Valve surprised fans after revealing and adding a new VR headset to the Steam store. This new VR headset gear is called the Valve Index. But aside from its image, the store page shows nothing more than the words “Upgrade your experience. May 2019.”
The last set of words “May 2019” may suggest that further details and information about the new VR gear will be released next month. But from the images of Valve Index alone, we can note a few things that can tell more about its features — the interpupillary and viewing distance adjustment notches. But aside from that, everything is shrouded in mystery.
But some fans have already speculated about its possible features. Its cameras are said to use Inside Out tracking, a function similar to the new Oculus Rift S and the Window Mixed Reality headsets. This means that Valve Index won’t need any light gates to detect motions just like on the standard Oculus Rift. But such a feature requires a good controller to make sure that the tracking isn’t lost while you’re playing the game.
A power button can also be seen in the image located at the right side of the Index VR. While some say that it could be a reset button or something that could adjust some of the VR’s features, most fans believe that it is Index’s power button.
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However, when it comes to its controllers, it is more likely that Valve will use Knuckle controllers, which the company has been working on for a while now. These controllers are said to be the next generation of controllers for VR.
It is also possible that the Valve Index was the VR set that was leaked last year. At that time, it was reported that Valve was working with their own VR headgear that will come with the new motion controllers called “Knuckles.” It is also said to feature two new cameras and integrated headphones.
But what made fans more excited about the VR headgear was the fact that it was being developed for a rumored upcoming Half-Life VR game. Some fans also found an underlying code in Dota 2 that showed a phrase including the letters “HLVR.” Valve also released an update last November 2018 on the Steam VR app Destinations which mentioned the same code.
The Valve Index will be Valve’s first line to be introduced to the VR headset market. It is said that the company’s goal is for it to compete against other high-end VR headsets on Steam VR Platform including HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
While no further details were released by Valve about Index, all we know is that you need to have a powerful gaming PC that can compatibly run with the headgear. So you might want to invest early on a computer gear before Valve could even release Index to the market.
