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HTC’s virtual reality headset will cost $799 when it goes on sale in April, the company has said.
The HTC Vive headset, which is the product of a partnership with gaming firm Valve, will be one of the first high-end VR headsets to reach consumers, with the Facebook-owned Oculus Rift launching in March.
A UK price is still to be revealed.
Pre-orders for the device will begin at the end of February, and HTC also revealed that the Vive will support a connection to a user’s smartphone, enabling them to make and receive calls as well as see notifications while wearing the headset.
The headset was first unveiled last year at technology show Mobile World Congress, and now the price confirmation has come at the same event. HTC also announced that when the Vive begins to ship, it will come with two controllers – two base stations that are used to track the wearer’s location in the room – as well as two games, for a limited time.
Vive was built to work alongside Valve’s Steam gaming platform, and will run on the software, giving users the opportunity to download ‘experiences’ from the Steam store.
When using the Vive, wearers will be able to move anywhere within their chosen 1.5 to 5 metre space and interact with the virtual world they see. At the beginning of the year, a front-facing camera was also added to the headset to help the wearer see the real world around them.
HTC confirmed that the final version of Vive will come with a new adjustable headstrap to improve comfort.
As well as the Oculus Rift, Sony is due to launch PlayStation VR later in the year, as major firms rush to be part of this emerging market. Samsung has already launched their own device, Gear VR, which works by placing a smartphone into it. Google’s self-assemble Cardboard headset works in the same way.
