HTC Vive’s New Tracker Turns Every Real World Object Into a VR Toy

Last year, HTC made the best virtual reality experience possible. One as close to the promise of Star Trek’s Holodeck as we’ve ever come. This year, at CES, HTC hopes to improve on that experience by introducing two new accessories: a welcomed new headset strap and the Vive Tracker, a small peripheral that lets you put any real-world object you want into the virtual world.

The Vive Tracker isn’t magic. You can’t strap it to a device and expect the software on your computer to recognize it. Instead, it’s a small peripheral about the size of the head of a Vive controller, possessing all the same tracking points as a controller. Developers can integrate it with their own peripherals to instantly put anything from a baseball bat to a fire hose into VR.

If you’ve ever wanted to design a VR game where you fend off zombies with a dildo but felt the experience would only work provided you actually had a dildo in hand while playing, then rest easy. The Vive Tracker makes that possible.

HTC had a number of peripherals available at CES, including a wide array of toy guns, bats, gloves, fire hoses, and cameras. Some peripherals were little more than props, while others felt like full-integrated controllers, with additional buttons and joysticks built in to give players more control in their virtual world.

HTC had a number of peripherals available at CES, including a wide array of toy guns, bats, gloves, fire hoses, and cameras. Some peripherals were little more than props, while others felt like full-integrated controllers, with additional buttons and joysticks built in to give players more control in their virtual world.

HTC’s other big peripheral has less potential for bodily harm. The Vive Deluxe Audio Strap sounds like a mouthful of garbage, but it’s a new strap to replace the absolutely awful one currently included with the Vive. The new strap is such a step up from its predecessor that it’s a wonder HTC is even planning to charge for it. It’s what should have been included with the Vive, to begin with.

Taking a lesson from the exceptional design of the Playstation VR headset, the Vive Deluxe Audio Strap is more rigid than what’s currently included with the Vive, and it has a small hinge so you can quickly pull the actual headset away for fast visibility without removing the entire apparatus. It also has headphones built in.

Neither the Vive Deluxe Audio Strap nor the Vive Tracker have a price yet, but both are expected to ship in the spring of this year.