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HTC Vive Flow

HTC Announces Vive Flow Business Edition, Optional 3DOF Controller

From roadtovr

Vive Flow, HTC’s compact VR headset, is targeted at travelers and consumers looking for casual VR experiences and media consumption. Now the company has announced it’s marketing a Business Edition of Vive Flow alongside an optional controller which should make navigating in-headset a bit easier for first-time users.

Vive Flow Business Edition is being pitched as a lightweight device for VR training, distance learning, bringing immersive experiences into the classroom, location-based entertainment, and healthcare and rehabilitation. The headset, which sells for $499 (€550) on the company’s website, includes a two-year business warranty as well as standard enterprise support.

HTC says new software features include a ‘kiosk mode’ so content can be queued up and remotely triggered, which is ideal for trade shows or running training sessions, the company says.

Vive Flow Controller | Image courtesy HTC

Launched for consumers last year, Vive Flow is a standalone VR headset that tethers to an Android smartphone for input via Bluetooth, and physically plugs into an external battery for power. Ok, so not entirely standalone, but the lightweight device does feature onboard processing. Granted, that Android-only device spec may change here soon, as HTC says it’s working on iPhone support for Vive Flow too.

By default, Vive Flow uses the smartphone as its only input device. Now the company is introducing an optional 3DOF controller for Vive Flow (seen above) that can be paired with either the consumer or business version of the headset.

Although we were hoping to hear more about hand-tracking or controllers (emphasis on the plural), going back to the old reliable controller style, which we’ve seen as early as 2016, makes a good deal of sense: blindly clicking on a smartphone when immersed in VR isn’t the most intuitive way for newcomers.

You can check out the full specs for Vive Flow here, including resolution, field of view, processor, and all of the ergonomic bits that help it achieve its 189 gram weight, making it several times lighter than any major VR headset on the market today.

Vive Flow’s Two Most Requested Features Are in the Works, Says HTC

From roadtovr

HTC’s compact VR headset, Vive Flow, launched late last year targeting a different kind of VR user. The company says that feedback since launch has consistently been around two features, both of which it plans to address.

Vive Flow is a compact VR headset targeting casual VR users who want a portable headset for relaxation and productivity. Out of the gate the product got high marks for its diminutive size, but HTC says there were two common themes in the post-launch feedback: a lack of support for iPhone and two-handed input.

Speaking during this week’s AWE 2022, Vive China President Alvin Wang Graylin tells Road to VR that both points are in active development and the company expects to have details to share soon.

Vive Flow isn’t a fully standalone headset; it must be plugged into a smartphone for both battery and input. But not just any smartphone… only Android devices have been supported since launch. For the huge number of iPhone users out there, that makes the device a non-starter, even if Flow’s unique ‘causal’ approach to VR is appealing.

Graylin said Vive Flow support for iPhone is on the way, though it may not offer the full set of capabilities that are possible when used with Android.

A big part of Vive Flow’s appeal is being able to cast flat apps from your phone into the headset, making the headset a simple personal theater for watching content on Netflix, YouTube, and the like. But if we had to guess, we’d say this capability could be limited when the headset is used with an iOS device, given Apple’s more restrictive approach to interoperability.

Image courtesy HTCViv

As mentioned, Vive Flow also uses the attached phone for input—both as a laser pointer and touchscreen input. But the single-handed and 3DOF nature of the ‘phone-as-a-controller’ leaves something to be desired. Graylin said that some form of two-handed input is in the works.

Two-handed input would not only make users feel a bit more capable in the headset, but could also open up more possibilities for different apps to work on the headset without being reworked for a single controller modality.

There’s a good chance the two-handed input will come in the form of hand-tracking—which HTC has supported on other headsets previously—but it’s possible the company might also surprise us by adding some kind of controller accessory to the headset. However, given the headset’s intention as a simple and portable device, hand-tracking seems to make the most sense.

Apparent Leak Unveils HTC Vive Flow, Including Price & Pre-order Date

From roadtovr

An apparent leak in HTC’s marketing material has revealed images of the upcoming Vive Flow VR headset ahead of its October 14th unveiling. The headset, which is rumored to target consumers with a casual approach to media consumption, is reportedly priced at $500, and said to begin pre-orders on October 15th.

