HTC Vive Cosmos VR: $ 699 and more base stations

HTC has done something radical in designing its newest VR headset for consumers: it listened to its customers. The result is a brand new "stand alone" helmet called Vive Cosmos. It's fundamentally better in every way than the Long live who preceded it. The Cosmos is for current owners of HTC Vive and RV enthusiasts who want better comfort, improved images and the simplicity of not having to configure Lighthouse base stations around a room. I spent some time with the Cosmos at $ 699 and I was really impressed. But I'm curious about how that will be with the Oculus Rift S, another consumer-grade VR headset that costs just $ 400.

HTC Vive Cosmos seems to be a shiny varnish on what is a VR headset today rather than a bold and futuristic leap. For HTC's customer base, the Cosmos seems to fit exactly what he wanted. But for the virtual reality landscape as a whole, hopefully the next wave of VR headsets will push support even further.

The HTC Vive Cosmos will be available on October 3rd and you can preorder it now. By the way, when you pre-order the Cosmos, you receive a 12-month Viveport Infinity subscription with access to more than 700 virtual reality games and experiences.

The cosmos has looks from Frank Gehry

The Vive and the Cosmos seem to have been made by different companies. The Vive is defined by its black bulbous auricle strewn with large alveoli. The Cosmos, on the other hand, looks great with its navy net front. The facade looks like something that the architect Frank Gehry carved. On the front are vent holes that could easily become a public art sculpture, albeit very small. Overall, the Cosmos seems much more affordable and friendly than the original Vive.

But these vents on the front are not fair for the show. They also allow ventilation to help keep your head and face from overheating. The mesh faceplate is removable. You'll find a small fan to cool the six built-in cameras and soften some of the heat around the face.

Take a closer look at the Vive cosmos and all its pieces below.

No more lighthouse base stations

The original Vive relied on external tracking that involved configuring laser transmitter boxes that HTC calls Lighthouse base stations around a room. Positioning the base stations and attaching them to the walls or shelves was a bit boring to say the least.

To simplify things, the Cosmos uses end-to-end tracking via six cameras that constantly scan the room. Artificial intelligence is used to identify elements of your environment. End-to-end tracking is becoming the new standard of virtual reality as Microsoft and Oculus are already using it in their headsets.

Superior resolution and improved clarity

One of the most impressive features of the Cosmos is the resolution. This is 1440 X 1700 pixels (per eye) or 2880 X 1700 pixels combined with a refresh rate of 90Hz. The original Vive had a resolution of 1,080 x 1,200 pixels (per eye) or 2,160 x 1,200 pixels combined. Each pixel has RGB sub pixels to help minimize the "screen door effect", ie the rainbow patterns that you see on a screen. HTC claims that the lenses have a 40% greater clarity than the Vive.

There is VR headsets offering even more resolution, but it's nice to see that HTC brings such an improvement to a consumer headset.

I've tried the VR experience on the Vive and then the Cosmos and could immediately see the difference. One of the most remarkable improvements has been the text. I could actually read it without having to approach him ridiculously.

The Cosmos has been designed to be modular

The removable mesh front plate that I talked about all the time is also used for something else. This allows the Cosmos to be modular. The idea is that HTC will introduce "mods" to add more features to the Cosmos.

The first official is Vive's Mod Vive Cosmos External Tracking (yes, it's a mouthful). So suppose you have the original Vive and all your Lighthouse base stations are wired and mounted neatly in a space. You can exchange the default meshed faceplate for the external tracking mod on the headset so that you can use your existing base stations for tracking instead of the cameras built into the Cosmos.

I should note that it is not possible to use the built-in cameras and base stations of the lighthouse for tracking. The external monitoring mod will be available early next year.

Lighter, more comfortable and up

When I put the Cosmos for the first time, I was impressed by its lightness. He did not have that heavy feeling that Vive had. The Cosmos has a halo-style headband that allows you to put it on and off easily and intuitively. At the back of the headband is a simple button that you turn to fit more comfortably around your head.

The headset can also turn around like the Hololens 2 or Microsoft VR Headsets. This not only facilitates activation and deactivation, but also gives you immediate access to the real world when you are in virtual reality. The Cosmos is not the first helmet to do that, but it certainly makes it less stuffy than some virtual reality headsets.

HTC has also improved the passage of cameras that are now in color. The quality is definitely low resolution, but it's good to know that you can double-press the Vive button on the controller to immediately see what's around you without removing the headset. The passing cameras also automatically turn on each time you exit the play area.

A brand new software experience

When I dressed the Cosmos for the first time, I went to a place called Origin – which looks like something Westworld. Basically, it is a large open deck that overlooks the water with views of the Golden Gate Bridge. At one point, there was an orca swimming near.

The Origin is a bit like your base. It makes it easy for you to use virtual reality and teaches you how to use controllers by doing small tasks. There is even a pod-like farm that you can explore.

Another novelty is the head-up display called The Lens – still very Westworld-y. You can view the goal during a virtual reality experience to access the controls as well as the library of Viveport experiences and games.