In their "Utopia in Progress" presentation at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona earlier today, HTC announced that they have entered into partnership with Valve to develop virtual reality technology, showing off a small video presentation to show off their new headset - the HTC Vive.
We've already heard from Valve that they're planning to develop VR hardware called SteamVR that will be properly shown off at GDC in a few days, but the announcement of a partnership means that HTC, developer of smartphones and other related devices, will be one of the first to be making use of the SteamVR system.
Speaking on stage to the crowd HTC CEO Peter Chou talked about Valve as the leader in gaming saying that they were "dedicated to bringing the best" to their customers. He said that HTC were "so excited" to be working with them on this project and that HTC believes that virtual reality will have the ability to "totally transform" the way we interact with the world, and will eventually become a mainstream device for the general consumer, with the possibilities being "limitless".
The Vive will make use of 70 sensors allowing for full 360-degree exploration and will have a 1200x1920 screen in each eye, powered by a 90Hz refresh rate. HTC have also announced two VR game controllers that will work in tandem with the headset so each hand can be represented accurately within the virtual space.
HTC will be at GDC along with Valve, and we know that Valve plan to demonstrate the SteamVR there so it'll be interesting to see if the two companies are planning to do presentations and demonstrations in tandem there or not.