HTC revealed its Vive Cosmos VR headset will be available for pre-order beginning Sept. 12.
We still have lots of questions about the new headset and that includes impressions of the hardware itself. We should have at least some of those answers for you the same time pre-orders begin at 12:01 am Pacific on Sept. 12. HTC is giving selected media previews of the hardware this week. That includes us, and we’ve agreed to an embargo on those impressions until Sept. 12.
Cosmos is a major departure from HTC’s original 2016 room-scale system co-developed in partnership with Valve. The new system features HTC’s own brand of inside-out tracking technology. We’ve compiled everything we know about the system so far but, to save you a click (sorry Jamie), we just don’t know all that much just yet. The headset features six cameras facing outward for tracking, it is PC-powered and may also work with other devices. That’s about all we know as of this writing.
Earlier this year HTC’s original partner, Valve, released the Index VR headset built toward the high end. The upgraded headset allowed early Vive buyers an upgrade path from the original system starting at $500. The full Valve Index system costs around $1,000, plus a PC to power it. Facebook, meanwhile, released the PC-powered Rift S in partnership with Lenovo as the new version of its original 2016 VR system. Rift S moves to inside-out tracking like HTC and is priced at just $400, but the headset features no mechanical adjustment for the distance between the eyes. The fitting feature is present on the original Rift, HTC Vive, as well as the Valve Index, and is a welcome addition for some buyers with face shapes and eye distances which are outside average distributions.
We’ll have updates for you then on HTC’s Vive Cosmos at 12:01 am Pacific on Sept. 12.
