Smartphone maker HTC plans its first move into the increasingly crowded virtual reality market with a new headset that it hopes will popularise the next generation of immersive gaming technology.
The Taiwanese group has agreed a partnership with US-based Valve Software to create a virtual reality platform called Vive that will be available to the public by the end of the year.
HTC claimed that this will bring a “gold standard for an industry that has, until now, struggled to move”.
The world’s largest technology groups are already locked in a race to produce the first mass market virtual reality headset that will be cheap enough and supported by enough applications to justify a position on the living room table next to the TV and console.