Serial leaker ‘evleaks’ released a trove of images last night which reveal much about Vive Flow, although not every answer to all of the burning questions. We haven’t substantiated the images below, although they appear to be authentic given how they match up with the progressive teases HTC has done over the past two weeks.

It appears Vive Flow has onboard processing as stipulated in earlier reports, making it fundamentally a standalone headset.

Image courtesy evleaks

Here’s a look inside behind Vive Flow’s mirrored faceplate, which shows two optical sensors, ostensibly used for 6DOF positional tracking. If earlier reports can be believed, this may also include hand-tracking capabilities. No motion controller is seen in marketing info, and it was previously reported by Protocol that hand-tracking would be the headset’s main input method.

Image courtesy evleaks

As a side note, that Protocol report also maintained Flow’s onboard chipset would be less powerful than the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 found in Oculus Quest 2 and Vive Focus 3.

While active cooling is present, from the images it’s not clear where onboard power is supposed to fit in the whole package. On the right temple arm of the headset you can see a cable trailing off, which appears to be a USB Type-C port, possibly for external power.

Image courtesy evleaks

A top-down image showing off its snap-on facial interface reveals how thin the display and optics really are, something we’ve stipulated may be thanks to the inclusion of ‘pancake’ lenses like we saw on Pico’s VR glasses prototype at CES 2020. These typically shorten the distance between display and optics at some reduction of field of view.

Image courtesy evleaks

The only look we get directly at the lenses reveals it has built-in diopter settings, so near-sighted people can use the close-fitting headset without glasses. Dual diopter dials appear to show up to a -6.0 diopter focusing power.

Image courtesy evleaks

It’s still not clear what HTC is hiding with the cable. The marketing material shows phones that notably aren’t tethered to the headset physically, and are instead connected via Bluetooth.

Image courtesy evleaks

Some of the mystery of input seems to be revealed in the image below, which maintains that a user’s phone can be used as a VR controller. This would likely be 3DOF input only.

Image courtesy evleaks

In fact, a large set of lifestyle photos position Vive Flow as a consumer headset that’s focusing on casual media consumption, and possibly productivity as well.

With the tagline “Designed to fit into your life,” Vive Flow is definitely playing to its compact form-factor, positioning it as a good on-the-go solution for media consumption.

Image courtesy evleaks

The thermos-style carrying case is said to come as a free gift when pre-ordered, which is said to start on October 15th, with shipments said to come in early November. The MSRP of $499 USD is also said to get you seven free VR apps and two months of a service called ‘Infinity Vista’, which sounds like it may be a tuned-down version of Viveport Infinity for the standalone device.

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There’s still plenty to learn about Vive Flow. We’ll be watching on October 14th for HTC’s Vive Flow event to see what gaps they can fill in. We’re still waiting to hear about specs and what other capabilities it may have, which may better justify its $500 price tag to consumers.

HTC Likely Announcing a New Standalone Vive Headset Next Week

From roadtovr

HTC recently said that it will host an online Vive event next week, but has only teased minimal hints about what it plans to announce. Regulatory filings spotted by Road to VR suggest a new standalone HTC Vive headset will be revealed.

It’s been less than five months since HTC launched its most recent VR headsets—the Vive Pro 2 and Vive Focus 3—but it looks like they’ve got another up their sleeve.

Just ahead of next week’s HTC Vive event, a new “HTC Vive headset” has appeared in regulatory filings submitted by the company to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The FCC is tasked with certifying products with electromagnetic emissions to be safe and compatible with regulations. Products utilizing radio, WiFi, infrared, etc. need certification before they can be distributed for sale. Certification by the FCC marks one step closer to the launch of consumer electronics product.

The new headset is identified by the model number 2Q7Y100, which doesn’t match any known Vive headsets thus released. Although the company has requested confidentiality of key filings which would clearly identify the headset, there’s some clues in the available information which point toward a standalone headset.

For one, the device’s FCC label—which all consumer electronics devices are required to have—is an ‘e-label’, which means instead of being printed on the device it’s accessible through the device’s software. Specifically, the user can access the FCC label by going to Settings → About → Regulatory Information. In fact, this is the same labeling approach that HTC’s Vive Focus 3 uses.

Further supporting the likelihood of this new Vive headset being standalone is documentation detailing Wi-Fi test reports which measure to ensure that the device’s Wi-Fi broadcasts are within the legal ranges. It appears the device uses a Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) radio. Most dedicated PC VR headsets use some form of Bluetooth for controller connectivity, but none of them use Wi-Fi.

