The Oculus Rift may be launching pre-orders tomorrow, but the HTC Vive won’t be left out of the conversation. HTC has today announced Vive Pre, the second generation developer kit for its virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) complete with a refined form factor and improvements to the chaperone system among other features. To celebrate the reveal, the company has compiled a brand new trailer for the kit ahead of 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) getting underway tomorrow. That trailer can now be been seen below, and it may possibly hint at Portal 3.

The trailer, which lasts a minute and a half, features live action scenes in which people immerse themselves in new roles such as an astronaut. This is an attempt to convey what putting on the Vive Pre can feel like, allowing users to feel as if they’ve stepped into the shoes of other people. There are clips of users as boxers and scientists among other things.

Things start to get interesting towards the end of the trailer, however. First, a clip of a man painting a virtual sculpture is shown, which is a clear reference to an actual Vive app, Tiltbrush. Following that, the camera fades to a new scene in which the camera is centred behind a woman floating in mid-air. After remaining still for a few seconds, she raised her arms – which causes the walls either side of her to bend – and blasts a hole in the wall in front of her, seemingly through telekinesis.

What’s important to note here is that the woman is wearing half of an orange jumpsuit which is folded around her waist, with a vest for her top. It’s exactly how Chell, the protagonist of Valve’s Portal series dresses, and her explosion does create a portal of sorts into another dimension. Add to that the fact that the HTC Vive is made in partnership with series developer Valve and that the company has already used the iconic franchise as the basis for one of its tech demos, and it certainly seems as if the pair are teasing something exciting for the future.

Could Portal 3 be a reality? We likely won’t find out at CES as HTC and Valve are focusing on hardware at the show. The consumer HTC Vive will be available in April 2016, however, so maybe we’ll hear more then. VRFocus will continue to follow this story closely, reporting back with the latest updates on its progress.

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