The Vive BE can be commercially licensed, will have a dedicated support line and a 12-month warranty. There are also blue highlights on the front of the headset that identifies it as a Vive BE headset. The hardware specifications are the same.
Much like Oculus Rift, the Vive BE headset can be plugged into PCs for virtual reality. Gaming and roaming VR worlds are emerging as popular applications, but HTC sees the headset also being used in the automotive, engineering and medical fields.
For example, the headset could be used to educate medical students on human anatomy or surgery. It could be used to simulate car and building designs.
Other VR headset makers are looking at the enterprise as a big target for other applications. An example is troubleshooting, with field workers using VR headsets to simulate resolution of technical issues.
The Vive BE headset will work with Vive-optimized PCs and workstations, which are used for commercial applications. Dell's Precision workstations HP's Z Workstation will work with Vive BE.