HTC Vive is a virtual reality headset developed by HTC and Valve Corporation, released on 5 April 2016. This headset is designed to utilize "room scale" technology to turn a room into 3D space via sensors, with the virtual world allowing the user to navigate naturally, with the ability to walk around and use motion tracked handheld controllers to vividly manipulate objects, interact with precision, communicate and experience immersive environments.
Unveiled during HTC's Mobile World Congress keynote in March 2015, the HTC Vive has since been awarded over 22 awards in CES 2016, including best of CES.
Technical specifications
The Vive has a refresh rate of 90 Hz. The device uses two screens, one per eye, each having a display resolution of 1080x1200. The device uses more than 70 sensors including a MEMS gyroscope, accelerometer and laser position sensors, and is said to operate in a 15-by-15-foot (4.6 by 4.6 m) tracking space if used with both "Lighthouse" base stations that track the user's movement with sub-millimeter precision. The Lighthouse system was designed by Alan Yates and uses simple photosensors on any object that needs to be captured; to avoid occlusion problems this is combined with two lighthouse stations that sweep structured light lasers within a space.
The front-facing camera allows the software to identify any moving or static objects in a room; this functionality can be used as part of a "Chaperone" safety system, which will automatically display a feed from the camera to the user to safely guide users from obstacles
