First, there was the Vive Focus standalone VR headset. Now, HTC Vive is announcing their newest and more robust Vive Focus Plus hardware. The headset is being positioned as a professional-grade and business-oriented headset with a few enhancements.
What Vive did was upgrade the Vive Focus, a 6DoF headset with one controller, into a headset that pairs with two 6DoF controllers. This gives its users more freedom to use both hands to pick up, drop, and manipulate objects and interact with their virtual environment intuitively instead of with only one hand.
Making this change from one controller to two and from limited freedom to 6DoF means that developers will find it easier to port their PC VR games, apps, and experiences for the Vive Focus Plus and WAVE platform.
“At Vive, the announcement of Vive Focus Plus furthers our commitment to rapidly iterate and refine the VR market for both businesses and consumers,” said Daniel O’Brien, General Manager Americas, HTC Vive.
“This rollout of Vive Focus Plus leads the way for deeper immersion, more realistic training
There are already companies like Immersive Factory and SimforHealth that are using the Vive Focus Plus and its dual controllers for training in medical and safety. So much news coming from Qualcomm Snapdragon this week and Vive is a part of it. Their 835 Mobile VR Platform is elevating the standalone’s power to run PC VR quality games and lowering latency.
Olivier Pierre, COO and Founder, Immersive Factory gave a statement to HTC Vive. Pierre says, “Vive Focus Plus will perfectly immerse our clients in realistic environments enabling full movement, which supports memorization of process and procedures, and improves behavior by creating consequences to their actions.”
“Having a professional standalone headset is very important for us to widely integrate and deploy virtual reality for workforce training at large groups, with plants all other the world, who previously saw the equipment as a barrier.”
Imagine being a surgeon, doctor, or nurse at the beginning of your career and having minimal experience with patients and procedures. Practicing and learning with hands-on medical interactions in VR can help reduce error in a lower stress environment.
With a 3K AMOLED display, dual 6DoF controllers, and unhindered movement from the removal of wires, Vive Focus Plus users will find training more lifelike to practice complicated and life-saving procedures in. Having a realistic learning environment where one can make mistakes without real-world repercussions leads to a prepared and properly trained workforce.
Olivier Gardinetti, CTO, SimforHealth told HTC Vive, “Moreover, the 6DOF controllers have improved the way to perform specific medical interactions that were not possible with the regular 3DOF controllers. Now, Simforhealth’s simulators have a better, more comfortable user experience.”
Businesses that use it for entertainment will enjoy that Vive Focus Plus will make running VR an easier task. The headset will have features like Kiosk Mode, Gaze Support, and remote monitoring and managing. So, multiple headsets can be used and maintained at the same time.
When can it be bought? Q2 of 2019.
