Over the weekend, HTC Vive was at World Conference on VR Industry in Nanchang, China. The VR headset manufacturer announced that their Vive 6DoF Developer Kit for the Vive Wave Ecosystem is now accepting dev applications. This is big news for fans of VR and developers looking to build the next game or app for Vive.
HTC’s New 6DoF Dev Kit
Alvin Wang Graylin, China President of HTC opened with, “We are excited to collaborate with the IVRA (Industry of VR Alliance), Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China and Jiangxi provincial government to host the first ‘World Conference of the VR Industry’.”
The President of HTC said:
“It’s been amazing to see the rapid pace of advancement in the VR/AR space and the broad-based support of industry, academic and government leaders gathered here at the event.”
“Today, we are taking the spatial computing industry to yet another level as we announce the availability of the full 6DoF developer kit for the Vive Wave open ecosystem, and a host of new 6DoF content and technologies to more easily bring users into fully immersive virtual worlds.”
To go along with the dev kit, there are two 6DoF controllers with a special tracker attachment that goes with it. These work with Vive Focus headsets (only available in China currently) and compatible software. Developers that create games, experiences, and content for standalone virtual reality will also get to publish it on the Vive Wave marketplace.
HTC also demonstrated the power of the Vive Pro’s front-camera, spatial computing software, and full hand and finger tracking at the event. This is an important step for Vive, seeing as tracked controllers aren’t needed to interact with new 6DoF content.
New HTC Vive Content
If you’ve ever wanted to step into a VR full-length film as if you were really there, Vive announced 2 immersive and entertaining VR experiences that will get the 6DoF feature. Immersive films that will place the audience inside of the scene are 7 Miracles (Vive Studio) and The Apple (Vive X, Yuecheng Technologies, ConfigReality).
There are also historical experiences like Along the River During the Qingming Festival (Vive Arts Program) to turn a 2D scroll into a VR adventure back in time. There’s also a Vive and China National Geography collaboration that focuses on the beauty of China’s sites and natural scenery filmed in 8K.
Focusing on the future of VR, Vive and Vive X have also partnered with SuperNode 3D, XCOL from VRWaibo, and ObEN to bring content into a new phase of 6DoF. They’re also working on an Augmented Reality (AR) collab with YCVR, which is a new type of venture for the VR company.
A New Storefront for Vive
To top all this news off, Vive is announcing the opening of their Vive Flagship Store in Shenzhen at the Consumer Electronics Exchange Exhibition Center (CEEC). This storefront serves as a place to buy their gear, is a service center, and is also a VR arcade! Having a one-stop shop for the Vive Wave Ecosystem is important, especially since VR investment in China grew to “$3.9 billion in the last 12 months”.
