HTC Vive Flow

HTC has come with an interesting twist on virtual reality glasses with the recently launched Vive Flow. Judging by the specifications, which clearly compromise performance for weight and comfort, the Flow is probably the first video headset for the masses. I mean not for hard-core gamers, but for those who would enjoy just viewing a movie or a YouTube video on a wearable big, virtual screen.

They unfortunately have made some weird design choices, making the Flow compatible only with a small selection of Android phones. The Flow has a USB-C input, but that is only for power. And supposedly they use WiFi / Miracast for video transfer. Why oh why? I wonder why they just do not support the USB-C alternate mode, making them plug-and-play compatible with just about everything, including iPads, MacBooks, Windows, and - of course - Android (but without a need of a special app).

The glasses could just present themselves as a display device when connected to a computer or a tablet or a phone. But they chose not to. for reasons I do not understand. OK perhaps they wanted some enhanced functionality. But why not allow a fallback to the standard, most compatible mode? Sometimes engineers and product managers make very weird decisions, unnecessarily complicating their products. Having said that, it is still interesting what people will say once the first Flows land in their hands. HTC promises to start shipping in November, as they have just closet the pre-order period.