HTC Vive Developer Editions
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| HTC Vive Developer Editions | |
|---|---|
| |
| Basic Info | |
| VR/AR | Virtual Reality |
| Type | Head-mounted display |
| Subtype | PC-Powered VR |
| Platform | SteamVR |
| Developer | HTC, Valve |
| Release Date | 2015 Developer Edition: shipping announced June 5, 2015; Vive Pre: shipping announced February 6, 2016[1][2] |
| Website | Original announcement website |
| Requires | PC |
| Predecessor | None |
| Successor | HTC Vive CV1 |
| System | |
| Operating System | Windows (historical developer setup)[3] |
| Display | |
| Display | 2015 kit: two OLED panels[4] |
| Resolution | 2160 x 1200, 1080 x 1200 per eye[5] |
| Refresh Rate | 90 Hz[5] |
| Image | |
| Field of View | About 110 degrees (Valve, 2015; axis unspecified)[5] |
| Optics | |
| Optics | Fresnel Lenses[6] |
| Tracking | |
| Tracking | 6DOF[7] |
| Rotational Tracking | Vive Pre contemporary report: Gyroscope, Accelerometer; laser positioning[8] |
| Positional Tracking | Base Stations[7] |
| Tracking Volume | Version-specific setup dimensions |
| Audio | |
| Audio | External headphones via audio cable; Vive Pre microphone[9] |
| Camera | Vive Pre: front-facing pass-through camera[10] |
| Connectivity | |
| Connectivity | HDMI and USB through interface/link box; headphone connection[9] |
| Device | |
| Input | Controllers in both hands[1] |
| Cable Length | Vive Pre: around 5 meters[9] |
- See also: HTC Vive CV1
HTC Vive Developer Editions or HTC Vive Development Kits are Virtual Reality head-mounted displays developed by HTC and Valve as part of the SteamVR ecosystem. This article covers the first 2015 developer kit, often called Vive DK1 here, and the 2016 HTC Vive Pre, the second developer edition. These preceded the separate consumer Vive. HTC announced the first kit on March 1, 2015 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.[11] Valve announced developer shipments in June 2015, followed by Vive Pre upgrades in February 2016.[1][2]
Similar to Oculus Rift and unlike Samsung Gear VR, the kits connected to a PC rather than using a smartphone for display and processing.[8] The kit combined a headset, two external SteamVR Base Stations and two hand controllers.[1] HTC revealed Vive Pre at CES on January 5, 2016 and announced an additional 7,000 developer units; this was an availability plan, not a shipment count measured at the announcement.[10]
Hardware
The HTC Vive requires a connection to a PC, preferably a gaming PC with suitable graphics performance, rather than using a smartphone as its display or processor. Valve's 2015 technical presentation specified 2160 x 1200 pixels across the eyes, 1080 x 1200 per eye, 90 Hz refresh and a low-persistence global display. It gave a field of view of about 110 degrees without identifying an axis.[5]
The headset and controllers supported room-scale movement and hand interaction. The two external base stations formed the Lighthouse tracking system. Valve's hardware explanation describes timed laser sweeps received by sensors on tracked devices, with sensor-angle and inertial measurement unit data sent to the host computer.[7] The room-scale approach allowed walking around a physical play area, like a Holodeck, rather than restricting every experience to a seated viewpoint.[11]
HTC Vive Pre
HMD:
- The front camera displayed outlines of nearby people and objects. Demonstrated Chaperone integration showed the surroundings near the boundary; double-clicking a controller button could invoke a fuller camera view. This helped users see chairs, drinks and other objects, including Input Devices, without removing the headset.[6][10] The demonstration did not provide automatic detection of moving pets or people; UploadVR distinguished that earlier proposal from the delivered Pre demonstration and discussed possible AR uses for the camera.[12]
- HTC described brighter displays and a smaller, more compact headset with a redesigned strap, interchangeable foam inserts and nose gaskets for different faces and eyeglasses.[10] The manual documents two face-cushion sizes and an IPD knob.[9] Contemporary hands-on reporting described an additional strap lower on the back of the head.[13]
- Fresnel lenses were retained. Ben Lang's hands-on described Mura correction as reducing uneven pixel brightness. He compared the earlier linen-like pattern to a different sort of screen door effect, while noting unchanged resolution and light-ray artifacts in high-contrast scenes.[6]
Controllers:
- The redesigned controllers had open rings at the top containing Lighthouse sensors, revised grips and buttons.[13] Valve's Alan Yates explained that the radio receivers were moved into the headset to improve reception.[12] HTC specified dual-stage triggers, haptic feedback, built-in rechargeable lithium-polymer batteries and micro-USB charging, with over four hours of claimed runtime per charge.[10] UploadVR contrasted this with roughly two to two and a half hours on earlier kits.[12] The micro-USB charging port was on the controller's bottom.[13]
Base Stations:
- HTC described the Pre base stations as smaller and quieter with improved tracking.[10] HTC told Tom's Hardware that the Pre stations had standard camera tripod threading.[13] The Pre manual allowed shelves, tripods, ceilings or walls and documented optical synchronization without the inter-station cable. The stations still required mains power. If optical synchronization was obstructed, a sync cable could be used.[9]
Specifications
| Item | Historical specification or distinction |
|---|---|
| 2015 image timing | 90 Hz; low persistence and global display[5] |
| 2015 rendering example | Valve used a 1512 x 1680 off-screen render target per eye, about 1.4 times each framebuffer dimension. This was a rendering target, not the display's native pixel count.[5] |
| Vive Pre camera | Front-facing camera; the contemporary demonstration did not perform depth mapping.[6] |
| Vive Pre fit | Separate lens-distance and IPD adjustments; removable face cushion[9] |
Setup tutorial
2015 kit instructions; Pre hardware and indicators differ.
