Google, HTC, Oculus and More Join Forces for VR Standards

There are some big things going on in the world of VR right now, with top names like Google, Acer, HTC, Oculus, Samsung and Sony joining forces to “promote responsible development and adoption of VR globally”. The group, which is now called the Global Virtual Reality Association, or GVRA, includes all these big-name hardware players in the business, although notable omissions include Valve and Microsoft.

The partnership is hardware only, so doesn’t include software-only companies. However, I do wonder how much can be done with this partnership without Microsoft HoloLens and Valve (since they’re the software side, HTC does the hardware) onboard, as it could almost seem like they’re just huddling together to become stronger rivals to their respective rivals rather than unify the experience for users.

The main goal of the GVRA is to help unify VR experiences and offer compatibility between their respective VR hardware and software solutions. The non-profit released a statement saying that it would “share best practices for industry and foster dialogue between public and private stakeholders”. Something that should help provide the resources for consumers, policymakers and any other parties interested in VR.

What this could mean is that their future VR games and hardware will meet a certain standard that allows them to be easily supported by other members hardware, and that’s a big win for consumers and developers, who are all eager to see the market grow and it could mean a market that is less format dependant for the consumer.