Virtual reality on the rise as HTC Vive nets 15,000 pre-orders

The Vive was sold at a rate of 25 per second despite its hefty cost

HTC has sold 15,000 of its Vive virtual reality (VR) headsets in just 10 minutes when the devices went available for pre-order yesterday.

Selling through the popular Steam games website and its own website, the Vive sold for a hefty £689 in the UK - plus £57.80 for shipping and tax - and at a rate of 25 per second for the first minutes, indicating that there is an eager appetite for VR despite the high cost of entry.

Sales of the devices via Steam were helped by the work that Valve Software, owner of Steam, did to have new games software developed to work on the device in time for launch.

The Vive package currently comprises the headset, two wand-like controllers, and external sensors to map movements in a virtual space. It also comes with three VR games: Google's Tilt Brush, Job Simulator, and Fantastic Contraption.

Early-adopters would appear not to be concerned that the Vive launches with only a few games and apps immediately available that have been specifically built for it.

However, given the Vive is powered by SteamVR on the software side, more games with high-production values, and apps that enable content creation are likely to be on the horizon.

The current suite of apps are still a solid introduction to the type of VR that enables people to move around in a virtual environment through movements in the physical world, rather than relying on a games console controller.

That being said, the Vive is a rather challenging proposition is some ways, as even if the cost of the headset is removed from the equation, a gaming-grade PC or laptop is needed to power the Vive, costing anywhere between £600 to £1,500.

Then there is the problem of space; to get the most out of the Vive, users will need to have around 10ft square of free space in which to move around. In an average city flat, finding such an area may be challenging.

However, when Computing's sibling site The INQUIRER put the Vive to the test, it was very impressed with immersion the headset offers and the level of interactivity and physicality the system allows within a virtual setting.