The VR world doesn’t need 4 Vive Cosmos headsets or 2 Proton glasses

I’m a huge fan of hardware experimentation and prototyping — enough to enjoy looking back at abandoned designs and forgotten products that either never made it to market or were replaced by more memorable sequels. While iteration is a necessary part of the innovation process, a successful company generally settles on a single, polished final design that will work for the largest number of people. If the product’s great, the company will be rewarded with the opportunity to release an improved sequel in the future.

This week, HTC went in the complete opposite direction with its Vive VR headset lineup, which was already somewhat confusing. It began by announcing three new Vive Cosmos models, bringing the “family” total to four, then showed two concept Proton glasses designs that it hopes will inspire community discussion toward a final product. Since HTC was already selling Vive (refurbished), Vive Pro, Vive Pro Eye, and standard Vive Cosmos tethered VR headsets, plus Vive Focus and Vive Focus Plus standalone models, that means customers will soon have eight or nine different Vive choices, plus at least one more on the horizon.