When HTC debuted its Vive Trackers at CES, the company mentioned that it would be offering 1,000 of the new devices to the developer and creative communities through an upcoming seed program. HTC has made good on that promise, and starting today, developers can apply for a chance to get the new virtual reality (VR) peripheral at no cost.
The application consists of several basic questions--company name, experience, location, and contact information--in addition to asking for detailed descriptions of the hopeful developer’s company and how it plans to use the Tracker in its project. It also asks how many Trackers someone might want. If the concept has already been partially developed, you can also provide a link to the product or prototype's web page and the target release date.
We already saw and tested a plethora of VR peripherals that use the Vive Tracker at the HTC press event during CES, and we were impressed at the variety and quality of each of the implementations, even though they were still in the developmental stages. However, with HTC providing free Trackers to a broader range of developers, we can expect to see even more (and, perhaps, un-thought of) VR peripherals entering the VR arena in the coming months. This could be paramount to the continued growth, and eventual return on investment, of the entire marketplace.
HTC’s focus on ecosystem is one of the primary reasons the company is distributing 1,000 of the new devices into the hands of able developers and content creators, and the investment signifies the sheer force of will (and money) that HTC has to ensure that the well of hope that is the emerging VR market doesn’t become a (money) pit that fades away, again.
The application for the HTC Vive Tracker seed program is now live on the company’s website.
