David Nicholson: Valve jumps into the virtual reality space with its own hardware

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Valve jumps into the virtual reality space with its own hardware

Valve is set to reveal its own virtual reality hardware at the turn of the year.

There was a time when Valve was synonymous with Half-Life. How times have changed. The developer has certainly branched out from its original vision of making video games. First it was Steam, the software distribution platform that has now taken a life of its own and boasts over 65 million active members. More recently though, the developer has started dipping its feet into hardware development.

The company has already showed off its Steam Controllers and Steam Machines, and now they are set to foray into the realm of virtual reality.

Valve have announced that they will be showing off a prototype of their own internally developed virtual reality headset during the Steam Dev Days event in January next year. Valve’s Mike Abrash will give a talk entitled “What VR Could, Should, and Almost Certainly Will Be within Two Years”, at the end of which, a random selection of attendants will get to experience the tech hands-on. The developer envisions a bright future for the virtual reality movement, and they are keen to jump on the bandwagon and be in the driving seat as well.

The official blurb reads, “We’ve figured out what affordable virtual reality hardware will be capable of within a couple of years, and assembled a prototype which demonstrates that such VR hardware is capable of stunning experiences”, reads the official blurb, “This type of hardware is almost certainly going to appear in short order, and the time to starting developing for it is now. This talk will discuss what the hardware is like, and the kinds of experiences it makes possible.”

The virtual reality space is starting to get a bit crowded now. With the Oculus Rift already making waves and prepped for release, not to mention Sony’s entry into the market with the HMZ-T2, Valve needs to bring its A -game to convince the world that it has a winner on its hands.

Source: Eurogamer