Well, it seems like at least half of the last year’s reports on Gigabyte and ASUS indulging VR technology were true, as the latter has just presented its very own VR headset at this year’s Computex trade show which is currently ongoing. After the Computex 2016 press conference held yesterday during which ASUS also officially announced its ZenFone 3 smartphone lineup (ZenFone 3, ZenFone 3 Ultra and ZenFone 3 Deluxe), the attending journalists had access to a demo area of the renowned trade show where, among other things, one could see an unnamed virtual reality headset with elegant leather straps displayed in a glass box.
The said device looks very sturdy and stylish, but we’ll probably have to hold our horses because ASUS made virtually zero mention of it during the aforementioned press conference, which means it’s probably just a prototype and at best a vague announcement of things to come in some unspecified future. It’s also worth noting that the headset pictured above may not be a VR, but an AR device instead. Namely, ASUS specifically stated that it’s more intrigued by augmented than virtual reality in November of last year when the Chinese company also revealed that it’s planning on releasing an AR headset at some point in 2016. Well, 2016 is here and no announcements have yet been made, but could this be it? Only time will tell.
Putting aside speculation about what this gadget truly is, the prospect of ASUS entering either the AR or VR market will definitely sound good to many tech enthusiasts as the said company is one of the most respected and renowned PC, computer components, and other consumer electronics manufacturer on the planet known for often finding a great balance between price and quality. So, if ASUS is dabbling into VR and/or AR, that’s a really big deal for both consumers and its potential competitors. Computex 2016 has already started, as mentioned earlier, and it is running until Saturday, June 4th, so make sure to check out ASUS’ first VR headset for yourself if you happen to be in the vicinity of the Taiwanese capital this week.