Although the HTC Vive Pro has been available in headset only form as an upgrade for previous VIVE owners for several months, there has been a lack of a full solution for customers looking to enter the ecosystem from scratch.
Today, HTC announced immediate availability for their full VIVE Pro kit featuring Steam VR 2.0 Base Stations and the latest revision of the HTC Vive Controllers.
For those who need a refresher, the HTC Vive Pro improves upon the original Vive VR Headset with 78% improved resolution (2880×1600), as well as a built-in deluxe audio strap.
New with the HTC Vive Pro Full Kit, the Steam VR 2.0 Base Station trackers allow users to add up to 4 base stations (previously limited to 2), for a wider area up to 10×10 meters (32×32 feet), as well as improved positional tracking.
It's worth noting that this kit does not include the upcoming next generation of Steam VR controllers codenamed "Knuckles," which likely won't be available until 2019.
The HTC Vive Pro Full Kit is now available from several retailers including Amazon and B&H Photo for a price of $1400.
Given the steep asking price and "Pro" moniker, it remains clear here that HTC is only attempting to target very high-end gaming enthusiasts and professionals with this headset, rather than the more general audience the original Vive targets. As of now, it's expected that the original VIVE will continue to be available as a lower cost alternative.
Wow am I floored at how
Wow am I floored at how unbelievably overpriced this is. I really hope this includes that first party wireless transmitter, because if not, do these minor and incremental upgrades to these products really justify an $800 markup over the previous kit? Even with the transmitter I find this a very big pill to swallow.
This just plain looks bad. I get that it’s pro, and that they will still be selling the non-pro version, but… it just reminds me of Star Citizen’s $27,000 package: You don’t need to spend that much to play, but is it worth the image it cultivates?
If the pro weighed less than
If the pro weighed less than my Vive, was wireless, had decent lenses, had >= 2800×2800 per eye @ 90Hz with the requisite eye-tracking hardware and supporting software, and a 180 degree vertical and horizontal FOV, I’d fork over $1400. The Vive Pro is just nowhere near sufficiently advanced over the original HTC Vive to make me want to buy it.
I would have thought by now
I would have thought by now prices on these things would have been coming down not going up. Guys you are pricing your stuff in the wrong direction. What’s scary is there will be way to many people willing to buy these things at the higher prices which in turn tells these companies hey it’s ok we have enough dolts out there that have more money than brains next time lets see if we can sell them at $2000 I bet we will sell out in hours.
Here is a hint HTC me personally would not be willing to spend no more than $250-$300 on this tech when you get the prices to this level and if they are just as good give me a ring please I will jump in line to buy one.
These are just like regular
These are just like regular displays except strapped to your face. There is a wide range of quality and pricing for regular displays. I paid around $1300 for a good quality (professional) display a long time ago. We still obviously have such expensive displays. There was a g-sync HDR display recently for over $1000. You can still pick up a cheap 1080p display for a couple hundred dollars though. If you are looking for cheap, then I believe Facebook has a cheap HMD for a couple hundred also. It isn’t great quality since it doesn’t do translational tracking. Also, it has eye tracking, so Facebook is probably gathering data litterally about everything you look at. If you want bleeding edge and/or top of the line, you generally have to pay for it.
This is a relatively minor upgrade in resolution, but it is probably noticeably sharper. It may be a while before we get really high resolution. To get a “retina” quality level, you would need ridiculously high resolution. I just watched a video on Tested (Adam Savage’s YouTube channel) about a device made by a startup named Varjo. They are using a some what standard resolution display but they are combining it with a second display mounted above the eyes that handles only the area of focus (small field of view). Human vision really isn’t actually that good. We have a tiny area of sharp focus right in the center. Outside of that tiny area, it is much lower resolution and very limited color sensitivity. The peripheral is more sensitive to fast motion though, so a higher refresh rate is desirable.
The prototype just has a fixed area in the middle served by the second display. That provides a very high pixel per degree rating while only needing 1080p resolution. The device driving it has to rende essentially 4 displays at 2 different FOV. If we can get up to something like 16k x 16k resolution, then this wouldn’t be needed, but I don’t know how you would drive such a display. You would probably still need to do some foveated rendering and possibly compress the areas that are not being looked at. If they can get the 2 display per eye solution such that they can project the high resolution display where the user is looking using eye tracking, then there would be no need for super high resolution displays anyway.