CES 2017, the biggest consumer electronics trade show in the world, has seen the introduction of some landmark consumer technologies since it began in 1967.
For example, in 1970, the first VCR was revealed at CES. LaserDisc was first revealed four years later, and in 1977, the first portable VCR — VHS —was presented to the world.
1981 was a huge year for the trade show, with the unveiling of the first portable camcorder and the first compact disc player. 1985 brought the introduction of the first Nintendo Entertainment System gaming console to CES.
There are many other highlights, but if we leapfrog about three decades, we saw 3D printing capture a lot of consumer attention in 2014. The Internet of Things (IoT)was all the rage in 2015, and last year saw virtual reality stir up quite a buzz.
This year, among other things, many people are looking to see what virtual reality accessories are going to be announced.
HTC Vive at CES 2017
HTC Vive is an extremely popular headset among users, so anticipation was high for the company to reveal some amazing new gear. Despite rumors of a next-generation headset being released, there was no such luck.
The Vive Tracker
So far, HTC revealed this new wireless device to help developers track other objects in the HTC Vive Lighthouse system. This laser-based positional tracking system tracks the real-time position and orientation of the controllers and headset.
Though the Vive Tracker doesn’t have a price tag yet, developers should be happy to know that they are one step closer to enabling different objects in a room to be incorporated into an HTC Vive experience.
A picture of the Vive Tracker, a device that allows developers to track other objects and have an additional tool to create dynamic HTC Vive content. This was one of many announcements from the company this week at CES 2017. (Image courtesy of HTC Vive.)