Quark VR Working On Wireless HTC Vive Prototype

The level of immersion you get from VR is impressive, to be sure, but nothing mars that experience quite like tripping over a cord and conking your head on the coffee table. Quark VR are hoping to save the day with a wireless HTC Vive prototype. Well, nearly wireless. It's a work in progress.

The company are not making official Vive hardware but have met with Valve representatives, they explain in a blog post. "Valve's experts are, of course, aware that wireless VR is the future of the technology, so they were more than happy to cooperate with us on the task," they say. And so, with Valve's blessing, they've decided to move forward with their idea to save VR from its potential concussion-ridden future.

So here's the thing -- they're not working on a wireless headset as much as they're creating some sort of Wi-Fi transmitter dongle that connects to the headset. This leaves you free to roam the room untethered from your PC. You can stick the device in your pocket, where it'll send signals between your computer and the Vive. That sounds all well and good, but what's the latency like?

Quark VR admit latency is "a huge challenge" in designing their little wireless gadget but they expect they'll be able to show a successful prototype this autumn. No word yet on quite what they'll do with it after that, but they do intend to open source the design.

If you're curious, UploadVR chatted with Quark VR and have a little more information on the technology behind this.