Developer Edition
| Stage | Historical instructions |
|---|---|
| Preparation | Clear space; cover mirrors/reflectors; unpack three boxes.[14] |
| Headset | HMD, interface box/pad, 3-in-1 cable, short USB/HDMI, AC adapter[14] |
| Basestations | Two stations/power adapters/mounting plates/shelf adapters, mounting hardware, more hardware[14]; 50-foot sync cable[3] |
| Controllers | Two controllers/lanyards/dongles/chargers/AC adapters/USB adapter boards; eight spare batteries[14] |
| Mounting | Opposite corners, above head height, 30-45 degrees down; walls/ceilings/shelves/tripods.[14] Avoid vibration. Power both stations; connect their sync cable.[3] Sync cable along ceiling.[14] |
| Modes | MODE (rear, above power)[14]: long-press enters switching, short-press changes A/B, long-press confirms. Set one station to each mode.[3] Two front LEDs[14] show green during operation.[3] A/b identifies mode.[14] |
| Cabling | PC side: short USB/HDMI. VR side: 3-in-1 USB/power/HDMI to headset top.[14] Blue HDMI end at headset; turn interface box on, check LED.[3] Use strap loop.[14] |
| Fit | Remove lens film. Outside knob: IPD. Extend gasket, retighten inside knob: eye relief/eyeglasses; closer lenses improve FoV.[14] |
| Controls | Two batteries/controller. DOWN=battery, UP=USB. Dongles: supplied hub, not USB 3.0. Wired: board inside battery compartment; micro-USB cable (not included) to PC; close door. Wrist lanyards. Trackpad/trigger/grip/system/menu buttons.[14] |
| Installation | Steam/SteamVR (Tools, beta); launch VR Monitor. Hover red/yellow/gray lights for details; run Room Setup.[14] |
Vive Pre differences
The Pre manual used channels b/c without a sync cable and A/b with one. Moving a base station required room setup again.[9] Valve's troubleshooting introduction distinguishes first-generation kit instructions from Pre instructions, noting Pre's white ready lights.[15]
Apps
Steam supplied the SteamVR software used by the original development kits.[3] HTC Viveport later became another Vive content storefront, with its global launch on September 30, 2016. That launch followed the developer kits and does not establish compatibility of every later application with them.[16]
Developer
SteamVR
SteamVR is Valve's VR software platform. Valve initially offered the Developer Edition free to selected content creators rather than as a retail product. Applications opened in April 2015; distribution was planned in successive waves, and the developer hardware discussion group was publicly readable although posting was restricted to kit recipients.[17]
OpenVR is Valve's hardware abstraction API and SDK, including application examples. Valve's repository identifies SteamVR as the runtime distribution. OpenVR is therefore not simply all of SteamVR's capabilities with Steam removed.[18]
Tracking volume
- See also: Tracking volume
| Documented context | Dimensions or claim |
|---|---|
| 2015 kit | Station FoV: 120 degrees H/V; maximum separation: 15 feet/5 meters. Space: approximately 12 x 9 feet/4 x 3 meters; nonsquare; tape optional.[14] |
| Launch-era room-scale description | HTC described walking in an area up to 15 x 15 feet.[19] |
| Launch-era angular precision | AVING's MWC report described one-tenth-degree precision. This was a reported specification, not an independent position-error measurement.[20] |
| Vive Pre setup | Minimum room-scale area: 1.5 x 2 meters. Tracked devices: 0.5-5 meters from a station.[9] |
These figures describe different contexts; a base station's coverage angle is not the headset's display field of view.
History
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| March 1, 2015 | HTC announced the Vive partnership with Valve at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The initial consumer target was the end of 2015.[11] |
| March 2-6, 2015[21] | Vive was shown at GDC 2015; Valve's conference presentation documented the Developer Edition display and rendering specifications.[5] |
| April 21, 2015 | Valve opened applications for free, selectively distributed developer kits.[17] |
| June 5, 2015 | Valve announced that the first wave had begun shipping that week, with further distribution planned through spring and summer.[1] |
| January 5, 2016 | HTC announced Vive Pre at CES and an additional 7,000 developer units.[10] |
| February 6, 2016 | Valve announced that Pre kits were reaching developers and sent existing first-kit developers instructions for upgrading.[2] |
| February-April 2016 | HTC unveiled the consumer Vive on February 21, with pre-orders from February 29 and commercial availability planned for early April.[22] Its annual report confirms commercial availability in April 2016.[23] |
Research use
A spatial-memory study run in 2015 and published by Fiona E. Zisch and colleagues in 2024 explicitly used the HTC Vive Developer Edition. Thirty-nine participants in its HMD condition learned and replaced a virtual stool's position after changes to room size or geometry. The authors rendered scanned environments in Unity at 90 frames per second, with one wireless controller and base stations around a 4.8 x 4.8-meter area. The methods report a 60-degree vertical field of view for the experiment, distinct from Valve's unspecified-axis headset figure.
