After releasing with just the headset, the HTC Vive Pro is now launching with a more complete 2.0 Kit and a Vive Pro AR Kit.
The first of the new HTC Vive Pro kits is the Vive Pro 2.0 Kit, which includes the headset itself, two new base stations, and two of its motion controllers. Altogether, the package retails for $1399, a $600 increase from the price of the Vive Pro headset alone.
The New Vive Pro 2.0 Kit is targeted at business users who want everything they’ll need in a single package, as well as enthusiasts who don’t already own an HTC Vive.
More interestingly than the 2.0 Kit (which one could argue should’ve been how the Vive Pro should’ve released in the first place), HTC is also shipping a Vive Pro AR Dev Kit. This is a software development kit, so developers who want to play with Vive Pro AR simply need to download it from HTC’s site. This kit is also known as the VIVE SRWorks SDK.
We’ve embedded some of HTC’s demonstration videos below.
This one is pretty basic as far as AR goes, creating a portal in the middle of an otherwise-empty room. Where things get really interesting are in the Interaction and Occulusion demo.
In this demo, thrown objects in VR react realistically to their environment, resting and bouncing off of objects. This is considerably beyond what your common smartphone AR is capable of, and is likely made possible by Vive Pro’s stereoscopic cameras and Lighthouse tracking solution.
With Vive Pro AR getting into the hands of developers, we’re sure to see more cool implementations like this soon.
