HTC teases new standalone VR device COSMOS; Phone powered, built-in tracking

HTC annouced their newest addition to the VR lineup- the HTC COSMOS.

The COSMOS is a new standalone VR headset much like the Oculus Go. Following the announcement of the Oculus Quest in late 2018, HTC has now fired back with their own competitor product during its CES keynote address ahead of the show, which is set to premiere later this week.

The COSMOS will require no external tracking compared to other HTC VR headsets due to camera sensors on the outside to track your movement. This eliminates those pesky satellite towers and makes sense. Why use eternal tracking when you can have them built into the device? COSMOS also has a new design that allows the front of the VR device to life upwards from your eye sockets rather than requiring you to take them on and off during your VR escape from reality.

HTC also talked about the logic that in the future, users will be able to power the COSMOS with their phones. But no official word on this yet. With the world becoming mobile and phones becoming more powerful, it’s to be expected eventually. COSMOS doesn’t need any external hardware to run, though it can be tethered to a PC or laptop. But mobile VR is next, we can be pretty damn sure of that.

The announcement of the device was a teaser rather than a formal address. We’ll have to wait for the real show later this week for the reveal. The release date is planned to be 2019, but the price and other specs remain to be determined.

Now the two competitors are the Oculus Quest and the HTC COSMOS as they continue to make advancements in the world of VR. We’re moving away from requiring top-notch hardware to run VR devices and portability is taking over.

Here’s a trailer for the new device released by HTC: