It looks like next year could be a little exciting for AR/VR enthusiasts and newcomers, as HTC teased a new line of headsets that will be announced at CES.
Excitement around AR/VR has been pretty tepid this year, despite Meta launching a new headset and PlayStation touting a new VR console for next year. For the most part, there aren’t a lot of companies in this space that have managed to create excitement around virtual reality, augmented reality, or mixed reality.
Despite this, HTC has managed to release a number of headphones and also support their products with upgrades along the way. Now the company is announcing a new headset, which is set to make its official debut next month. The company plans to unveil a new AR/VR headset at CES on January 5, giving the world a look at its latest projects. According to HTC, this new headset will be light, compact and powerful. You can get a glimpse of what the device will look like by looking at the image provided.
From what we can see, it looks pretty sleek, and has the silhouette of an extra thick pair of sunglasses. It’s a self-contained unit with cameras on the front and sides, and it’ll even have a depth sensor. It is expected to have at least two hours of battery life and it will be able to handle consumer applications such as games, entertainment applications, and more. HTC states that it can handle more complex and demanding applications such as “enterprise and productivity tools.”
The headset will also feature a color corridor, making it easier for users to see their surroundings and also allowing for a mixed reality experience. While color crossing isn’t great when it comes to seeing details, HTC has claimed that its unit will have a higher dynamic range, which means users will likely be able to read finer details like text without having to take off the headset.
As exciting as that sounds, when asked about it, HTC really didn’t have an answer when it came to apps or real-world usage scenarios, instead leaving it up to the developers. We know this isn’t HTC’s first rodeo, as the company produces multiple headsets like the Vive Pro, Vive Focus, Vive Cosmos, and Vive Flow. When it comes to style and technology, Flow is most similar to the yet-to-be-named Unity, and it could end up being a replacement for it.
You can expect full details on the headset to come January 5, when HTC will officially announce the unit during CES 2023. It will be interesting to see how the product is priced, considering that Meta raised the price of its Quest 2 headset over the summer and also released A $1,500 high-end model just a couple of months ago. While things were relatively quiet in 2022, the following year could turn out to be a big year for VR/AR headsets.
There are rumors that a successor to Quest 2 will debut next year, which could feature some tech from Meta’s Quest Pro. In addition to the Meta release, Apple has long been rumored to be working on a mixed reality headset. While details are pretty scarce at this point, the product has been shown to people behind closed doors and there have been reports of delays due to software issues. Although Apple will enter the market at some point, its product may be in a completely different price category, with rumors to start with aluminum construction, an iris scanner and several cameras.
For now, we’ll just have to wait, but it looks like next year could be very interesting, with entries from Meta, Apple, HTC, and perhaps a myriad of smaller brands and developers yet to show off their products. What do you think of VR/AR headsets? Comment below.
source: the edge
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