China Releases First Self-Developed Group Standard for the VR Industry

HTC in cooperation with the IVRA drafts the groundbreaking standard under the guidance of MIIT, further driving sustainable development in China's VR ecosystem

BEIJING, April 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The first VR Summit forum for International Cooperation: Opening Up Opportunities for Mutual Progress was held in Beijing on April 6, during which a pioneering group standard developed for VR head-mounted displays (HMDs) by important actors from within China's VR industry was announced. Under the guidance of the Department of Electronic Information of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the Industry of Virtual Reality Alliance (IVRA), the group standard entitled "General Specifications for Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Displays" was released. This new standard will play a crucial role in regulating and steering the design, production, inspection, and testing of both tethered and mobile HMDs in the market. It is also intended to help speed up technological advancement within the field as well as the commercialization process for its products. The IVRA Committee for International Cooperation was also formally established, which is charged with strengthening ties between the China VR industry to the global market.

Eleven IVRA members including the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), the China Electronics Standardization Institute (CESI), HTC Vive, together with other research bodies and companies participated in the drafting and formulation of the standard. Feng ZHANG, Chief Engineer of MIIT, pointed out in his opening speech for the forum that "The release of the standard is fundamental to guide the VR hardware market, which is critical to driving the healthy development of the entire VR ecosystem. China's VR ecosystem is still in its early stages thus advancement and accumulation of core technologies and best practices are highly needed."

IVRA provided two rounds of opinions and feedback during the process, and a total of 107 proposals were received. Of them, 29 were adopted directly while an additional 56 were approved after revisions were made. Indicators for other parameters were further refined according to the input of MIIT before the standard was eventually finalized and released. The parameters of the group standard included important factors that will affect user experience such as display resolution, system latency, field of view, tracking system, etc. The standard formulation committee started collecting suggestions and proposals from an extensive range of IVRA members since July 2016, and a large number of committee discussions and review sessions were held to formalize the released standard.

Ning LIN, Party Secretary of the China Electronics Standardization Institute (CESI), said, "This standard provides an official designation to the definition of parameters, performance indices, and the measurement methods for three types of HMDs - tethered, all-in-one, and container-based. It will contribute enormously to helping regulate and guide the design, production, inspection, and testing for various types of VR HMDs."

"As an industry leader in both China's VR industry and globally, we are honored to have been invited to play an integral role in the development of this VR standard," said Alvin W. Graylin, China Regional President of HTC Vive and Vice-Chairman of IVRA. "China is the first country to implement an official VR industry standard, showing how important the development of VR is to the Chinese government. The release of this standard will raise the quality bar for VR device vendors, provide more standardized specifications for content developers and ensure that end users will have a more consistently positive experience across VR devices."

Detailed specifications for the Group Standard for the VR HMD will be available soon at http://www.cesi.cn/.

About the VIVE Virtual Reality System

Vive is a first-of-its-kind virtual reality system to deliver on the promise of high-quality VR developed by HTC. It is designed from the ground up for "room-scale" VR while still allowing for standing and sitting use cases. The Vive makes possible true-to-life interactions and experiences thanks to its high fidelity headset displaying stunning graphics and the bundled wireless controllers with HD haptic feedback all of which are motion tracked in real-time across a room-sized space with low latency to ensure the most immersive experience in the industry. Vive has recently released the Tracker, which together with its  front facing camera can blend physical elements in the real world with the virtual world taking user experience to a new level of realism. For more information on Vive, please visit www.vive.com. Applications and content for the Vive are available on VIVEPORT at www.viveport.com.

About HTC

HTC Corporation aims to bring brilliance to life. As a global innovator in smart mobile and virtual reality devices and technology, HTC has produced award-winning products and industry firsts since its inception in 1997, including the critically acclaimed HTC One and HTC Desire lines of smartphones, and is now leading the VR industry with the Vive line of products. The pursuit of brilliance is at the heart of everything we do, inspiring best-in-class design and game-changing mobile and virtual reality experiences for consumers around the world. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). www.htc.com.

SOURCE HTC Vive

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