HTC VR

The HTC Vive Tracker is not a fitness tracker, but it lets you shoot dinosaurs in the face!

by Luis D. / Mar 28, 2017, 3:32 AM

This is the Vive Tracker. It won't look as glossy in real life.

A few weeks ago, we heard that HTC is working on a Vive-branded tracker. Of course, no one ever said it was a fitness tracker, but such a possibility did come close to mind. So we are surprised by the turnout, but very pleased nevertheless! You'll see why below.

Anyway, the $99 Vive Tracker is now available for developer purchase, and it's the Vive headset's nimble little friend. It looks like a charging cradle, but its purpose is being strapped onto an object, such as a replica of a gun, and tracking its motions to turn it into a VR controller.

HTC is making it possible to murder prehistoric reptiles with UZIs!

Multiple Vive Trackers can be combined for complex tasks like full body tracking. Thus, VR developers now have the means of easily implementing natural movement tracking into their experiences. This can go to interesting places!

The tech has already contributed to a bunch of rad demos, such as this one, in which you hit dinosaurs in their ugly faces with a baseball bat. Or this one, which is about shooting lifelike virtual guns. We'd rather have that cool stuff than another overpriced wristband in a bunch of silly colors, thanks HTC!

The Vive Tracker will be sold to consumers and businesses in the second half of 2017. Get HR to install a bunch of virtual rifles at the corporate play room and you're golden!

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source: HTC

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10 Comments

1. xondk

Posts: 1904; Member since: Mar 25, 2014

99$ for one? that....can quickly get expensive.

posted on Mar 28, 2017, 5:00 AM 0

2. remixfa

Posts: 14605; Member since: Dec 19, 2008

that's for developer. it will be cheaper when it comes to the consumer version. Economies of scale and all.

posted on Mar 28, 2017, 7:20 AM 0

3. sgodsell

Posts: 7220; Member since: Mar 16, 2013

Who the hell do you think is going to use these tracker in the first place? You use these trackers to track live movements. I have even seem someone add one to a cat. These movements can then be captured and added to your code, for a game or other thing you are trying to make.

posted on Mar 28, 2017, 8:54 AM 0

4. remixfa

if you read the blurb, it tells you that you can add it to real world objects which then can be tracked in game. playing baseball? grab a nerf bat (for safety), throw on the tracker, and swing away for a realistic simulation. It's not just developer use. This is just the developer version

posted on Mar 28, 2017, 9:48 AM 0

5. xondk

I have my doubts..but we can hope.

posted on Mar 28, 2017, 9:49 AM 0

6. remixfa

that's how every developer version works. That's why its a developer version and not the final product. A lot of testing and reworking goes on in this phase. And since its produced at a much smaller volume, it's more expensive even though its an unfinished product.

posted on Mar 28, 2017, 11:07 AM 0

7. xondk

Except.....dev version of oculus rift and vive both were cheaper, most likely because they were sold under the 'still in development' banner. Which is why I worry. I'd absolutely love to be wrong, and generally I agree dev versions would be more expensive, but that hasn't been the practice of late or so it seems?

posted on Mar 28, 2017, 1:08 PM 0

8. remixfa

yea, but you can look at the microsoft hollow lens. The developer version of that is like 2,000. It's not going to be anywhere near that. They dont make a profit off of the developer versions normally. They are small scale built and generally incomplete. Rarely does the price go up for retail over developer.