Support NeoGAF

toddhunter · Nov 19, 2013

According to Eurogamer http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-19-valve-set-to-demo-its-own-virtual-reality-hardware Valve is set to demo its own VR hardware prototype at their publisher-only Steam Dev Days event in January.

The talk's official blurb is as follows:

"We've figured out what affordable Virtual Reality (VR) 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.

To complement the hardware ideas, there will also be a discussion about how the technology can work with Steam by Joe Ludwig, called "Virtual Reality and Steam".

"This includes a discussion of the Steam Overlay in VR, Steam store changes for VR, and our VR plan for Steamworks."

With Sony also rumoured to be producing VR hardware and the Oculus Rift already out and about, are we heading for a big showdown in a virtual world?

Durante · Nov 19, 2013

toddhunter said:
With Sony also rumoured to be producing VR hardware and the Oculus Rift already out and about, are we heading for a big showdown in a virtual world?

I think so. Because it's the future.

"This includes a discussion of the Steam Overlay in VR, Steam store changes for VR, and our VR plan for Steamworks."

Seems like Valve is going all in. Good for them.

GYNGA · Nov 19, 2013

Plot thickens

-Plasma Reus- · Nov 19, 2013

I hope VR becomes the motion control of this generation.
When they say affordable, what are we talking here? Will cost about the same as a steam machine? Or something closer to a console peripheral like the PS camera.

Raonak · Nov 19, 2013

I find all this VR stuff very exciting. Could lead to some big changes in society once refined.

ashecitism · Nov 19, 2013

And this will presumably include biometrics too. At least in recent coverage they talked about it measuring your feedback at the earlobes.

Exentryk · Nov 19, 2013

Really looking forward to VR gaming (on consoles). That open world exploration...

Hydrogen Bluebird · Nov 19, 2013

GYNGA said:
Plot thickens

Edit:

VR's really cool. Although the tech probably won't reach mainstream price until 2015/2016.

Lulubop · Nov 19, 2013

With a new game and source 2, surely?

~~Hasan~~ · Nov 19, 2013

why they don't team up with OR ?

i mean its there already :/

toddhunter · Nov 19, 2013

Durante said:
Seems like Valve is going all in. Good for them.

Looks that way. The client certainly needs a major overhaul and you would have to think there is something big planned for the SteamOS/VR launch.

~~Hasan~~ said:
why they don't team up with OR ?

i mean its there already :/

I guess from the other perspective, why would they team up with OR? Valve can easily push their own vision of hardware so don't really need the good name or to share any technology. At the very least you would hope this competition results in better options. If devs need to support three headsets down the track, I doubt it'll be too big a deal.

gofreak · Nov 19, 2013

It sounds more - perhaps - like they're preparing their software for VR, and they've put together a farther-future prototype to demo it with.

I'd say they're maybe undecided about whether they'll actually put out their own hardware. I guess it will depend on OR adoption and whether Valve thinks they can beat OR on the hardware.

GeoGonzo · Nov 19, 2013

I can't wait. And by "can't", I mean "will have to", because I'm not a developer and it isn't january yet anyway. But still, bring it on!

Xilium · Nov 19, 2013

If one of these things doesn't pull ahead I honestly think they are all going to fail. I just don't see there being a very large market for these devices.

Veal · Nov 19, 2013

They need to demo that steam controller in my hands.

javac · Nov 19, 2013

I bet it'll be ok. Kinda like 3D. Seems out of this world and all that but in actual fact probably causes more of a hindrance in most cases. It'll be cool every now and again I guess.

GeoGonzo · Nov 19, 2013

~~Hasan~~ said:
why they don't team up with OR ?

i mean its there already :/

They still seem to be collaborating to some extent.

L~A · Nov 19, 2013

Hmmm, more and more people are pushing for VR, it's certainly going to be THE big thing for next generation. At least, that's how it's looking at the moment. I really wonder which big company will be the next to announce they got some VR project going on?

Mobius and pet octopus · Nov 19, 2013

I kinda though they would be going in this direction ever since they dropped AR projects. I thought there was little point in keeping AR when you have VR which is better suited for core gaming.

Mondy · Nov 19, 2013

Oculus, Sony and Valve all making VR headsets. This is gonna be a bumpy ride.

Atomski · Nov 19, 2013

Kinda odd.. cause Oculus Rift is also supposed to be at this meeting as well. Surely be some tension if Valve has competing hardware with them.

Anyways not sure how I feel about this.. Im sold on a OR but if Valve is really making their own that kinda makes me want to wait and see now.

Xilium said:
If one of these things doesn't pull ahead I honestly think they are all going to fail. I just don't see there being a very large market for these devices.

Porn says no..

JaseC · Nov 19, 2013

Veal said:
They need to demo that steam controller in my hands.

An announcement that beta participants have been selected can't be far off now that we're closing in on the end of the year.

GeoGonzo · Nov 19, 2013

Mobius and pet octopus said:
I kinda though they would be going in this direction ever since they dropped AR projects. I thought there was little point in keeping AR when you have VR which is better suited for core gaming.

