In a video posted to the Steam gaming storefront, HP has teased a next-gen VR headset that the company has developed in collaboration with Valve and Microsoft.
The new device follows on from the company’s Reverb headset from last year and has been announced alongside the release of what was arguably the most anticipated VR title to date – Half-Life: Alyx.
The actual details revealed in the video are quite minimal, but one of the two main featured phrases – “no compromises” – indicates that the headset will likely pack a punch when it comes to processing power and, as a result, may be less on the entry-level side of the market.
The text that accompanies the trailer promises that the new HMD (head-mounted display) is “the new standard in VR” and that it will deliver “an immersive, comfortable and compatible VR experience”.
Given the partnership with Valve and Microsoft, it’s quite likely that this new headset will support both SteamVR and Windows Mixed Reality, just as the current generation Reverb headset does.
From the brief glimpse you can see of the headset from the teaser trailer, it certainly does resemble the original Reverb with its dual external cameras, so we’re anticipating this to be a second generation Reverb rather than a new product.
While no pricing or availability information have been revealed, as mentioned earlier, we anticipate this won’t be an entry-level device given the language used to promote it, so it’s likely to land at a higher price point than the Oculus Rift S ($399 / £399 / AU$649), for instance.
