Microsoft steps up move into virtual-reality market – The Seattle Times

Microsoft Build 2017: The company has launched a set of motion controllers for the medium and announced the coming commercial availability from Acer of the first immersive headset designed for Windows.

Seattle Times technology reporter

Microsoft is expanding its effort to break into the burgeoning market of virtual reality, launching a set of motion controllers for the medium and announcing the coming commercial availability of the first immersive headset designed for Windows.

Virtual-reality devices which, typically powered by computers, surround a users eyes with images have been a dream of technologists for years. Last year marked the start of a modern gold rush in that endeavor following the debut of high-end VR headsets built by Facebook-owned Oculus and the partnership between HTC and Bellevue-based Valve.

Microsoft, which spent years developing HoloLens, the companys own take on an augmented-reality headset that projects images into the environment of the wearer, last year opened up a portion of the software behind that device to other developers.

Acer, the Taiwanese computer hardware maker, will sell a Windows-compatible virtual-reality bundle featuring its own headset and Microsofts mixed reality motion controllers, starting at $399, by the end of the year, Microsoft was set to announce Thursday at its Build developer conference.

Those untethered controllers can be paired with other headsets, Microsoft says. Unlike some other headset controllers that rely on motion sensors in a room to track a users movements, Microsofts are designed to be free roaming, as long as the controllers are in their operators field of view.

Acers product is among the slate of virtual-reality headsets designed for Windows 10 that Microsoft says are coming. The company has said many of the devices built by hardware partners like Acer, Lenovo and HP will be more affordable than the high-end headsets released last year. The HTC-Valve Vive costs $799, and Oculuss Rift retails for $599.

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Microsoft steps up move into virtual-reality market - The Seattle Times