What you need to know
- HTC Vive Tracker 3.0 is 33% smaller, 15% lighter, has 75% longer battery life, and is compatible with all SteamVR 1.0 and 2.0 systems.
- HTC Vive Facial Tracker is built for Vive Pro headsets and can track your entire lower face for use in VR.
- Both products will be available on March 24 for $129.99 each on Vive.com.
HTC announced two new Vive Trackers today that it hopes will continue to keep its hold on the TV/film production, sports rehabilitation and training, medical use, enterprise training, and full-body avatar tracking markets. After all, movies like The Lion King on Disney Plus utilized HTC Vive's and Vive Trackers thanks to their ability to provide pin-point accuracy and smooth movement for film production. It's always been one of the best HTC Vive accessories for that and many other reasons!
Vive Tracker 3.0 comes in at $129.99 and will be available in the US on March 24 and works with all existing Vive Tracker pogo pin connections, as well as SteamVR 1.0 and 2.0 base stations. While it looks almost identical in pictures, the new Vive Tracker 3.0 is actually 33% smaller, 15% lighter, and even features an unbelievable 75% longer battery life than previous-generation Vive Trackers. The smaller and lighter metrics are a particularly important aspect of this release since you'll likely be wearing quite a few trackers at once, which could prove to be cumbersome if they're too bulky.
As you might expect if you've ever used a Vive Tracker before, these can be attached to basically anything and be tracked in virtual space with the same sub-millimeter accuracy that SteamVR tracking is known for. Since it's still compatible with SteamVR and all its many accessories, these new Vive Trackers can be used with any SteamVR-compatible VR headset — so you won't just need an HTC Vive to get the best experience.
HTC's second new Vive Tracker is one specifically designed for its Vive Pro series, however, and is meant to enable a full facial tracking suite when used in conjunction with the eye-tracking on the Vive Pro Eye. The Vive Facial Tracker, as its known, will also sell for $129.99 and is also available on March 24. With this new add-on, which rests below the headset, you'll be able to utilize full facial tracking in supported software, making avatars far more realistic than ever before.
The Vive Facial Tracker can see 38 facial movements in total, including your jaw, cheeks, chin, lips, teeth, and tongue for an ultra-accurate representation of you in VR. The 60Hz dual-cameras and IR illuminator means that you won't just see smooth movements during the day, but you'll also have no trouble staying up late in VR Chat or working in dark filming environments without reduced capture rates.
