HTC to make Vive Standalone VR headset for China

Source: HTC. Concept silhouette for the Vive Standalone VR headset for China.

HTC, a provider of mobile and virtual reality (VR) technologies, announced at ChinaJoy 2017 the first Vive Standalone VR headset for the China market. The Vive Standalone will offer broader audiences a more affordable, yet high-quality VR experience, and will expand the Vive family beyond PC-based VR experiences. 

Without the requirement for an external PC or smartphone to operate, the Vive Standalone will utilise advanced features of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile VR platform. By building up a rich library of VR experiences for the standalone VR market, Vive is solidifying its leadership position in the China ecosystem, and reaffirming the premium brand it has established in the VR market over the last two years.

"China is the leading mobile market in the world today, and has the momentum to lead the global VR market as well," said Alvin W. Graylin, China Regional President of Vive, HTC. "Partnering with Qualcomm to deliver an easy to use and more affordable Vive VR system will enable us to make premium standalone VR widely accessible to the masses in China."

"Snapdragon 835 is designed to deliver superior VR experiences without the need for wires or a separate PC," said Hugo Swart, Senior Director, Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies. "We are thrilled to work with HTC's Vive team as they utilise our rich feature set to create exciting, new VR experiences in the first truly mobile VR headset of the Vive ecosystem."

The new headset will utilise Viveport as its official content platform and is positioned as a premium device. HTC says the Vive ecosystem is built around the best VR hardware in market, supported by Vive X, a US$100 million accelerator for VR and related technology startups; Viveport, a global platform and app store for VR that operates in more than 30 countries, and Vive Studios, its VR content development and publishing initiative.

Interested?

VR developers can register to participate in Vive Standalone associated support programmes and get early access to upcoming developer events