Vive X will begin in Beijing, Taipei and San Francisco. A pilot program will launch in Beijing in May, including selected start-up VR creators from around Asia. It is targeted at companies who have proven themselves in the industry and want to accelerate their growth. The firms will receive cash investment after giving HTC a “small amount” of equity stock.
For HTC, the program marks the firm’s long-term commitment to virtual reality. Earlier this month, it publicly launched the first generation of its Vive virtual reality headset. The room-scale experience is capable of offering full immersion in digital worlds, featuring motion-tracked controllers and a healthy library of initial content.
Earlier this year, HTC CEO Cher Wang said that virtual reality will save the company’s falling profits, rather than its core phone business. It expects virtual reality to become more important to all areas of society over the next few years and intends to place its business at the forefront of innovation in the technology.
Vive X is the next step in that aim, helping start-ups who want to create virtual reality content to do so. If VR is to establish itself and become popular with consumers, it will need to be supported by strong and immersive experiences that standout from other forms of media.
HTC will help firms to achieve this, lending its own expertise in the field available to other developers. Start-ups who participate in Vive X will have access to funding, virtual reality hardware, coaching, free office space and hands-on demo days which leading VR investors will attend. HTC’s own offices will be available for training with the company’s own development studios.
“We are very excited about gathering the brightest and most creative minds to join Vive X,” said HTC CEO Cher Wang in a statement. “Virtual reality is changing the world, yet to do that effectively it needs a healthy eco-system to expand into the mass market. Through HTC Vive, we look forward to enabling global talent to create interesting and compelling content and to help shape the future of this industry.”
HTC is taking applications for Vive X now. The project could create a new wave of virtual reality experiences to help sell the technology as it tries to establish itself in the consumer space. HTC is keen to connect developers with investors and VR experts, eventually aiming to create VR content that is compelling enough to convince new customers to buy a Vive.
