steamvr
Latest
Windows Mixed Reality adds SteamVR games on November 15th
Microsoft's stab at building a virtual reality ecosystem will enter an informal beta test starting November 15th. Next week the Windows 10 Mixed Reality SteamVR preview program will go live. If you have Windows 10 running on your machine, along with one of the Redmond-approved VR headsets you'll be able to try it out for yourself according to Rolling Stone. This will act as a sort of crossover piece of software that gives Windows Mixed Reality users access to some 60 VR apps from the Windows Store and the countless VR games available on Steam. There's no timetable for when the full version will roll out to Windows just yet.
Steam will support VR in very large rooms
If you want to play a room-scale VR game using Steam's current tracking method, you need to do it in a 13-by-13 foot area. That's fine for your living room, but what if you want more space? Don't fret: Valve has announced that SteamVR Tracking 2.0 will support a cavernous 33 feet by 33 feet space starting in early 2018. You'll need four trackers to do it instead of two, but this could be very helpful for arcades or any other experience that could benefit from greater freedom of movement.
PSVR’s crazy ‘Headmaster’ soccer heading game is on PC
With VR going mainstream, families are going to be looking for titles that won't give their kids nightmares. One of the best of those, Headmaster, has only been available on Sony's PlayStation VR until now, but today it arrives to the Oculus Rift and SteamVR in a surprise launch. Described by the developer Frame Interactive as the "bizarre love child of Wii Sports and Portal," it simulates soccer heading (football, if you like) in a surreal, carnival-like "Football Improvement Center."
‘EVE: Valkyrie’ won’t require VR come September
EVE: Valkyrie was one of the first games Oculus used to show off one of its Rift prototypes, and since 2014, the game has been associated exclusively with virtual reality. That's changing. The game's "Warzone" update will strip the VR headset requirement, allowing anyone with a PlayStation 4 or powerful enough PC to play the game. If you're keeping track at home, that means true cross-platform multiplayer is here; you'll be able to battle folks on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, PC, PS4 and PSVR.
Valve’s ‘Knuckles’ VR controller tracks individual fingers
VR fans have been steadily following the development of Valve's new controller for SteamVR, called Knuckles. Now the device is being shipped to developers as a prototype, and as a result, Valve has released quite a bit of new information about Knuckles and how it will work.
Fill your SteamVR Home lounge with gaming collectibles
SteamVR established its Home as the service's launch screen last month, a digital lounge for players to customize as they pore through their game libraries. Now you can start filling it with collectibles you unlock while playing through their respective games, functioning like bragging rights as much as artistic flourishes for any friend you invite over.
Steam brings virtual reality to macOS
Mac platforms have been too underpowered for virtual reality, requiring Apple diehards to bootstrap Windows for a ramshackle VR solution. But today at its annual WWDC conference, Apple announced a dedicated VR dev kit: A Thunderbolt 3 GPU enclosure powered by AMD Radeon processors and a software seed in the new version of macOS. Combined, they finally make Macs VR-friendly. Wasting no time, Steam immediately launched a macOS version of its SteamVR platform, which anyone can access now while it's in beta.
macOS finally supports VR
Until now the only way to run a high-end VR system on a Mac was by booting into Windows, but that didn't solve the fact that Apple had yet to offer a GPU option that was actually good enough for VR. The next best thing was to plug in your desired NVIDIA card via an external enclosure like the Razer Core, but you'd still be stuck with Windows. Thankfully, Apple has finally decided to take matters into its own hands by adding VR graphics support to the upcoming macOS High Sierra due this fall, and it's also offering a Thunderbolt 3 external GPU dev kit as of today at WWDC.
SteamVR makes its launcher 'more social' with Home
We've seen attempts at free-flowing virtual worlds from the likes of Second Life and the (dearly departed) PlayStation Home, but with VR we're getting another shot at it. First Facebook Spaces appeared, and now Valve is beta testing SteamVR Home. The Destinations Workshop previously allowed users to build and customize spaces, but opting into Home puts the world up front when they start SteamVR. Now Destinations is Home, and people who have been using it will find all of their avatars and wearables in the new space.
Valve brings 360-degree videos to Steam VR
While it's not quite as immersive as a full virtual reality experience, 360-degree videos and photos are becoming more common (especially on Facebook and YouTube), and now Valve has released a Steam 360 Video Player. It uses adaptive streaming from a company called Pixvana, which should enable playback with just one click on your Rift or Vive headset. According to the FAQ, even if you don't have a headset, it will soon support playback on the desktop with control and navigation by mouse.
