At a special CES event today, HTC unveiled their latest PC VR headset, Vive Cosmos.
Unlike Vive Focus, the company’s 6DOF standalone headset that launched first in China with a single 3DOF controller, Vive Cosmos is being advertised as a 6DOF PC VR headset, replete with all the room-tracking & controller-tracking tech packed onto the headset itself.
Vive Comos is said to launch sometime in 2019, although HTC isn’t talking about a more exact launch window just yet. HTC will first offer developer kits of Vive Cosmos in early 2019, with more details on availability and price will be announced later in the year.
Cosmos is said to have the capability to be powered by “more than a traditional gaming PC,” with the possibility teased in the trailer (linked below) that it might also be driven by a smartphone in the future. It’s uncertain what wireless capability it has. The headset on display didn’t feature any wires, although HTC hasn’t announced either at the press event or in press literature that the headset is wireless.
The company is staying tight-lipped on specs for now as well, although from looking at the headset it’s clear Cosmos features Fresnel lenses (very similar, if not the same lenses as in the Vive, Vive Pro and Vive Focus), IPD adjustment knob on right side, a flip-up design, and possibly also internal active cooling as evidenced by a vent located prominently on the front of the headset.
The headset features integrated audio that appears to flip up as well, similar to the Vive Pro’s audio solution. Cosmos’ headphones also appear to be removable. Images provided by HTC show both the headphones attached and detached.
Cosmos sports four on-board camera sensors, giving the headset a presumably large-enough capture area to track the Cosmos’ optically-tracked controllers, which features LEDs in an always-on tribal-esque pattern.
Above all, it seems HTC is billing Vive Cosmos as an easily-deployable headset that doesn’t require a lengthy setup such as the original HTC Vive, which requires placing (and plugging in) SteamVR tracking stations in optimal areas in the playspace.
“We found that over 85% of VR intenders believe that ease of use and set up is the most important factor to consider while purchasing a headset,” said Daniel O’Brien, GM, Americas, HTC Vive. “We believe Cosmos will make VR more easily accessible to those who may not have invested in VR before and also be a superior experience for VR enthusiasts.”
Again, we don’t have much further info at this time, as there aren’t any hands-on demos going on here at CES. However if we learn more in the coming hours at the event, we’ll update here.
Update (9:45 PM PST): It was previously stated that Vive Cosmos features six on-board cameras when in reality the headset only has four.