HTC’s new VR headset appears to have leaked days before reveal

    
    Is this HTC’s new virtual reality headset?
    Evan Blass via Twitter
    HTC is widely expected to unveil its new Vive Flow VR headset on Thursday, but we may already have an idea of what it looks like, thanks to images posted by prolific leaker Evan Blass.
    The first batch of images Blass posted to Twitter appears to show the headset with a tether connection to another device, perhaps something portable like a phone or tablet.
    

Miss me, @HTC? pic.twitter.com/hB7iPLLCHk
    — E (@evleaks) October 12, 2021

    The images also appear to show the device with eyeglass-like temples that go over the ears, rather than the strap found on other VR headsets that stretches all the way around the wearer’s head.
    
    HTC’s Project Proton glasses concept, in phone-tethered form.
    HTC
    The headset in the images bears a striking resemblance to Project Proton, a totally new mixed-reality headset concept HTC teased in February 2020. CNET’s Scott Stein suggested at the time that the slimmer, more glasses-like variation on the Vive would either be a standalone headset, a phone-tethered headset or both.
    The Proton, according to HTC CEO Yves Maitre, is part of Vive’s goal to evolve to a headset more like a pair of glasses.
    HTC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but we should know more about its plans on Thursday, after an event that features the tagline Go with the Flow. The event starts at 8 a.m. PT and will be livestreamed at Vive.com and in VR.