'#Archery' is a quirky VR party game for the HTC Vive
I wasn't expecting to start my day using a bow and arrow to shoot ice cream cones at kids, or riding on the back of a pickup truck slinging newspapers in a suburban neighborhood. But thanks to #Archery, a virtual reality game from indie studio VRUnicorns, I was able to do just that using an HTC Vive headset. The title, which hits Steam Early Access on March 30th for $10, features a handful of main levels and mini games within each one of those. My experience consisted of scenarios like what I mentioned above, where I took charge of a digital bow and arrow to fire different objects at characters around the environment.
LG's SteamVR headset is a bulky yet promising HTC Vive alternative
For the past year, the only two contenders in the PC virtual-reality space were the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. Not anymore. A few days ago, LG announced its own PC-driven VR headset, which was made in collaboration with Valve. That means that there are now two headsets -- the Vive and the LG -- that make use of Valve's SteamVR tracking technology. I took a closer look at a prototype of the LG headset here at GDC 2017, and though it could certainly use some improvement, it has a lot of potential.
Vive Studios' 'VR Sports' is exactly what it sounds like
The unmitigated phenomenon that was the Nintendo Wii had an everlasting effect on any medium with motion controllers: If you have hardware that can track hand movements, it needs to have its own "Wii Sports" game. Enter Vive Studios' latest virtual-reality game, VR Sports -- a lighthearted but surprisingly realistic-feeling ping-pong and tennis simulator. On March 15th, the game kicks off Vive Studios' spring lineup of VR games, which also includes a WWII defense shooter and a port of Sixaxis' virtual-reality CAD program.
LG is working on a VR headset with Valve
LG is teaming up with video game developer Valve to create a head-mounted virtual reality device that uses SteamVR tracking technology. This places LG in direct competition with HTC, which teamed up with Valve to create the HTC Vive.
Valve's room-scale VR trackers will soon be sold separately
Valve has announced that it will soon be selling standalone SteamVR Tracking base stations directly. While you could previously order the tech from HTC, later this year, consumers and developers will be able to purchase the new and improved single-rotor tracking model from Valve's online store. With the current standalone tracking stations costing $130 from HTC, the Steam owner states that the move from a dual-rotor to single-rotor design could bring "rapid cost reductions," according to Road To VR. This suggests that the new tracking station may be significantly cheaper.
Valve launches SteamVR support for Linux
Valve has been giving Steam users Linux love since 2012, and it's not stopping with VR. The company just launched SteamVR for Linux, letting developers create Linux content for the HTC Vive VR headset, trackers and other hardware. The program is in beta, meaning developers must use an NVIDIA developer beta driver that's built on "Vulkan," the successor to OpenGL. You're limited to "direct" mode, meaning you can only display images on the headset and not a desktop display at the same time.
HTC's Vive Deluxe Audio Strap makes its VR headset more comfortable
Compared with Playstation VR and the Oculus Rift, HTC's Vive virtual reality headset is a bit of a face-hugger. It offers a window into beautiful virtual realms and boasts room-scale motion-tracking but, well, it's just not very comfortable. Soon, that may change. HTC just announced it's creating a Vive Deluxe Audio Strap to replace the headset's elastic headgear. Not only does the new strap look a lot more ergonomic, but it tacks on one of the Oculus Rift's most convenient features: built-in headphones.
Steam will tell you what games work with OSVR
Steam has added an official badge to games on the platform that will work with Razer's OSVR headset. Much like the visual designation for titles compatible with Oculus Rift and the company's own HTC Vive headsets, it's a simple icon. In this case it looks like a rounded square set inside a bigger square (below). Valve says that you'll find it next to some 200 games at the moment, and that while OSVR is the first headset it's slapped a compatibility badge on since this spring, it won't be the last.
VRMark will tell you if your PC is ready for Virtual Reality
Oculus and Valve's own virtual reality compatibility tests will tell you if your PC is VR-ready, but how ready is a bit of a specification guessing game. Will you be able to run games at their maximum settings, or are you just going to scrape past virtual reality's minimum requirements? Futuremark's trying to make that question easier to answer with a new benchmarking suite designed specifically for virtual reality.
Valve's next VR hardware could be a wrist-mounted controller
If last week's Oculus Connect left you hungry for more news about virtual reality, maybe news of a new hardware out of Valve's Steam Dev Days will do the trick. Perhaps the biggest tidbit is that the PC gaming juggernaut is working on a new controller for the Vive headset. What's different from the current wand, according to TechCrunch, is the device will allow users to pick items up and put them down, all without letting go of the controller.
