HTC revealed a Vive Wrist Tracker for the Focus 3 headset.
The tracker is expected to launch early in the year in the United States starting at $129, HTC says.
“VIVE Wrist Tracker makes tracking hand-held objects even easier, whether that’s for sports, training scenarios using tools, or even things like steering wheels. And it even helps for older setups, effectively converting 3dof controllers to 6dof,” reads a blog post from HTC’s Shen Ye. “Location Based Entertainment (LBEs) venues can effortlessly add accessories – everything from sports equipment, like tennis racquets and baseball bats, to weapons for first-person shooter games.”
The post suggests Wrist Tracker accessories may even be able to help with hand tracking when the hands are outside of the field of view of the tracking cameras or one hand is occluding another. Interestingly, the post says that when combining the tracker with an additional “3dof sensor” held in the hand, “such as a wrench and ping pong bat,” the combination provides full 6dof positional tracking, theoretically offering another path toward bringing everyday objects into tracked VR space.
Since 2016 HTC has supported the SteamVR Tracking system on its original HTC Vive headset. The system relies on expensive base stations set outside the VR play area but also provides some of the most precise tracking available to consumers at home. At CES in 2017, HTC announced the original Vive Tracker which worked with Valve’s system to commandeer and reskin a range of accessories for virtual reality. More recently though, Valve shipped its own Index headset powered by SteamVR Tracking while HTC has focused in on an inside-out tracking system similar to the one used by Meta with Oculus Quest, which is employed by Focus 3 and the recently-released Vive Flow.
The Wrist Tracker announced at CES 2022 was revealed alongside some other accessories for Vive Focus 3, including a Charging Case for compact traveling and a Multi Battery Charger that can charge up to four batteries at the same time.
