HTC CEO Cher Wang has revealed that a big technological breakthrough will be announced for the HTC Vive, the company's virtual reality system, at CES 2016 next month. The announcement was made during the Vive Unbound developers forum held in China on Friday.
Details about the so-called breakthrough were not revealed, but these appear to be the reasons behind the change to Vive's scheduled launch. HTC has previously announced that the device would be available this month for pre-orders, but the date was moved to April 2016. The company seems bent on providing a top-notch product that the first version was reportedly scrapped in favor of a new one, according to Engadget. "We shouldn't make our users swap their systems later just so we could meet the December shipping date," Wang said.
Aside from the expected breakthrough, there are observers who think that the slight delay can also be attributed to the fact that the HTC Vive is not only being developed as an entertainment platform. It will also have practical uses. For instance, the device will be installed in several Audi flagship stores to provide virtual reality test drive experiences, Android Authority reported. There are also talks that HTC is pitching the technology for use in hospitals for 3D scanning purposes.
The video above shows a previous iteration of the HTC Vive. The new breakthrough device is still being kept under wraps. However, there are leaked images (see one below) that show what it actually looks like. Its design has smoother look and sports one camera, noted IGN.
