HTC unveiled a new VR tracker device, the Vive Wrist Tracker, at CES 2022 to serve its $1,300 enterprise-class standalone headset Vive Focus 3. It is expected to go on sale sometime in early 2022 and will sell for $129.
Unlike its SteamVR-compatible Vive Tracker, the Vive Wrist Tracker is a wrist-mounted device that connects to the Vive Focus 3's inside-out tracking system, tracked through the infrared LED tracking headset's onboard camera sensor, allowing users to tie it to their wrists for what the company calls "advanced hand tracking," or to tie it to objects such as gun controllers, ping-pong balls, or tools, thereby bringing " Three-degree-of-freedom device becomes six-degree-of-freedom device"
HTC says the Vive Wrist Tracker is 85 percent smaller than the Vive Focus 3's controller and 50 percent lighter (63 grams). With up to four hours of continuous use, charging via USB-C. In addition, the device includes a simple wireless one-touch pairing function and has a removable strap for easy user cleaning.
As for hand tracking, HTC noted in the announcement: "When a user wears a tracker to the wrist, we can use high-frequency IMU data and advanced kinematic models to predict its trajectory." With this technology, we can predict the position of the user's hand when the hand leaves the camera field of view. ”
The Vive Wrist Tracker, priced at $129, will launch in early 2022. Like the Vive Tracker and the $1,300 Vive Focus 3, it's not designed for consumers, and it will deliver the most value in experiences designed specifically to take advantage of it. HTC will release CAD files of wrist tracker designs so that people can create their own accessories such as custom bases or straps. Although they don't say much, this pricing means it will most likely be rolled out to the UK and eu at a later date.
In addition to the Vive Wrist Tracker, HTC has introduced other Vive Focus 3 accessories, including a charging case and an accessory for charging multiple batteries at once, designed to satisfy location-based entertainment vendors such as malls that want to quickly replace batteries for multiple headsets. It's unclear when accessories will go on sale, or at what price.