In my opinion AR has a lot of potential for gaming and would be a massive hit with a more mainstream crowd... but doing good AR pretty much requires mastering VR technology first... so that's the next stop, I think.

red731 · Nov 19, 2013

*butt clenched

cyberheater · Nov 19, 2013

I could see a situation in a couple of years where I have a steam box, a steam controller and a lightweight VR headset and it's not connected to the TV at all.

ComputerMKII · Nov 19, 2013

Durante said:
I think so. Because it's the future.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Even the non-1080p prototype of the Oculus Rift is mind-blowing.

Ensirius · Nov 19, 2013

ComputerMKII said:
I couldn't have said it better myself. Even the non-1080p prototype of the Oculus Rift is mind-blowing.

This is my most anticipated tech release in years. It truly is going to change the landscape forever. I'm amazed by people who fail to see this.

toddhunter · Nov 19, 2013

GeoGonzo said:
In my opinion AR has a lot of potential for gaming and would be a massive hit with a more mainstream crowd... but doing good AR pretty much requires mastering VR technology first... so that's the next stop, I think.

I could see Sony or Valve putting a camera on the front to integrate the two. I think it would be really useful to "ghost" in people around you too so nobody scares the shit out of you when playing (a limiter to the technology in the living room in my opinion).

Nightengale · Nov 19, 2013

So unless plans change, based on leaks and roadmaps :

VR : Sony, Oculus, Valve.
AR : Google, MS.
?? : Nintendo

Did I miss out any stakeholder in the battle for your eyes?

mrklaw · Nov 19, 2013

~~Hasan~~ said:
why they don't team up with OR ?

i mean its there already :/

they might support OR. It doesn't say they're producing their own hardware. Valve are a software company - although maybe if steamboxes take off they might branch out a bit more into hardware. But this is more likely to be showing a prototype of what they expect VR to be capable of in a couple of years, and how Steam would respond to that in terms of UI navigation etc.

Tooi · Nov 19, 2013

Delibes said:
This is my most anticipated tech release in years. It truly is going to change the landscape forever. I'm amazed by people who fail to see this.

I agree. I can't wait to purchase the full version sometime next year. Unless ofcourse Valve announce something to blow it out of the water. Like everyones been saying, it's going to be an interesting few years.

Durante · Nov 19, 2013

gofreak said:
It sounds more - perhaps - like they're preparing their software for VR, and they've put together a farther-future prototype to demo it with.

I'd say they're maybe undecided about whether they'll actually put out their own hardware. I guess it will depend on OR adoption and whether Valve thinks they can beat OR on the hardware.

Yes, that's how I read it.

They don't say "we will sell VR HW", they say "great VR HW will be available in 2 years". Valve much rather sells games/services than HW I believe, so if the Rift is good enough (and it will be) I doubt they'll release a competing product.

javac said:
I bet it'll be ok. Kinda like 3D. Seems out of this world and all that but in actual fact probably causes more of a hindrance in most cases. It'll be cool every now and again I guess.

As someone who has extensively used both, I have to say you are wrong. Very wrong. Stereoscopic 3D is a neat little extension to the age old "game on a screen" paradigm. VR is something entirely different.

toddhunter · Nov 19, 2013

Durante said:
Yes, that's how I read it.

They don't say "we will sell VR HW", they say "great VR HW will be available in 2 years". Valve much rather sells games/services than HW I believe, so if the Rift is good enough (and it will be) I doubt they'll release a competing product.

Probably right. But it suggests they at least have made a prototype, so will be interesting to see exactly what they want built.

I still can't see how they will actually build and sell steam machines themselves...so it is going to be a long term plan anyway.

Kreunt · Nov 19, 2013

-Plasma Reus- said:
When they say affordable, what are we talking here? Will cost about the same as a steam machine? Or something closer to a console peripheral like the PS camera.

assuming it will be using similar tech as the Oculus Rift
~$200-$300

Froli · Nov 19, 2013

lightweight VR headset + a handheld size console perfected in less than 10 years.

K.Sabot · Nov 19, 2013

Gotta have some VR competition to stimulate Oculus into getting a damned product out there.

Atomski · Nov 19, 2013

toddhunter said:
I could see Sony or Valve putting a camera on the front to integrate the two. I think it would be really useful to "ghost" in people around you too so nobody scares the shit out of you when playing (a limiter to the technology in the living room in my opinion).

OR already plans on putting a camera on the front

runnin_blue · Nov 19, 2013

IT BEGINS!

RaikuHebi · Nov 19, 2013

Looks like we're all going to be test subjects. For Science.

Seanspeed · Nov 19, 2013

mrklaw said:
they might support OR. It doesn't say they're producing their own hardware. Valve are a software company - although maybe if steamboxes take off they might branch out a bit more into hardware. But this is more likely to be showing a prototype of what they expect VR to be capable of in a couple of years, and how Steam would respond to that in terms of UI navigation etc.

Gotta say, I kinda hope that's all it is.

I know competition is good and all, but I really don't want Oculus Rift to be pushed out by all the big boys.

Durante · Nov 19, 2013

runnin_blue said:
IT BEGINS!

