HTC Hopes to Challenge Sony, Facebook in Virtual Reality Space
HTC Corp. is working with Valve Corp. to challenge Sony Corp. and Facebook Inc.’s Oculus as an early player in the virtual-reality market.
HTC Vive — a set of VR goggles to pair with a controller and sensor towers — uses game developer Valve’s Steam VR tracking technology to let users walk around and explore simulated environments. Vive will run content from Valve, as well as Google, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and Time Warner HBO and will be available to consumers this year, the Taoyuan, Taiwan-based smartphone maker said.
HTC has in recent months unveiled its periscope-shaped RE action camera and developed a smart wristband with Under Armour as it looks beyond smartphones to reverse three years of annual sales declines. The phone maker is the latest to enter the nascent VR market, after Sony’s Project Morpheus headset and Facebook’s purchase of Oculus VR last year.
