Valve Shipping New VR Controllers and A Portal-Themed Demo to Developers

New Steam VR controllers aren’t very far from Public Use

Valve

Credit: Valve, HTC Vive

VR gaming has just started, and it is growing by the minute. At first two companies released VR headsets for the PC the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. The problem with the PC VR headsets is the high price. To use the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, you will have to buy a PC that costs around $500 and the headset costs at least $399.99. On the console side of things, PS 4 gamers can get the PS VR for only $199.99 (without the controller). Of course, the PC side of things is more advanced than the console side especially the tracking. Oculus Rift’s controller is the most advanced VR controller available in the market right now. It can track little things such as your fingers. Many gamers choose to buy the Oculus Rift over the HTC Vive because of the better controller. According to Steam HTC is making controllers for the Vive that are very similair to Oculus Rift’s controllers. Valve is shipping the new controllers to developers right now.

When playing games in VR it is sometimes hard to control your character with the original Vive controller since it doesn’t have a thumbstick. Valve has also placed a new input on EV2 the Track Button. It is going to be very easy to use the Track Button as according to Valve it is a natural place to put your thumb when holding the controller. The Track Button can detect the amount of force that you put on it similair to Apple’s 3D touch.

Valve has been hard at work to track the player’s fingers by using the Skeletal Input. Players can use the Skeletal input to immerse players more in their games. There is also a force sensor on the side of the handle of the controller which is going to be very useful for developers.

Tags and Keywords:

Technology, Video Games, Valve, HTC Vive, SteamVR Knuckles EV2

Ali F
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