It began in June 2012

Zeknurn · Nov 19, 2013

I can't wait to hear more about nextgen in January. Steam, Steamworks and potentially the next version of Source is no doubt going be the driving force for VR software development.

Xilium · Nov 19, 2013

Atomski said:
Porn says no..

Not even porn could save 3D...

If these things are too expensive, they'll be cost prohibitive to the casual market and if they're too cheap, they'll damage the VR movement via non-optimal tech. $100 seems to be the breaking point for the average consumer when it comes to gaming/pc peripherals and I just don't see a good pair of these coming out under that price point. They already come off as enthusiast products at best (think fight/flight sticks and driving wheels) and flooding the market which a bunch of these devices will only lower the profits of each.

runnin_blue · Nov 19, 2013

Durante said:
It began in June 2012

I meant the fact that all the companies are doing it lol!

Seanspeed · Nov 19, 2013

K.Sabot said:
Gotta have some VR competition to stimulate Oculus into getting a damned product out there.

I'm sure OR are hard at work at this. Its what their entire business depends on, after all.

I'd rather they take their time and do it right than rush a few things in order to meet the competition's deadlines.

jediyoshi · Nov 19, 2013

Atomski said:
Kinda odd.. cause Oculus Rift is also supposed to be at this meeting as well. Surely be some tension if Valve has competing hardware with them.

Anyways not sure how I feel about this.. Im sold on a OR but if Valve is really making their own that kinda makes me want to wait and see now.

Doubt it, OR could use all the help it can promoting VR to the general public and I don't see them wanting to have a monopoly on the discussion or implementation of it. Considering how quick Valve were in implementing OR into TF2, I doubt there were one sided talks happening during discussions between them.

ashecitism · Nov 19, 2013

Durante said:
Yes, that's how I read it.

They don't say "we will sell VR HW", they say "great VR HW will be available in 2 years". Valve much rather sells games/services than HW I believe, so if the Rift is good enough (and it will be) I doubt they'll release a competing product.

I don't know, if they plan to incorporate biometrics the way the following article mentions I can see them releasing their own.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/4/5...chine-valves-video-game-console-of-the-future

What Valve left out of the Steam Controller is almost as intriguing as what went in. Though Valve co-founder Gabe Newell told us that the company wanted to put biometric sensors into game controllers, the team discovered that hands weren't a good source of biofeedback since they were always moving around. However, the team hinted to me strongly that an unannounced future VR headset might measure your body's reaction to games at the earlobe. Such a device could know when youre scared or excited, for instance, and adjust the experience to match.

And during the Nvidia eventSweeney when talking about VR definitely mentioned Valve doing their own.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-carmack-sweeney-andersson-interview?page=3

Tim Sweeney: Epic is looking at it entirely from the software side because [of the] work that Oculus, Valve and others are doing...

and I recall a gaffer saying Carmack said at QuakeCon Valve is having a different approach to their headset

Sephiroth_VII · Nov 19, 2013

I hope Valve's headset a least will try to establish some open standards for how games communicate with VR headsets... Otherwise it's going to be such a pain in the ass a few years down the road when devs have to worry about 5-6 different APIs.

Atomski · Nov 19, 2013

Xilium said:
Not even porn could save 3D...

If these things are too expensive, they'll be cost prohibitive to the casual market and if they're too cheap, they'll damage the VR movement via non-optimal tech. $100 seems to be the breaking point for the average consumer when it comes to gaming/pc peripherals and I just don't see a good pair of these coming out under that price point. They already come off as enthusiast products at best (think fight/flight sticks and driving wheels) and flooding the market which a bunch of these devices will only lower the profits of each.

This is much different than ur usual peripherals.. Its an input device and a screen. I think it could be easily successful at at around 300 dollars.

jediyoshi said:
Doubt it, OR could use all the help it can promoting VR to the general public and I don't see them wanting to have a monopoly on the discussion or implementation of it. Considering how quick Valve were in implementing OR into TF2, I doubt there were one sided talks happening during discussions between them.

Yeah hopefully, sure things will become more clear at this conference.

mrklaw · Nov 19, 2013

Xilium said:
Not even porn could save 3D...

If these things are too expensive, they'll be cost prohibitive to the casual market and if they're too cheap, they'll damage the VR movement via non-optimal tech. $100 seems to be the breaking point for the average consumer when it comes to gaming/pc peripherals and I just don't see a good pair of these coming out under that price point. They already come off as enthusiast products at best (think fight/flight sticks and driving wheels) and flooding the market which a bunch of these devices will only lower the profits of each.

porn would be amazing in the OR. I tried that demo of the nude woman from that guy that does high res scans, and it was fucking eerie how real it seems.

VR is nothing like watching a 3D movie. Being 'in' the world, combined with perfect stereoscopy, motion tracking and a real sense of scale is orders of magnitude better than wearing 3D glasses.

Support NeoGAF

Valve to Demo VR Hardware

Member

Member

Member

Service guarantees member status

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Junior Member

Member

GAF's Bob Woodward

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

gave away the keys to the kingdom.

Member

Member

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4

Banned

Member

Member

Member

MrArseFace

Neo Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

MrArseFace

Similar threads