VIVE Wrist Tracker

Overview

VIVE Wrist Tracker is a small tracker you wear like a watch or fix to an object. HTC announced it on January 5, 2022 for VIVE Focus 3, with a US launch in early 2022 at $129. It now also works with HTC VIVE Focus Vision and HTC VIVE XR Elite. It does two jobs: it makes hand tracking more reliable, and it lets you bring real objects into VR.

Design and battery

The tracker weighs 63 g and measures 87 x 59 x 45 mm. HTC says it is 85% smaller and 50% lighter than the VIVE XR/Focus series controller. Battery life is rated at up to four hours. It charges over USB-C, and an LED shows battery status. It has a power button and an app button, and it pairs automatically. The strap uses standard 22 mm watch lugs, so you can swap it or use the lugs to attach 3D-printed mounts. HTC offers CAD files for building mounts. The box holds the tracker and a USB-C charging cable.

Tracking

The Wrist Tracker uses the headset's own inside-out tracking. Its LEDs are seen by the headset cameras, the same way the controllers are, so no base stations are needed. Worn on the wrist, it helps the headset track from the hand to the elbow, even when something blocks the hand. Its IMU and a kinematic model predict where your hand is for a short time after it leaves the cameras' view. Fixed to an object, it gives that object full six degrees of freedom tracking. It can also turn a 3DoF controller or sensor into a 6DoF one by reading its angle and rotation.

Software support

Developers read the tracker's pose and button events through the VIVE Wave SDK. For PC VR, VIVE Business Streaming supports the tracker natively, and its hand tracking works with PC VR apps that support OpenVR Skeletal Input or the OpenXR Hand Tracking API. HTC notes that content compatibility is required, so not every app will use it.

Availability

HTC's US store page now marks the Wrist Tracker as coming soon and says stock is sold through a third-party partner. Buyers are asked to contact HTC's sales team.

Who it is for

The Wrist Tracker suits businesses and developers using VIVE Focus Vision, VIVE Focus 3 or VIVE XR Elite. HTC targets physical therapy, sports simulation, police training and fire safety training, where users hold real tools. HTC lists only these three headsets as compatible, so it is not an option for Meta, PICO or base-station PC VR headsets. Gamers who want full-body tracking on these headsets should look at the VIVE Ultimate Tracker instead.