HTC’s Vive Focus was one of last year’s most puzzling VR products, a premium standalone headset released first in China before making its late 2018 international debut — but only for enterprise customers. Today, HTC’s kicking it up a notch with the announcement of Vive Focus Plus, an upgraded model with more sophisticated tracking and controllers, though the device again appears to be solely targeted at business users.
The key change with Focus Plus is support for dual six degrees of freedom (6DoF) controllers, enabling tracking of two hands at once while a user moves in a true 3D space. HTC will ship Focus Plus with two ultrasonic controllers, which include an analog trigger for pressure-sensitive input that the company expects will be used by developers to further immerse users with squeeze/grasp gestures.
Additionally, Focus Plus includes ergonomic improvements for greater comfort, resting more easily on the wearer’s head. The unit also promises full enterprise support, with professional features including multi-device management tools, a kiosk mode, and gaze control, plus support for 19 languages.
Above: HTC Vive Focus Plus.
What won’t be changing is the original Focus’ Snapdragon 835 processor, which remains fairly advanced by standalone VR headset standards, but is now two full generations behind Qualcomm’s flagship mobile processor. The same Snapdragon 835 processor will be included in Facebook’s similarly standalone headset Oculus Quest, which will soon hit stores for under $400.
HTC will begin selling Vive Focus Plus in the second quarter of this year at an unspecified price, likely similar to Vive Focus’ $599. The company will also include a free enterprise license “in most markets.”
