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HTC and Intel have teamed up to bring Intel’s WiGig wireless VR tech to the Vive, the companies announced today at Computex. HTC will also be taking on manufacturing duties for the WiGig wireless VR accessory.
This isn’t the first wireless accessory that will be coming to the Vive, as TPCast’s wireless upgrade pack is currently due to go on sale in Q2 this year. TPCast was one of the companies borne out of HTC’s ViveX accelerator program, and its $249tether-less upgrade kit is designed to sit on top of the main head strap.
Judging by the prototype unveiled at this year’s Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, it seems Intel’s WiGig accessory will be incorporated into the headset in much the same way, but we’ll have to wait until E3 before the company reveals exact details.
Either way, it should dramatically improve the headset’s overall VR experience. Based on the 802.11ad standard (which is about 11x faster than 802.11n), Intel’s WiGig tech works solely in the interference-free 60GHz band, allowing for high throughput and low latency in both directions between a PC and Vive headset.
This should mean video quality with a latency time of under 7ms in any environment, with HTC stating it should also support multiple users in the same space – something that will be good news for anyone interested in setting up location-based VR facilities.
More details are coming soon, but those heading to E3 in a few weeks time will be able to see HTC’s proof of concept on display at its booth.
