HTC reveals Vive Pre Dev Kit in CES 2016, features built-in camera, controllers and design improvements

The HTC Vive Pre, the new name for the Steam-powered VR headset, has received an official update. The company is exhibiting the second-gen HTC Vive Pre in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show 2016. Virtual reality is the biggest story in CES 2016, with the announcement of HTC’s second-generation Vive Pre VR headset for developers being one of the main plays.

The new HTC Vive Pre has a refined design and it offers greater comfort to the VR headset users. With a more compact size, HTC Vive Pre now comes with an updated strap that adds more stability and balance. HTC Vive Pre includes an improved visual system that provides clearer images, brighter displays and a deeper sense of virtual reality experience.

The company has also added more features to HTC Vive Pre that give more comfortable user experience. HTC Vive Pre comes with nose gaskets and interchangeable foam inserts. The Steam-powered device is easily adjustable according to the different facial shapes. To add more comfort into the life of HTC Vive users who wear glasses, HTC Vive Pre has also been made compatible with eyeglasses of different sizes.

“The headset has brighter, crisper screens with Mura correction, which makes objects feel like they’re right in front of you,” says Dan O’Brien, the vice president of planning and product management for HTC Vive, as reported by Fortune.

Thanks to the front-facing camera in the HTC Vive Pre, the design may give a more realistic sense of virtual environment to the VR headset user. HTC Vive Pre boasts of a camera situated at the rear of the face, meaning that the blend of physical and virtual elements will allow users to interact with the virtual world and the real world without the need for removing the device.

HTC has rebuilt the Vive Pre headset from the ground up to improve the performance, ergonomics and comfort for a more immersive experience. Considering the improvements, HTC Vive Pre should be a very comfortable and high-performing virtual reality headset for developers. According to a report by Super Data, virtual reality is expected to generate US$5.1 billion (approx. AU$7.15 billion) in sales this year with an install base of 39 million consumers. The report suggests that the virtual reality will establish itself as a key technology in video game industry.

While the HTC Vive Pre developer model will not be available to the general public, the consumer model is expected to arrive in April 2016, as reported by Gamespot. The consumer model for HTC Vive may also include some features and new technologies of Vive Pre developer’s Kit.