Lightweight, compact, immersive glasses designed to help people find moments throughout their daily lives to relax, refresh and restore
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HTC VIVE today announced VIVE Flow, a compact, lightweight immersive glasses device that transports its wearers wherever they want or need to be – anytime, anywhere. Designed with comfort and portability in mind, VIVE Flow lets people find moments of calm and well-being for themselves throughout the day, including:
- Meditation 2.0 with apps like TRIPP, or taking a scenic, immersive drive down Route 66 with MyndVR’s original series: A Road to Remember
- Watching TV or movies on their own personal, cinema-sized VR screen
- Exercising their minds with brain training apps
- Collaborating and socializing with colleagues and friends on VIVE Sync
VIVE Flow is designed to help people nurture their minds, relax and have fun on a daily basis, and go with the flow. Pre-order opens on 14 Oct from vive.com/vive-flow, and partners including Elisa in Finland, and Etisalat in the UAE.
“With VIVE Flow, HTC is taking technology in a new direction, focusing not on what we do, but on how we feel. Maintaining our wellness has come to the forefront in the last few years, with so many millions feeling stressed every day, so it has never been more important to take time out to calm our minds, and VIVE Flow provides the perfect opportunity to escape our four walls and immerse ourselves in our ideal ambience,” said Cher Wang, Chairwoman and CEO of HTC.
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“Meditation, gentle stretches, brain training, streaming our favourite shows or even meeting friends or coworkers in VR with VIVE Sync can all be enhanced by a device light and compact enough to fit in our pocket. VIVE Flow represents the next evolution of technology, as we take a more holistic view of how we can make life better.”
“Relaxation means different things to different people,” said Nanea Reeves, CEO of leading XR wellness service TRIPP. “It’s important to find your own version of zen, whether that means meditating, watching videos, or playing games. The fact that HTC gets it, that we can use VR in these ways that can benefit peoples’ emotional and mental well-being is something that I personally am very excited about as is our entire team at TRIPP.”
Go with the Flow
Even on a hectic day, it’s easy to find time for meditation, entertainment, or productivity with VIVE Flow thanks to its lifestyle-minded features. With VIVE Flow, you can:
- Dive into a range of immersive experiences via the Viveport app store anytime, anywhere, using your Android smartphone as a controller.
- Connect wirelessly to your 5G Android smartphone and stream content like TV shows and films from your favourite platforms.
- Meet with colleagues and friends in realistic virtual environments via VIVE Sync.
Portability meets power
Designed to fit into your life easily, VIVE Flow weighs about the same as a chocolate bar at just 189g. Its dual-hinge design and soft face gasket allow it to fold down into a compact footprint for effortless portability. VIVE Flow’s unique hinge is designed to fit many different head shapes and sizes. Its face gasket takes inspiration from the acclaimed VIVE Focus 3, with magnetic connections making it simple and quick to swap out – perfect for when you want to share.
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VIVE Flow also has built-in diopter dials, allowing users to easily make adjustments for crystal clear visuals. Its active cooling system pulls warm air away from your face, keeping you comfortable throughout the day.
Under the hood, VIVE Flow opens new worlds with on-the-go immersion like never before. An expansive 100-degree field of view allows for cinematic screens to lose yourself in HD quality content, with a sharp 3.2K resolution and a smooth 75 Hz refresh rate. Featuring full 3D spatial audio, VIVE Flow delivers immersive sound and can also connect to external Bluetooth earphones.
Unwind to your heart’s content
HTC VIVE is also unveiling a special Viveport subscription plan following the launch of VIVE Flow. The plan is priced at USD $5.99 per month and gives people unlimited access to a wide range of immersive apps covering well-being, brain training, productivity, light gaming, and exclusive content like a Lo-Fi room designed to look and feel like a cozy café.
Pricing, accessories, and availability
VIVE Flow has a matching carry case available for purchase, giving you peace of mind no matter where you go. A small but powerful 10,000mAh VIVE power bank can be purchased separately, providing extra battery life for long days.
VIVE Flow retails for £499 / from €549, and for USD $499 from vive.com/vive-flow. Pre-orders start on 14 Oct globally, and anyone pre-ordering will receive the official VIVE Flow carry case and a gift bundle of 7 pieces of content. Open sales begin in November 2021.
Sneak Peek!
I was exceedingly lucky to be invited to a preview of the HTC Vive Flow in London a few days ago. The whole event took place in an incredibly cool venue near Old Street.
The HTC Vive team had set up different within an apartment to showcase this incredible piece of technology.
- Mindfulness and Chillout Area – I experience the mindfulness side of this technology where I was transported to a beach someone exotic and watch the sunrise, whilst I was gently coached on my breathing and reached a really nice calm place!
- Disney+ – Here I was able to experience the full cinematic version of the Disney+ streaming platform and had a chance to watch a segment of Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds. The video quality was exceptional as was the surround sound. It was very impressive!
- Pirates – This was a VR pirate game where I had to shoot cannonballs at pirate ships – Lots of fun!
- V&A Curious Alice – This was an interactive experience in conjunction with the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was really good fun again, you can find out more here.
- Lo-Fi Cafe – I really liked this experience, it was an incredibly immersive and calming experience. I was sitting in a Cafe with a steaming coffee in front of me, music playing on a record player, an open book on the table and a laptop. There were empty tables which I was able to transport over to. I could also surf the internet in a VR browser. I could also draw and write in thin air. Most importantly, I found it really relaxing. Living in a house that can be very very noisy, I really felt I could actually take myself away from the hustle and bustle of life into that virtual cafe and watch the rain running down the window and just relax.
What I realised more than anything was that VR has indeed reached a point when the brain can be fooled enough to be calmed into a sense of relaxation wherever you might be. In a workplace, busy home or even on a transatlantic flight. Very very impressed.
Hopefully, I will have an opportunity to fully test the Vive Flow very soon!
You can view more HTC Vive products here, if you decide to purchase, we may earn a small fee as an Amazon affiliate, which of course helps continue to fund this site.
