HTC, Facebook's main competitor in the consumer VR space, appears to be on the verge of releasing its first standalone headset, the Vive Flow

The good news is that the launch is apparently so close that promotional shots have been leaked, courtesy of tipster Evan Blass The bad news is that when you wear it, you sometimes look like the Simpsons character Dr Colossus

Before we break down this leak, lets address the elephant in the room, or the fly on the wall The HTC Vive Flow basically looks like a pair of goggles with two big fly-like eyes

Whether these fly-eye-like patches on the headset are see-through or simply for design flair is unclear, but think of the 1986 film "The Fly"

Similarly, given the seeming lack of a robust strap mechanism, one wonders how comfortable this design will be for the wearer, which may make it a nightmare for the face in practical terms However, with only this leaked photo available, this is all speculation, and the Vive Flow may be surprisingly lightweight for a VR headset

Regardless of aesthetics, the leaked photos suggest a standalone headset comparable to Facebook's Oculus Quest 2 One slide states that it has a "smart" built in

Apparently it requires some sort of internal cooling

This means that they do not need to be connected to a PC in order to play games In fact, one of the photos shows the Vive Flow cable loose, but this may just be to show how it charges

The Verge speculates that the cylindrical object in the middle of the bag may be something that provides a bit more graphical grunt to the device, like Magic Leap's Lightpack

As can be seen from this slide, the price is listed at $499, $100 more than the 256GB Oculus Quest 2 and $200 more than the entry-level 128GB version (an upgrade from the 64GB the headset was first released with) higher

While there are many who would go to extreme lengths to have a mobile VR experience without Facebook, it may be too much of a leap for the majority of consumers But what the device will actually do will be revealed at HTC's "Go with the Flow" event tomorrow One slide suggests that the device is made for "wellbeing and mindful productivity"

In other words, something is coming Any leak should be taken with a pinch of salt, but Blass's pedigree here is second to none Some have also pointed to the similarity between certain shots and some of the stock photos, which may tell us a bit more about how publicity shots are composed than it does about the definitive evidence that will disappoint on Thursday