HTC has kept its teasing for next week’s event pretty minimal thus far. The company has been using the phrase, “Go with the Flow,” (notable emphasis on “Flow” as a proper noun), in its promotions which have included photos with a cylindrical case of some sort. Ostensibly the headset will be small enough to fit inside the case, which would suggest a headset much more compact than most of what’s on the market today (if the scale of the photoshopped images can be trusted, anyway).

That certainly falls in line with the Vive Proton headsets that the company initially teased way back in early 2020; though they haven’t talked about them much since. If this new standalone is based on Proton, the headset seems likely to have been rebranded to Vive Flow, which the company trademarked in late August.

There’s also the possibility that Vive Flow won’t be a VR headset at all, but will actually be the company’s first AR headset based on Qualcomm’s ‘Smart Viewer’ reference design.

All will be revealed soon enough; HTC’s event will be held next week on October 14th.

What Is The Vive Flow, HTC’s Mysterious New Device?

From vrscout

HTC teases new hardware ahead of its mysterious “Go with the Flow” event scheduled to take place later this month.

This week HTC Vive tweeted out an image of a mysterious canister with a lid next to a computer. The picture was accompanied by the date October 14th and the hashtag #gowiththeflow. Then, earlier today, HTC posted another tweet featuring a graphic with the text “Go with the Flow,” alluding to a big announcement happening at Vive.com.

It’s unclear at this time exactly what this device is. Based on recent images posted online and President Alvin Wang’s recent tweet, however, the ‘HTC Vive Flow’ could have something to do with a device called the ‘HTC Proton’ which appeared in FCC filings last year. According to the report, the hardware is listed as a “headset” with a model name of 2Q9R100. The listing also has the device under the Vive brand name with HTC Corporation as the applicant. Perhaps the Vive Flow is meant to be used in tandem with this unreleased device?

This past August another trademark was filed for a product called the ‘Vive Flow’, referencing a “[h]ead mounted display for computer-simulated reality, namely virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality.” Is it possible HTC is hinting at another headset, one focused on working, home wellness, and entertainment?

Image Credit: HTC

From the looks of it, the lid and canister work together. The lid looks somewhat like a smart hub device similar to that of the Google Home Mini or Amazon Echo. Perhaps the device is meant to serve as a dedicated power unit for a separate piece of hardware? Considering the fact that HTC launched two VR headsets just last year, I believe the odds of the company announcing yet another headset are slim.

Looks like we’ll just have to wait until October 14th at 11am EST when HTC Vive lifts its veil of secrecy. In the meantime, why don’t we all just go with the flow. You can catch the action live at Vive.com or in VR via the social VR platform Engage.

Feature Image Credit: HTC

HTC is Holding a Vive Product Event Just Ahead of Facebook Connect

From roadtovr

HTC is gearing up to hold what seems to be a new product unveiling on October 14th, or just ahead of Facebook Connect on the 28th of that month. The company says we’ll be hearing about some “big news in a small package.”

HTC announced the event on Twitter, saying it will take place on October 14th at 11 AM ET (local time here) in the company’s online event space, which is hosted by social VR platform Engage.

There’s still little indication what it might be, although we have some ideas. In February 2020, the company showed off a concept XR headset called Vive Proton, which was touted as a small form-factor device in the making, albeit in its early stages.

Image courtesy HTC

Presented in two flavors—a standalone model and a tethered model—it was suggested at the time that Vive Proton achieved its small form-factor via ‘pancake’-style optics, or the type we saw in the compact Pico VR Glasses prototype at CES 2020 right before in-person events were cancelled. Maybe a more refined version of the goggles fits into that thermos-looking thing as a protective charging case?

The company’s RSVP form for the event and tweet above also features a graphic with what appears to be the outside faceplate of Proton, although that may just be wishful thinking.

Image courtesy HTC

The graphic’s headline ‘Go with the Flow’ may hold a more concrete clue, as a new HTC trademark for a product called ‘VIVE FLOW’ was filed on August 26th, 2021, which refers to a “[h]ead mounted display for computer simulated reality, namely virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality.”

In any case, it’s a pretty safe bet that whatever HTC unveils it will be squarely targeted at prosumers and businesses, although we’re always happy to be wrong. There’s really only one way to find out though, and that’s to tune in on October 14th and see what HTC has in store.