Valve's VR prototype at SteamDevDays

[d2kx]

Alongside an updated Steam Controller, which you can see on several sites and hopefully soon on Phoronix, Valve has shown, behind closed doors, their own VR prototype similar to the Oculus Rift. This is what a developer (David Hensley) has to say:

Valve?s VR demo at #SteamDevDays felt like being in a lucid dream state and very much like a holo deck

similar to oculus. It felt like an oculus but a generational leap forward

resolution is way higher, super low latency and accurate position/rotation head tracking. I was able to physically walk around

I could walk around an area freely and felt like was in an altered state of consciousness.

Being someone who works with the Oculus Rift everyday for an university project, I am already stunned with the "old" prototype I have access to. I didn't believe the hype until I was able to try it... VR is unbelieveable with the new tech, and it will be the future of gaming.

Also, the talks from SteamDevDays will be made public, but with a few weeks delay as unannounced products are being discussed.

[d2kx]

Another dev confirmed Valve is talking a LOT about the Source 2 engine and that they want it to be OpenGL/Linux optimized from the start. No more DirectX.

[[Knuckles]]

I've tried the old Occulus Rift prototype and was very impressed: clearly in 5 years a lot of people will own something like that, no doubt on my mind.
But it still had a ways to go, especially with the low resolution.

If Valve is demoing something that goes so much further that the Rift...wow! I can't wait to check it out.

[curaga]

I wonder if they solved the nausea-headache issues the Oculus has for some people?

[grigi]

Didn't Micheal Abrash state that in an interview he was working on VR stuff at valve?
Considering that Abrash is considered to have phenomenal attention to detail, any project where he is involved with tends to excel technically.

I have read many of his stuff, he has been an inspiration to me to always try and get the details right :-)

[Krysto]

I wonder if they solved the nausea-headache issues the Oculus has for some people?

Yes, they did with the recent Crystal Cove prototype. Compared to the original 1280x800 prototype, the consumer one will most likely also have a 2560x1440 resolution, so almost 4x the pixels, or "retina" for Oculus. I doubt it will arrive until mid/late 2015 though.

[d2kx]

Didn't Micheal Abrash state that in an interview he was working on VR stuff at valve?
Considering that Abrash is considered to have phenomenal attention to detail, any project where he is involved with tends to excel technically.

I have read many of his stuff, he has been an inspiration to me to always try and get the details right :-)

http://steamdb.info/blog/43/

There are some slides from his talk. Valve's VR prototype was slightly better than the Oculus Rift Crystal Cove from last week.