Check out what HTC's Vive Focus headset can do

The Street

TheStreet's Conway Gittens took HTC's Vive Focus headset for a test drive.

Transcript

00:00Augmented and virtual reality headsets.

00:02We've been hearing about them for years,

00:04but they still haven't caught on with everyday consumers.

00:08There's a wide variety when it comes to price.

00:10On the high end, you have the Apple ProVision,

00:13which will set you back $3,500.

00:15And on the low end, you have the MetaQuest 3 for $299.

00:19And somewhere in the middle, you have HTC.

00:22It's Vive FocusVision is $999 and $1,299 for the Pro model.

00:28For Dan O'Brien, HTC President of the Americas,

00:31that's the sweet spot for gamers,

00:33people who just wanna have fun.

00:36You're getting a headset that connects

00:38to all of your PC gaming, if you so wish to use it that way.

00:42You can use it as a standalone headset,

00:44and it has applications across thousands

00:47of different gaming applications.

00:49You know, anything from zombie to fitness

00:52to, you know, playful architecture games

00:55and things of that nature.

00:56And there's a lot of different gaming applications

00:58that can be a lot of fun and very entertaining,

01:01even mental health applications.

01:03We're definitely targeting a high-end PC gamer,

01:07very high 5K visuals, very easy to use.

01:11You no longer need external tracking now.

01:13It's all embedded on the headset.

01:15So it's very, very easy to use.

01:16We've now even included things like auto IPD.

01:20So the lenses inside the headset

01:22actually adjust to your pupils.

01:23So you always get the best visual quality and fidelity.

01:27And so from a consumer standpoint,

01:29we've really designed it for that, again,

01:31that PC gamer, high-end gamer, and that's a growing market.

01:35You have over 180 million active SteamVR PC gamers, right?

01:40That's a very, very healthy market

01:42to serve with that headset.

01:43Well, let's have some fun.

01:45That's it.

01:45Let's go for it.

01:46Show me how these headsets work.

01:50The setup is more than just putting on headsets.

01:53The technology within the headset

01:55has to acclimate to your eyesight,

01:57your height, and set safety boundaries.

01:59There's also the motion sensors

02:01so that when you move physically,

02:02you move within the software.

02:04There are also handsets for spatial concerns

02:07that allow you to push and move things

02:10within the virtual world.

02:11So the simulation I'm doing right now

02:13is walking the plank of an elevator.

02:17Yeah, so this is a consumer experience

02:19to have fun with your comfort level

02:24with heights and height exposures.

02:27So check your balance and walk your way out on that plank.

02:38Pretty good.

02:40How's it feel?

02:44Very focused.

02:47We talked about earlier,

02:48you were gonna make it all the way to the end.

02:53All right, let's go for it.

03:00There you go.

03:01You can do this.

03:12I gotta tell you that when you put these on,

03:16you really do get immersed into another world.

03:19It's hard to figure out what's going on

03:22and you really, really feel like you're in a different place.

03:28The HTC headset, however, is more than just fun and games.

03:31It's being used to aid in physical and mental therapy,

03:35to train a police force in Mexico,

03:37and is being used in the space industry.

03:40However, O'Brien is proudest of how VIVE Focus Vision

03:43is being used in the medical field.

03:45So you can train people over and over and over again,

03:48and they get through the training faster

03:50and retain it at a much higher level.

03:52So retention is at 75% versus a lecture style at 5%

03:57or reading at 15%.

03:59So really a lot of improvements there

04:02in those couple of industries,

04:04but we've also seen in the healthcare training simulation

04:07with different doctors like Yale University,

04:10they're getting their doctors or their student doctors

04:13through the surgeries 29% faster,

04:15and they're making six times fewer errors.

04:17So really significant impact.

Category

Transcript

Recommended