A seemingly unseen HTC headset today won an IF Design Award, which came with several photos of what was listed as a consumer headset in 2021. The fitness-focused headset is just a concept, he says. company, but we will probably see many of its design elements in a future HTC headphones.
Update (10:00 AM ET): HTC provided UploadVR with confirmation that Vive Air is indeed a concept and not a developing product, despite the fact that IF Design was released to consumers in 2021. Here is a statement from an HTC spokesperson:
“It’s exciting to see our concept piece, the VIVE Air VR headset, winning an iF Design Award. Although this is just a concept, the design language has elements and inspirations that you will see elsewhere in our products. We are not the ones resting on our laurels, so although it is great to win this award, we have to take care of ourselves – we hope to see you on May 11/12 at VIVECON. ”
The original article remains unchanged below, for clarity.
Original article (8:30 AM ET): According to the page, the headphones are called “Vive Air” and will be launched for consumers in Asia, Europe and North America, sometime this year. The news was first reported by the Chinese-language publication Nweon.
HTC is set to unveil a standalone VR headset, as confirmed earlier this month in a set of Tweets and a blog post. We do not yet have confirmation of whether this is or a variant of it. We will update this piece as soon as we know.
Here are all the available photos of the headset.
Here’s what HTC is supposed to say about it on the IF Design website:
VIVE Air VR headphones are specially designed for virtual fitness, optimized for high intensity with long use. Inspired by sports shoes, the new helmet introduces VR knitted materials to offer unprecedented comfort and fit. Breathable and quick-drying fabrics improve ventilation during heated exercise. The lightweight innovative structure allows users to forget about the presence of the head-mounted display to focus on virtual content. The quick-release design allows for the removal of ergonomic soft components for washing.
The headset is undoubtedly very similar to the Quest look, offering four camera sensors for room-scale tracking and possibly manual tracking. Keep in mind that many independent headphones have adopted this four-sensor look style.
There is little left to do at the moment. The person using the headset seems to use a band and a hand of some kind, however this may simply be regular training equipment and not a new fitness movement control system.
However, it’s clear that HTC may be looking to grow its home VR training niche to stand out from its current champion, the Oculus Quest 2. To compete with consumers outside the area without Facebook, which is China, it can try your luck with a sportier kit.