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HTC announced earlier in January that they’d be giving away 1,000 Vive Trackers to developers. Applications to get your hands on one of the Trackers are now open through February 7th.

The new HTC Vive Tracker is a standalone tracking ‘puck’ which uses the same precise Lighthouse tracking system that presently tracks the Vive headset and controllers. With it, you can attach objects and accessories to track them in virtual reality for enhanced immersion.

The Vive Tracker is set to launch to consumers in Q2, but this quarter, the company plans to give away 1,000 Vive Trackers to developers to jumpstart the creation of the tracked accessory ecosystem. Applications are now open through February 7th.

HTC Vive Tracker Dev Kit Application

The application seeks basic information about the VR developer, including what category of content is being developed, whether or not the developer has ever worked with VR before, and generally how the Tracker will be used.

We are lending a limited number of Trackers to developers for free. Companies providing more detail in their application with clear goals on how they plan to use Tracker will have a higher chance to receive one of the developer kits. HTC VIVE reserves the right to recall the VIVE Trackers at our discretion.

The application includes a field for a requested quantity of Trackers, so it seems HTC will consider sending multiple units to devs depending on the project. For companies who plan to create accessories compatible with the Vive Tracker, HTC told us there would be an official certification process, though details on what it will entail are still slim. Pricing for the device has not yet been announced.

When we tried the Vive Tracker at CES we found that it opened up a world of possibilities and increased immersion thanks to enabling niche accessories like guns, bats, and gloves to become part of the experience.

Oculus has not yet opened their Constellation tracking API to third-parties, despite stating their intentions to do so in years passed.