vive once Cosmos launches,” the Vive spokesperson wrote. “But don’t have details to share today.”

Senior Editor Jamie Feltham contributed to this report.

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Vive Enterprise Solutions Unit to Help Businesses Expand XR Portfolios

Consumer virtual reality (VR) may have restarted the industry as a whole but solutions for business have become a key part of many immersive companies strategy. Today, HTC Vive has announced a new business unit which aims to help in that endeavour, Vive Enterprise Solutions.

HTC Vive Focus Plus

Having launched the HTC Vive Pro Eye and Vive Focus Plus headsets, both squarely aimed at the enterprise market, the new business unit will help companies integrate XR hardware, software, and services for their professional needs.

Vive Enterprise Solutions will address four key areas where enterprises are investing today, Training and Simulation, Design and Visualization; Virtual Collaboration and Location-Based Entertainment and Attractions.

“With enterprise VR rapidly becoming the ‘killer app’ in the industry, we are providing solutions for small to large commercial creators to be successful and solve business needs,” says Daniel O’Brien, Head of Vive Enterprise Solutions, HTC Vive in a statement. “We’re in a unique position to offer enterprises a comprehensive business solution in part due to our own hardware innovation and collaborative industry relationships. We’re thrilled to continue to work with professional users to provide the best hardware, software, and services to help them succeed.”

HTC Vive Focus Plus

While developing integrated software solutions and professional services to provide the service and support corporate clients require, at the core of HTC Vive’s business solutions are of course its headsets. Companies have four devices to choose from depending on requirements. For high-fidelity, PC-based VR there’s the HTC Vive Pro starting from £1,082.50 GBP or the HTC Vive Pro Eye from £1,250 (great for analytics). Or when portability is high on the list then there’s always the HTC Vive Focus starting from £532.50 or the HTC Vive Focus Plus which retails from £639.00 (all prices exclude VAT).

Businesses looking to deploy more VR solutions are being spoilt for choice when it comes to new hardware. Training is a big part of why a lot of companies are investing in XR solutions and with that come hand interaction. Manus VR is one company at the forefront of this development, recently announcing the new Manus Prime Haptic glove. Offering a slightly different take is Dexta Robotics with its Dexmo Enterprise Edition force feedback glove. As more XR business solutions are developed VRFocus will keep you updated.