TechVRValve’s Deckard is a Steam Deck for your faceValve’s next slice of gaming heaven could be a rival to Apple’s VR headset and the PSVR 2When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechVRValve’s Deckard is a Steam Deck for your faceValve’s next slice of gaming heaven could be a rival to Apple’s VR headset and the PSVR 2When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Valve’s next slice of gaming heaven could be a rival to Apple’s VR headset and the PSVR 2
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: USPTO)
(Image credit: USPTO)
Valve’sSteam Deckis a great bit of gaming hardware, but can you strap it to your face? Not comfortably. So it’s interesting to see a newly unveiled Valve patent for what appears to be a stand-alone VR headset. The device, codenamed Deckard after the character in Blade Runner, could be the firm’s next hardware release.
What Deckard reveals about Valve’s VR plans
In all honestly, not a lot: most of the patent bangs on about the head strap and how users can both tighten it and loosen it. Comfort is important, of course – the Index was criticised for feeling like you’d strapped a full wheelie bin to your head – but it’s hardly exciting. However, as The Vergereports, YouTuber Brad Lynch has been hunting down Deckard data inside the latest SteamVR beta and it seems that the dev tools and other features for a new headset are already largely in place.
I’m not desperately over-reaching here. Last year, The Verge’s Sean Hollister asked Valve whether the custom AMD-based processing unit of the Steam Deck would work in a standalone VR headset. “We’re not ready to say anything about it,” Valve’s Greg Coomer replied. “But it would run well in that environment… it’s very relevant to us and our future plans.” The Steam Deck isn’t optimised for VR, but Valve boss Gabe Newell told Edge magazine earlier this year that it’s a “stepping stone” towards a high-spec standalone VR headset. “We’re not really there yet,” he added. Perhaps Valve is a lot closer now. I hope so.
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