Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
While virtual reality and augmented reality technology have expanded, HTC and it’s Vive brand have been on the cutting edge of performance in the space. The company has announced several more VR HMDs in 2021 that are built towards standalone and PC performance, but the company just announced a new product that might be its most versatile and accessible yet: The HTC Vive Flow. It’s a set of VR glasses built with a super lightweight and compact design that offers absolute portability without entirely sacrificing performance.
HTC revealed the Vive Flow VR glasses via its website and through a lengthy Twitter thread from HTC CEO Shen Ye. The HTC Vive Flow is a 189 gram (about 0.41 pounds) set of glasses featuring 4GB of RAM and 64GB of ROM storage. It features a maximum 1600x1600 resolution per eye on two 2x2.1 LCD screens with a 75Hz refresh rate and up to a 100-degree field of view. It can be powered via external power source such as a compatible battery bank via USB-C cable. For all of this, the HTC Vive Flow will retail at $499 on October 31, 2021 and pre-orders are open now.
Some tertiary features to the HTC Vive Flow are that it can be controlled via any compatible Android-powered smartphone device. It also features Wi-Fi support and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. There are stereo speakers on the device with spacial audio, as well as dual microphones with echo and noise cancellation, but it can also connect to any Bluetooth-compatible headphones or audio devices.
With the way controller support is set up and the limit on RAM, the Vive Flow seems unlikely to be a replacement for full-on HMDs like the standalone HTC Vive Focus 3 that was announced earlier this year. That said, the Vive Flow still looks as though it will offer a decent range of productivity and access to VR experiences. As HTC preps these VR glasses for launch at the end of the month, stay tuned for further updates and details here at Shacknews.