Ex-HTC CEO to release world's first social 5G VR headset

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) Former HTC CEO Peter Chou (周永明), who three years ago started his own social virtual reality company XRSpace, on Tuesday unveiled a new VR platform designed to facilitate social interaction and the world's first 5G VR mobile headset.

These products are scheduled go on sale in Taiwan in the third quarter, according to the company.

XRSpace, which focuses on developing VR and AR (augmented reality) apps has created the world's first social extended reality (XR) platform designed for mass-market use and the first 5G VR mobile headset, the XRSpace Mova, Chou said at a global presentation of the new project in Taipei Tuesday.

The Mova is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 chipset and completely hand controller-free.

It is designed to be used with hand tracking as the primary control method, with 5G, 4G or Wi-Fi connectivity, with a sensor tracker and a powerful optical system on the front of the device registering how users move their bodies, Chou said.

The device will allow users to digitally interact and communicate, with each user represented by XRSpace full-body digital avatars that look like them.

The avatars in XRSpace's world are modeled after users. The system uses a user photo to design a lifelike avatar that can move around on the platform.

The platform known as Manova features ll public and private locations for users to explore, such as a cinema where you can watch films. There will also be fitness classes, a place to meet friends and plenty of commercial opportunities for companies to exploit, XRSpace said.

XRSpace's partners in the project include Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile Telecom, Qualcomm among many others.