HTC VIVE: Major Player in XR for One Decade

Founded in 1997, HTC first distinguished itself in mobile telephony and computer equipment. In 2016, the Taiwanese corporation got interested in virtual reality and commercialized its first VR headset, HTC VIVE. Since then, it hasn’t stopped innovating to democratize immersive technologies, especially in the enterprise world. HTC VIVE is exhibiting at the Laval Virtual event on April 9-11, 2025, to present its innovations as well as its partners in the immersive field.

Can you tell us more about your company?

HTC VIVE is a global leader in creating true-to-life XR experiences. Since 2015, we’ve been building an ecosystem of premium hardware, software, and content, designed to unleash the potential of XR across all industries – from powering large scale LBE environments to personalised training and collaborative design review. Our spatial platform, VIVERSE, makes 3D content creation simple for gaming and 3D e-commerce, and G REIGNS, HTC’s portable private 5G solution delivers secure, low latency connectivity for scalable deployments.

What will you exhibit at Laval Virtual?

We’re bringing the ecosystem together at Laval Virtual to show the limitless potential of our end-to-end solutions. Everything from XR hardware, accessories and software to 3D platforms and network connectivity will be on display at the exhibition.

Laval Virtual is a fantastic platform for us, as it allows for a full 360 integration with our partners both on our own booth and across the show floor, to truly demonstrate the breadth of the immersive ecosystem we’ve been building here at VIVE over the last decade. 

And while I don’t want to give too much away, I can tell you that some of our partners will be making exciting announcements at the event, leveraging VIVE technology to create innovative new XR solutions. We can’t wait to tell you more!

Are you planning any activities or demos at your booth?

This year marks our biggest presence at Laval Virtual yet, and we’ve got lots in store for visitors – including some very exclusive experiences. We’re bringing the first European showcase of the incredible LBE, “Finding Vincent” to the show floor with Univrse, powered by VIVE Focus 3 in a 220m² space. Created by Grande Experiences, this immersive journey transports visitors to 19th-century France to explore stunningly recreated streets and landscapes, interact with key figures, and uncover the story of the Van Gogh brothers. 

And that’s not all. Our booth will be full of innovation as our fantastic partners, LS Group and CEA List, Speedernet Sphere and Inversive show their latest offerings in enterprise XR. From industrial design and simulation to immersive MR career discovery and skills training, there’s plenty to see and do.

We’ll also be showcasing the latest advances from across the VIVE ecosystem. Explore VIVE Focus Vision for enterprise, the future of 3D Commerce with our spatial computing platform VIVERSE and see how G REIGNS portable private 5G uses AI to optimise networks for fast, secure and reliable XR deployments.

What is your company’s current innovation?

At HTC VIVE we continue to innovate in both hardware and software to realise the vision for an open, connected and intelligent XR ecosystem and give customers the tools they need to succeed with immersive technology. Our latest headset, VIVE Focus Vision is capable of both standalone and lossless PCVR experiences through DisplayPort mode. Its durable design, coupled with our LBSS solution (Location-Based Software Suite), meets the demand among LBE operators for high turnover usage.

We also see a huge opportunity for spatial computing platforms and virtual world creation and strongly believe that low-code tools which lower the barrier to entry for creators and brands is the key to this technology’s growth. That’s why we’ve been working hard to bring VIVERSE Worlds to market, offering simple 3D content creation that transcends use cases – from gaming through to e-commerce, education, skills and beyond.

How is your solution transforming your business field?

Thanks to our rich and integrated ecosystem, we are very fortunate to work with partners in almost every sector, and in every region. Since the start of 2025, we’ve seen huge momentum across the LBE sector, with extraordinary VR expeditions bringing history to life in new ways. Château de Versailles opened Versailles: Lost Gardens of the Sun King, Excurio’s latest experience, The Last Stronghold: Carcassonne 1304 debuted in Paris, and Titanic: Echoes from the Past by Small Creative and ECLIPSO reached 30,000 tickets sold in less than two months at its London venue. Supported by our LBSS software and VIVE Focus 3 and VIVE Focus Vision headsets, these stunning experiences show the magic that happens when you blend technology and human creativity to truly unleash people’s imagination.

Enterprise XR training also continues to go from strength to strength. Whether it’s industrial training for heavy duty machinery to soft skills like managing difficult customer conversations and conflict resolution, we’re seeing more people train and build confidence in XR without risk, to make for safer interactions in the real-world. Credit Agricole is a fantastic example of that. Using XR to train staff in their branches to manage difficult customer interactions, the company saw 100% of learners recommend it and want to use it again.

In the last 18 months we even pushed the boundaries of XR into outer space, where VIVE Focus 3 was used on the International Space Station to help improve astronaut’s mental and physical wellbeing during missions.

Sustainability and the environment are key topics of this century. How do you cope with these concerns in your XR technologies?

We constantly strive for more sustainable products and practices, and firmly believe technology needs to both support humanity and protect the planet’s health. We make conscious decisions in our design process as a result, and build with reparability in mind.

For example, VIVE Focus Vision uses a similar base design to its predecessor VIVE Focus 3 so that it’s compatible with existing accessories, and VIVE XR Elite minimises the use of materials like glue and instead has more screws. This approach goes right through to our packaging – VIVE XR Elite’s packaging is made of 99% recycled materials and is 100% recyclable.

Last year, we also expanded our partnership with iFixit to cover Europe and parts of the Middle East and Africa, so that consumers and businesses can extend the life of out-of-warranty products, covering every VIVE product from the original HTC VIVE. This means that people who want to repair their own devices have the resources and parts available to them, improving the lifespan of XR devices and helping to support a more circular economy.