Viverse

Viverse is an open platform for virtual worlds and environments developed by HTC and encompassing multiple devices and applications. Conceived as a metaverse, the platform is intended to create an interconnected series of virtual worlds, and includes elements of augmented reality. The Viverse platform consists of various components, including virtual reality headsets, social applications, and content creation tools.^[1]

Viverse

Headquarters	Dublin, Ireland
Country of origin	Taiwan
Founder(s)	Cher Wang
Chairperson	Cher Wang
Industry	Virtual reality, augmented reality, software, technology, content
Services	Vive World, Market, Vive Avatar, Vive Wallet, Vive Guardian, Viverse For Business, VRChat, Vive Sync
Parent	HTC
Launched	1 March 2022; 3 years ago (2022-03-01)

History and development

Some elements that later became part of the Viverse ecosystem were developed as early as 2014.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The formal announcement of Viverse only came in 2022 at the 2022 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.^[7] Viverse was co-founded by Cher Wang, the CEO of HTC, who is also the Chairwoman of Viverse.^[8]

While some HTC hardware has important implications for Viverse,^[9] Viverse is envisioned as an open metaverse, and so is not confined to any HTC hardware.^[10]

Components and partners

As of 2023, Viverse consists of a number of virtual environments, services, platforms, interfaces, and applications, including:

• Vive Avatar - A tool for generating and storing custom avatars which represent user Viverse personas.^[11]
• Vive Wallet - A cryptocurrency and NFT wallet which also manages user digital identity. The wallet supports Ethereum and Polygon.^[12]
• Market - A platform for buying and selling NFTs.^[13]
• Vive World - User-designed virtual environments that act as a home space for users.^[14]
• Vive Sync - A virtual meeting and conference platform in VR.^[15]
• Viveport - A subscription-based content library of virtual reality games and apps.^[16]
• Vive Guardian - An application focused on the security and privacy of children.^[17]
• Viverse for Business - Viverse for business includes tools for companies to create custom, branded virtual spaces, either as workspaces or for interacting with customers such as virtual common spaces, reception, showrooms, classrooms, meeting spaces, and auditoriums. HTC plans to provide support for these spaces on multiple platforms, including VR headsets, smartphones, tablets, and PCs.^[18]

Partners

A number of virtual environments created by 3rd party developers are integrated into Viverse:

• ENGAGE - A social VR platform designed to enable enterprise, education, and creative entities to have a metaverse presence.^[19]
• Beatday - A virtual music platform with social elements.^[20]
• VRChat - A virtual reality social platform.^[11]
• Museum of Other Realities - A collection of virtual art.^[7]

Strategy

Viverse is intended to be as open as possible in order to encourage third party development and integrations, and supports both the Open XR and Web XR standards.^[21]

HTC is also seeking to appeal to cryptocurrency users with cryptocurrency integrations, such as native support for Ethereum and Polygon tokens on the Desire 22, a cryptocurrency wallet built into the Vive Flow, and an NFT marketplace as one of Viverse's first applications.^[22]

See also

• Avatar (computing)
• Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
• Multiverse (video games)
• Virtual reality
• Virtual world