htc-vive-tracker-dev-kitHTC announced earlier in January that they’d be giving away 1,000 Vive Trackers to developers. Applications to get your hands on one of the Trackers are now open through February 7th.

The new HTC Vive Tracker is a standalone tracking ‘puck’ which uses the same precise Lighthouse tracking system that presently tracks the Vive headset and controllers. With it, you can attach objects and accessories to track them in virtual reality for enhanced immersion.

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The Vive Tracker is set to launch to consumers in Q2, but this quarter, the company plans to give away 1,000 Vive Trackers to developers to jumpstart the creation of the tracked accessory ecosystem. Applications are now open through February 7th.

HTC Vive Tracker Dev Kit Application

The application seeks basic information about the VR developer, including what category of content is being developed, whether or not the developer has ever worked with VR before, and generally how the Tracker will be used.

We are lending a limited number of Trackers to developers for free. Companies providing more detail in their application with clear goals on how they plan to use Tracker will have a higher chance to receive one of the developer kits. HTC VIVE reserves the right to recall the VIVE Trackers at our discretion.

The application includes a field for a requested quantity of Trackers, so it seems HTC will consider sending multiple units to devs depending on the project. For companies who plan to create accessories compatible with the Vive Tracker, HTC told us there would be an official certification process, though details on what it will entail are still slim. Pricing for the device has not yet been announced.

vive-tracker-collage-social-mediaWhen we tried the Vive Tracker at CES we found that it opened up a world of possibilities and increased immersion thanks to enabling niche accessories like guns, bats, and gloves to become part of the experience.

Oculus has not yet opened their Constellation tracking API to third-parties, despite stating their intentions to do so in years passed.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • NooYawker

    Is “I really really want one” a clear goal?

    • Mike

      Only one?

      • user

        you need at least two… one for the proton pack with which you weaken the ghost and then one for the trap to actually capture the ghost.

        • Mike

          I just want them for full-body tracking. That will require at least 2, but really like 6 or 7 to get it perfect.

  • TheVillasurfer

    I’m a Rift user but this is very cool!

    • popupblocker

      Agree it’s the Vive’s biggest advantage at the moment. An open Tracking API. Now if only they could make the device open… like the Rift is.

      • Sam Illingworth

        What do you mean?

        • popupblocker

          Well the rift can run apps from anywhere at all + the oculus store. The vive only runs apps via steam or Vive stores.

          • Sam Illingworth

            It’s not the Vive imposing those restrictions and Oculus being open, it’s the other way around. Oculus are the closed ones, because they only let their games run on the Rift, while SteamVR games are free to run on any headset.

          • popupblocker

            No they only let games MADE by oculus only run on a rift ( also easily circumvented ) – by their own studio. Which is fair enough

            Steam is closed ecosystem. You can only download through and play through them. You cannot download a game outside steam and play

          • Sam Illingworth

            Are you sure? I thought you only needed to have Steam installed for the SteamVR runtime, but that the Vive could run games from any source. Doesn’t HTC’s own software present itself as an alternative interface to Steam (I can’t be certain, I always hide the HTC software as I like Steam).

          • Caven

            Not true. While it’s not a game exactly, my VR project using Unreal Engine 4 works just fine with the Vive. There’s nothing stopping me from packaging it as a standalone program completely independent from Steam. I’ve also tested a VR app a friend of mine is developing. The app is an editor designed for use with the Vive and uses a custom engine coded exclusively by him. To test it, he simply handed me a USB drive with a copy of the program on it. Valve has no involvement in either project beyond providing SteamVR. And for a high-profile project, look no further than Revive, which is not available on Steam, yet adds Vive support to Oculus Rift titles.

            I think the reason it seems like all Vive software requires Steam is that it’s easy enough and desirable enough to get a VR application on Steam that there’s very little reason for a VR developer to avoid doing so.

            Edited to add: There’s also ViveCraft and Duck Hunt for Vive, among others.

          • popupblocker

            When you open up SteamVR, the following Steam client services also start up:

            Steam Client Bootstrapper
            Steam Client Service
            Steam Client WebHelper
            So.. it’s not really possible to start without the backend services, but the client doesn’t have to be running, just the Steam VR client.

            So no.. Not really you have to have a steam account to install steam VR and I boots up other stuff too.

          • J.C.

            100% untrue. I haven’t tried UE4, but Unity projects can be launched from outside steam.

  • Icebeat

    why it is so big?