HTC has up to date its glorious however costly Vive Focus 3 business-focused headset with a a lot bigger play space, WiFi 6E and extra, the corporate announced. The software program replace comes with no change in {hardware} as HTC “secretly built in the 6E required hardware from Day 1,” tweeted HTC’s world head of {hardware} merchandise, Shen Ye. 

WiFi 6E functionality brings a “wide range of benefits,” in accordance with Vive. That consists of low latency and better bandwidth for VR streaming with much less WiFi interference. The wider frequency vary additionally permits double the variety of units with their very own devoted channels. The headsets already had the {hardware} wanted for the usual, “so there’s no added cost to the headset owner to leverage this functionality,” the corporate mentioned.

Vive additionally launched a characteristic referred to as Location Based Entertainment (LBE) mode, designed for companies that use the Focus 3 headset. It will increase the dimensions of the play space from a 15m x 15m area (225 sq. meters or 2,422 sq. toes) to 33m x 33m (1,089 sq. meters or 11,722 sq. toes). That’s the dimensions of 4 tennis courts, in comparison with a measurement slightly below a tennis court docket, the corporate famous. 

On prime of the elevated space, you’ll be able to create a boundary in any customized form like a polygon or L-shape. You’ll solely want to try this as soon as, because the Focus 3 will “constantly re-localize in the known play area.” The new setting is designed to create giant areas for “VR arcade, arena experiences or large training areas,” in accordance with HTC. 

The replace additionally consists of Map Sharing, a characteristic that permits correct co-location monitoring amongst a number of customers in a shared area. Other forms of headsets that use outside-in monitoring (slightly than inside-out just like the Focus 3), require “users to carry a PCVR backpack and play in a limited space with the Lighthouse system,” HTC notes. With the Focus 3, Map Sharing and LBE, “users can finally run around in the field, provide cover for each other in shooting games or share their different perspectives in escape games,” HTC mentioned.

Other options embody a Visual Odometery (VO) mode that permits you to skip the standard 5-minute setting setup, an LBE Hybrid Mode that makes use of each VO and LBE for 6DoF monitoring, and a Space Calibrator that permits equipment like a tennis racket to be extra precisely tracked. The updates are actually out there — for extra, take a look at Vive’s blog post.