Images of a future fitness-focused virtual reality headset from HTC, dubbed Vive Air, have been released online. Product details have been published by World Design Guide (which I saw through Engadget) as part of its annual awards. It seems that the product will be officially unveiled at the upcoming HTC ViveCon 2021 on May 11 and 12.
Vive Air is “specially designed for virtual fitness” and “optimized for high intensity with long use”, says the copy on World Design Guidewebsite. The headset is made of quick-drying knitted fabrics, inspired by sports shoes, which are supposed to be light and breathable. A quick-release design allows these “soft ergonomic components” to be removed for washing. The site says that Vive Air will be launched sometime in 2021.
It certainly seems like a well-positioned product, as VR is becoming more and more popular for fitness activities during the global crash. Just this month, The Verge interviewed the creator of the popular VR training application Supernatural, who argued that “fitness is a criminal use case for VR” and that training software “will be the first driving force of mass adoption [of virtual reality] through a normal consumer audience. “Creating a comfortable, lightweight headset that doesn’t sweat after a week or two seems crazy.
However, can a sports-oriented VR headset prove a success for HTC? The company’s original Vive headphones helped create the latest iteration of the VR market when it launched in 2016, but the company’s hardware has been overtaken by competitors such as Oculus. Limiting a specific (and growing) use case could be a smart way to go for the company.