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HTC’s Vive virtual reality headset has become the first to introduce a front-facing camera as part of the VR experience, an announcement from the technology firm said.
The headset, created in partnership with gaming platform Valve, has had an updated version unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
The improved headset also has room-scanning technology that enables a user to move around within a VR experience, as opposed to standing still throughout.
The new front-facing camera will give users the ability to see the physical world around them, and even incorporate real-life objects into the experience.
Virtual reality is set to be one of the biggest technology trends of 2016, with the Vive set for a consumer launch in April, and other headsets, including the Oculus Rift and Sony’s PlayStaton VR also slated to go on-sale in the coming 12 months.
However, this version of HTC’s headset is still only available to developers.
As well as the camera, HTC also announced new versions of the controls that run alongside Vive, which rest in both hands and used to interact with the virtual world users see.
HTC confirmed they had 19 partners at CES showing off some form of using Vive, ranging from gaming experiences to the customisation of digital objects that could then be used in the physical world.
As part of the update, HTC says that battery life in the controllers has been raised from minutes to around four hours.
A final price has not yet been set for the Vive, though total cost to fully install the system into a home is likely to come to more than £1,000.
The firm admitted that this latest update was still not the final version before launch, referring to it as a “stepping stone”.
Fully-fledged virtual reality systems are still to be integrated into modern homes, with the Samsung Gear VR, which is powered by a smartphone, currently the only mainstream headset on-sale.
