Intel is abandoning its plans to create a virtual reality headset.
The semiconductor giant has shut down its Project Alloy virtual reality headset initiative, in which third-party companies were to build VR headsets based on Intel’s hardware blueprints, according to a report published Friday by tech publication Road to VR.
Instead, Intel will concentrate on other initiatives like its Movidius chips for processing images and its RealSense 3D camera tracking technology, the report said. It appears that Intel is hoping that other hardware makers will incorporate these Intel components into their own VR headsets or related technologies.
An Intel spokesperson told Coins2Day in an email, “Project Alloy served as a great proof of concept for Intel and the industry— showing what’s possible in a high-performance, immersive and untethered VR experience.”
“What we’ve learned through Project Alloy will inform future efforts,” the spokesperson wrote.
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Intel declined to comment on how many of its employees worked on Project Alloy and if they would be moved to the company’s other VR-related initiatives.
It was just a year ago that the computer chip maker showed off a Project Alloy VR headset prototype at the company’s annual developer conference, which was permanently cancelled earlier this year in favor of multiple, smaller trade shows dedicated to specific topics like artificial intelligence.
Intel hoped to convince hardware makers like HP Inc. (HPQ) or Dell Technologies to create their own VR headsets using Project Alloy blueprints. However, it appears that these companies were not interested in using the headset designs.
Instead, companies like HP Inc. Lenovo, Dell, and Acer are debuting their own VR headsets later this year based on their own designs. All of these companies’ planned VR headsets were also built to run a special version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system tailored for virtual reality.
These headsets will be cheaper but less powerful than top-of-the line VR headsets sold by HTC and Facebook’s (FB) Oculus Rift business unit.
