Ever since the release of PlayStation VR last year, which followed the release of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, news about other VR devices has been rather quiet. We’ve been waiting to see what Microsoft may have up their sleeve in that department. Rather than release their own headset right now at least, it appears they are going the Steam Machine route by partnering with different companies that will utilize Microsoft created motion controllers.
Microsoft held their Build 2017 keynote this afternoon where VR played a role. According to The Verge, Microsoft announced their own VR Motion Controllers that look similar to those use with both Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Rather than having to have an external camera like that of the PlayStation VR, this controller is fully tracked by sensors in the headset, which should make the experience all the smoother.
That was far from the only news during the keynote though, as it was also revealed that this motion controller from Microsoft would be coming bundled with multiple headsets, with two of them announced today from Acer and VR.
As detailed on the Windows blog, a number of Windows mixed reality VR headsets are going to be coming, with dev kits available for purchase right now through their website that are both listed as aiming for an August release.
The Acer Mixed Reality Headset Developer Edition is available for pre-order right now for $299.99 that comes with no controllers, while the headset with what sounds like two controllers will be available for $399 this holiday season.
The HP Mixed Reality Headset Developer Edition will cost a just a bit more at $329 and will come without a controller as well, which you can pre-order here. However, it hasn’t been reported yet how much and when the non-developer edition will be coming that likely will be bundled with the new Microsoft controllers as well.
With this news today, it’s looking more possible that the Xbox One Project Scorpio could potentially utilize a variety of different headsets, perhaps even the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive as rumored. That’s something we won’t find out until E3 at the earliest more than likely though, so we’ll have to wait and see.
