HTC on Friday made a special announcement in India, bringing its high-end virtual reality system HTC Vivo to the market. While the launch of the VR headset spiked excitement among tech enthusiasts, there was a major turn off as well.
HTC Vive is the most expensive VR headset in India, priced at Rs. 92,990, forcing consumers to shell out the top dollar to experience the majestic worlds of virtual reality. The headset will be exclusively available on Amazon.in and pre-orders for the Vive started on Saturday, April 22.
"We are delighted to launch Vive in India. Vive has totally transformed the way we interact with the world, bringing ultimate mainstream experience to the consumer. Now consumers and developers can experience immersive virtual reality in a way that reshapes human imagination beyond boundaries," Faisal Siddiqui, President-South Asia at HTC, said in a statement.
With Vive VR headset, HTC promises to deliver top-notch VR experience like never before. It comes with wireless VR controllers, room scale movement and head-mounted display with a built-in camera. To make the Vive somewhat worthy to attract the Indian consumers, HTC introduced two fully-fledged VR experiences – Everest VR and Richie's Plank Experience.
Everest VR brings users a true virtual experience of climbing the Mount Everest, a thrilling experience anyone can get from the comfort of their homes. Richie's Plank Experience takes users to an elevated plank placed 80 stories high. Users can then walk to the end of the plank to get first-hand virtual experience of what it is like to balance yourself in the daring stunt.
In addition to that, HTC Vive brings access to wide library of apps designed especially for VR experiences. The VR apps will be available at Viveport, HTC's global app store for "virtual reality, democratizing access to the most diverse selection of VR apps and content across education, design, art, social, video, music, sports, health, fashion, travel, news, shopping, creativity tools and more," the company said.
HTC Vive isn't the only VR headset available for consumers in India. Sony's PS VR offers a similar immersive experience at a lot cheaper price. Sony PS VR can be bought for Rs. 41,990. Facebook's Oculus Rift is another premium VR headset, but it hasn't been launched in India yet. In the U.S. the Oculus Rift costs Rs. $499, which roughly translates to Rs. 32,200. But that's unlikely to be the price if it does make it to this side of the subcontinent. HTC Vive also costs $799 (about Rs. 52,000) in the U.S., but it is a lot more expensive in India.
