HTC has announced the Vive Focus Vision, a new VR headset built on the Vive Focus 3 with features like color passthrough and better PC tethering support. The $999 Focus Vision is available for pre-order on HTC’s website from now until October 17th.
Focus Vision can be used as a standalone unit or connected to your PC using USB-C. It’s essentially a souped-up version of the company’s Focus 3 released in 2021 – it has the same per-eye resolution of 2448 x 2448 and 120-degree field of view, and also uses a Snapdragon XR2 chip. But it gets features like dual 16MP cameras and color pass-through, which now automatically adjusts the lens to compensate for the distance between your eyes.
HTC is launching this headset for gamers. Part of that is the inclusion of foveated rendering, which means it can focus its graphics resources only on where you’re looking, rather than spanning your entire field of view at once. “PC gamers can now bring the high-end headsets used in VR arcades into their homes,” Shen Ye, global product director for HTC Vive, said in a press release.
The Focus Vision also adds DisplayPort support via USB-C, which HTC says enables a lossless connection when connected to a PC. In an update later this year, DisplayPort tethering will increase the display’s refresh rate to 120Hz from the normal 90Hz. The Focus Vision has 128GB of storage (with a microSD slot for up to 2TB) and 12GB of RAM, compared to 8GB on its predecessor. This headset also supports all Focus 3 accessories.
The built-in battery can keep the Focus Vision running for 20 minutes, giving you time to replace the main power pack if your battery life runs out for about two hours. In addition, the headphones are equipped with a new fan that pulls in 30% more air for better cooling.
Headbands are also a favorite among some. “Users can be rude,” said Dan O’Brien, president of HTC Americas. But this showed that the company had “weaknesses” in the Focus 3’s design, so HTC “improved the metal hooks on the back, the top operation, and the side arms.”
The Vive Focus Vision is aimed at the same consumer market that HTC’s Focus 3 and its Quest 2-style controller appear to be catering to. (Previous Focus headsets were primarily aimed at business use.) HTC’s other headsets have also been aimed at consumers, such as last year’s Vive XR Elite, a lighter $1,099 headset that also had color pass-through video capabilities, but Uses a lower screen resolution than Vision.
Anyone who pre-orders before October 17th will receive a free kit that includes a 5-meter USB-C cable that supports DP 1.4 Alternate Mode, as well as multiple adapters for PC VR streaming. The company also said it is launching “a choice of three popular game bundles.”
