Fans were disappointed when it was revealed that there was a setback in the upcoming release of HTC's Vive virtual reality headgear. But the company is making sure that the new release date of early 2016 will be on target as according to recent accounts, the HTC Vive has just been given FCC approval.
Meanwhile, the FCC approval itself is speculated to shed light on why the release date for the Vive had been pushed back from an original 2015 release date.
According to Road to VR, the entire HTC Vive system was recently approved for safe use by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. This means that the approval was not only for the Vive headgear itself, but also for the base stations as well as the controllers.
This was an issue before the Vive started its FCC certification process. The industry follower revealed that although the headset itself was not deemed to have problems passing the FCC, the same cannot be said for the base stations. Apparently, the link between the headset and the base station is based on Lighthouse, a system that uses laser for tracking. However, the system itself evidently did not pose a risk to users as the whole system got the FCC approval.
Meanwhile, the FCC approval might also answer why HTC had to move the release of the Vive to April next year. According to Techno Buffalo, the FCC filings showed that HTC got the approval for the whole system separately, meaning that each component is detached from the rest.
This might mean that HTC's "big breakthrough" might have something to do with wireless connectivity, and the headset and controllers will be separate accessories. If this is proven true, it will give Vive users more freedom in their movements when using the virtual reality headset.
