At the Vive Developers Conference in Beijing, one big announcement has already come to light, with the reveal of the HTC Vive Focus standalone headset. Alongside that reveal was the news that it would be supported by a new open platform called Vive Wave.
The purpose of Vive Wave was to provide a unified interface and set of tools for developers to provide content for the HTC Vive Focus, as well as other mobile virtual reality (VR) devices. HTC are hoping that this open platform will prevent the fragmentation of VR standards, and and as such are integrating the existing Viveport platform into Vive Wave.
Twelve Chinese hardware partners have already signed on to provide support for Vive Wave, featuring names such as 360QIKU, Coocaa, Thundercomm, Idealens, Nubia, Pimax and Pico, many of which have produced their own VR hardware, such as Pico and Pimax. Therefore it seems likely that those companies intent to integrate Vive Wave into their hardware.
HTC Vive report it is concerned by the continuing fragmentation of the VR market, particularly in China. Scattering VR content across a great number of digital storefronts and apps increases friction and means consumers are split amongst multiple hardware vendors, making content harder to access for many. With over 35 content creators, based in China and across the world, involved in creating content for Vive Wave, HTC seems to be banking on the open platform unifying VR.
The Vive Focus itself is designed to be a lightweight, easily portable VR option. Offering a AMOLED display, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and featuring inside-out tracking with 6 degrees-of-freedom, as well as content on Vive Wave and the existing Viveport platform.
VRFocus will continue to bring you news on Vive Wave and the HTC Vive Focus as it becomes available.
via Mint VR