First introduced all the best way again in January of this yr, HTC’s newest PC-based VR headset, the Vive Cosmos, is lastly nearly right here. Arriving in Europe on October third (and mid-October for these within the US) for £699 / $699, the Cosmos has the very best decision display of any Vive headset up to now, squeaking simply forward of the £1119 / $1098 HTC Vive Pro‘s 1440×1600 pixels-per-eye with 1440×1700 per-eye. Admittedly, a hundred extra pixels might not sound like much, but compared to the original Vive’s 1080×1200 pixels-per-eye, it appears like fairly the soar. I’ll reserve judgement till I’ve been in a position check one myself, however the primary factor that intrigues me in regards to the Cosmos is its modular face plate design. Because all people loves an excellent mod.
According to HTC, the Vive Cosmos’ modular face plate will allow you to change how the headset can be utilized for VR sooner or later, giving it extra flexibility than any of their different Vive headsets up to now. Admittedly, particulars on precisely what this would possibly really entail have been hazy up till now, however as we speak HTC have lastly introduced what the primary official mod’s going to be: the ‘Vive Cosmos External Tracking Mod’.
This might be excellent news for any current Vive homeowners trying to improve to the Cosmos, because the External Tracking Mod will can help you keep on utilizing your current Vive Lighthouse base stations (and Vive Tracker equipment) with it as a substitute of getting to purchase new ones. The unhealthy information is that you simply received’t have the ability to take action right away when the Cosmos launches subsequent month, because the official launch date of the mod isn’t slated to occur till someday between January and March subsequent yr. It’s additionally not clear how a lot the External Tracking Mod goes to price but, both.
Admittedly, it’s not such as you technically want the bottom stations with a view to use the Cosmos, as its six digicam sensors and all-new monitoring system enable for correct inside-out monitoring. This means you can begin utilizing the Cosmos straight out of the field with out having to faff round discovering an additional two plug sockets in reverse corners of your room for a pair of base stations. As a outcome, I reckon the External Tracking Mod will most likely solely enchantment to those that have Vive Tracker peripherals, because it doesn’t appear like there’s any actual have to have one in any other case.
Otherwise, the remainder of the Cosmos’ specs will all sound fairly acquainted to present Vive homeowners. It nonetheless has a 90Hz refresh fee, for instance, and a most discipline of view of 110 levels, and it comes with built-in stereo headphones just like the Vive Pro.
You’ll nonetheless want to attach the Cosmos to your PC as properly, sadly – until, after all you additionally get one among HTC’s current Vive Wireless Adapter add-ons that attaches onto the Cosmos’ headband so you need to use it tether-free. Fortunately, the PC necessities to run the Cosmos haven’t modified a lot because the authentic Vive:
Vive Cosmos PC necessities:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 / AMD FX 8350
RAM: 8GB
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480
Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2
USB: 1x USB 3.0
OS: Windows 10
So, for those who’ve obtained a robust sufficient PC and fancy the thought of base station-less VR, then you’ll be able to pre-order a Vive Cosmos proper now. Plus, for those who order one between now and October 2nd within the UK (or earlier than November third within the US), you get a free 12-month subscription to Viveport Infinity, HTC’s curated VR subscription service that offers you limitless entry to a bunch of various apps, games and movies, in addition to free games you’ll be able to preserve endlessly.