The pattern of spatial-model fits was similar across physical, desktop-VR and HMD-VR conditions. The authors also reported differences in distance estimation and disorientation, and identified the visible Chaperone grid as a possible influence. This supports a specific spatial-memory use of the kit, not a universal claim that virtual and physical perception are identical.[24]
Images
HTC Vive DK1
HTC Vive Pre (DK2)
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Vive Developer Editions are Shipping". Valve / Steam. 2015-06-05. https://steamcommunity.com/games/250820/announcements/detail/155718876679273412. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Vive PRE has left the building!". Valve / Steam. 2016-02-06. https://steamcommunity.com/games/250820/announcements/detail/666899628994620161. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "SteamVR/TroubleshootingFirstGen". Valve Developer Community. 2016-01-25. https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamVR/TroubleshootingFirstGen. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ Patrick Stone (2015-08-30). "Valve / HTC Vive VR Render Pipeline & Architecture Dive-Down". GamersNexus. https://gamersnexus.net/guides/2068-htc-vive-vr-render-pipeline-and-architecture. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 "Advanced VR Rendering". Valve / GDC. 2015-03. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/apps/valve/2015/Alex_Vlachos_Advanced_VR_Rendering_GDC2015.pdf. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Hands-on: HTC Vive Pre Brings Notable Improvements to Visuals, Tracking, and Ergonomics". Road to VR. 2016-01-08. https://roadtovr.com/hands-on-htc-vive-pre-brings-notable-improvements-to-visuals-tracking-and-ergonomics/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "SteamVR Hardware". Valve / Steam Dev Days. 2016. https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/apps/steamdevdays/slides2016/SteamVRTracking.pdf. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Heads Up!". Computer Graphics World. 2016. https://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2016/Volume-39-Issue-1-Jan-Feb-2016-/Heads-Up-.aspx. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 "Vive PRE User Guide". HTC. 2016. https://www.vive.com/managed-assets/shared/desktop/vive/Vive_PRE_User_Guide.pdf. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 "HTC Reshapes Human Imagination with Inspiring Virtual Reality". HTC. 2016-01-05. https://www.htc.com/in/newsroom/2016-01-05-2/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "HTC and Valve Partner to Make Virtual Reality Dream Come True". HTC. 2015-03-01. https://www.htc.com/in/newsroom/2015-03-01/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "HTC Vive Pre An Improvement, Not Necessarily A Breakthrough... Yet". UploadVR. 2016-01-04. https://www.uploadvr.com/htc-vive-pre-hands-on/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Kevin Carbotte (2016-01-05). "The Vive Pre, HTC’s New VR Developer Kit: First Look". Tom's Hardware. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/htc-vive-pre-first-look%2C30894.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 14.00 14.01 14.02 14.03 14.04 14.05 14.06 14.07 14.08 14.09 14.10 14.11 14.12 14.13 14.14 "HTC Vive Developer Edition: Setup Guide Pamphlet, Version 22". Valve. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/apps/steamvr/vr_setup.pdf. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "SteamVR Troubleshooting (Vive)". Valve / Steam Support. https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/153F-1B04-6CAB-43A1. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "VIVEPORT, the App Store for Your Life in Virtual Reality, Launches Today". HTC. 2016-09-30. https://www.vive.com/uk/newsroom/2016-09-30/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Sign Up for the HTC Vive Developer Edition Is Now Available". Valve / Steam. 2015-04-21. https://store.steampowered.com/news/posts/?enddate=1429659120&feed=steam_community_announcements. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "OpenVR SDK". Valve / GitHub. https://github.com/ValveSoftware/openvr. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "HTC 2014 Annual Report". HTC. https://investors.htc.com/documents/299/2014_Annual_Report.pdf. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "[MWC 2015 HTC, 스팀VR 헤드셋 'HTC 바이브' 공개"]. AVING. 2015-03-04. https://kr.aving.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=1245030. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "GDC hits attendance record, 2015 dates announced". Game Developers Conference. https://gdconf.com/article/gdc-hits-attendance-record-2015-dates-announced/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "HTC and Valve Bring Virtual Reality to Life with Unveiling of Vive Consumer Edition". HTC. 2016-02-21. https://www.htc.com/in/newsroom/2016-02-21/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "HTC 2015 Annual Report". HTC. https://investors.htc.com/documents/300/2015_Annual_Report.pdf. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ Fiona E. Zisch et al. (2024-02-14). "Real and virtual environments have comparable spatial memory distortions after scale and geometric transformations". Spatial Cognition & Computation. doi:10.1080/13875868.2024.2303016. Retrieved 2026-10-15.