Preview of the HTC VIVE Cosmos

A new VR Glasses from HTC is on the way: the HTC VIVE Cosmos. The Cosmos gets a slightly different look than its predecessors, the HTC VIVE and VIVE Pro, but that's certainly not the only thing that's different about this VR Glasses. Thus, the Cosmos with comes a few new Touch Controllers and the Cosmos is distinguished by its simple setup. Furthermore, the glasses have a high image resolution of 2880 x 1700 pixels; a whopping 88% higher than the original HTC Vive! The VIVE Cosmos positions itself in the market between the HTC VIVE Pro and the HTC VIVE Focus: a high quality VR Glasses suitable for [ [MD5_23]] and business users. This seems to be a direct competitor of the recently released Oculus Rift S. But there are a number of points where HTC knows how to surprise. Lees in deze preview everything we know so far about the new HTC VIVE Cosmos.

Easier to use

with the VIVE Cosmos HTC wants to focus more on ease of use. with the new way of tracking, inside-out tracking, you can simply take the Headset out of the box and set it up right away. No more hassle with all kinds of cables that you have to put in something or sensors that you have to hang up. In addition, the well-known HTC VIVE Wireless Adapter compatible with the Cosmos. This allows you to replace the cables that run to the PC with an adapter, so that you can walk around completely wirelessly! This way you can use the graphics power of your Computer, while having the convenience of a Standalone headset!

New way of tracking

De belangrijkste verandering in de HTC VIVE Cosmos is de nieuwe manier van inside-out tracking. This way of tracking uses a camera in the Headset itself. This camera can see exactly where the Headset and the Controllers are in space. As a result, it is no longer necessary to set up external sensors as with the HTC VIVE. There are a total of 6 cameras on the VIVE Cosmos Headset. All these cameras ensure that the players have a freedom of movement of 6 DoF (degrees of freedom). The advantage of this number of cameras is that the tracking of Controllers is increased. With previous VR Glasses that use inside-out tracking it sometimes happened that the Controllers under and next to the glasses lost the connection for a while. Doordat er nu 6 camera's op de VR Glasses zitten zul je hier naar waarschijnlijkheid minder last van hebben! 

More comfortable than ever before

The VIVE Cosmos promises to be lighter and more comfortable than any of its predecessors. For example, lightweight material has been used and the VIVE Cosmos now also has a flip-up screen. So if you want to escape from the virtual world for a while, you can easily flip the screen up! The headband of the VR Glasses has also been adjusted, so that you no longer have a physical band running over your head. Thanks to an innovative solution at the front of the Headset, the weight is evenly distributed. The great thing about the Cosmos is that you can also replace the cable with with a wireless adapter. Hierdoor verhoog je de speelruimte, omdat je geen last meer hebt van onhandige kabels naar de computer! 

Renewed and improved Controllers

The Controllers of the HTC VIVE Cosmos also got an upgrade. They can be compared with to the new Touch Controllers from Oculus; a large ring around the Controller allows for individual finger tracking. Also striking is the appearance of the Controller. The 'glowing' design provides a cool look and makes the Controller a cool eye-catcher. Hate it or love it: the Controller definitely stands out.

Modular design

HTC wants to be able to add various add-ons to the VIVE Cosmos in the future. For example, the VIVE Cosmos has a loose fitting front that you can replace with a front with tracking dots on it. This makes the Headset even easier to track when using the HTC base stations. In addition, existing HTC VIVE accessories can also be added to the VIVE Cosmos. Zo is de HTC Draadloze Adapter via een nieuwe bevestigingskit gewoon toe te voegen aan de VIVE Cosmos and kun je ook de motion Controllers van de VIVE Pro gebruiken wanneer je gebruikt maakt van externe tracking stations. 

Conclusion

In short: the HTC VIVE Cosmos is a VR Glasses with a number of unique and nice additions. A VR Glasses with the power of an HTC VIVE Pro and the convenience of an Oculus Rift S doesn't seem to be there yet. And because you can switch between inside-out and outside-in tracking (using external base stations) you can do with the VIVE Cosmos some things that you normally with could only do a specific VR Glasses. When we have tested the HTC VIVE Cosmos, we will be sure to share our experiences in a new VR review!

The HTC VIVE Cosmos will be available for pre-order. Final delivery is scheduled for October 3rd.