Valve has been Linux friendly. It says the new steam frame “is a PC” and will run Steam OS but I feel like there’s an insinuation that, like the steam deck, you can install whatever you like. I am cautiously excited at the premise of really digging in and having a Linux box strapped to my face.
Another friend has already referred to it as the Linux Vision Pro.
Edit: watching Linus tech tips review, it mentions side loading Android APKs as well
I’m very curious what the details are. A Linux Vision Pro sounds very enticing. It could be a lot of fun for inventing new user interaction modalities.
I know Valve is all about this. They insisted on having a USB port on the Index HMD just so people could attach dodads to it.
The SimulaVR headset is more that target (AR and spatial computing stuff). This is more standalone and PCVR streaming (monochrome cameras).
Though all their work opensource wise should make both headsets better
I’m hoping it won’t cost the earth.
Yeah that was my main thought about this and the Steam Machine as well. If it’s a nice cheap way to get a kind-of-mid gaming PC I can see it doing well, but if it’s the same price as a regular PC I don’t really see the point of it.
If it costs the same as a steam deck that would be alright with me!
Pricing it right would get them soooo much traction. And mean the buzz they’ve got around this is insane
I think you probably need to understand the underpinnings of what Valve accomplished over the past few years to understand why the Frame is useful.
Essentially, it’s a Deck strapped to your face. Same OS, same everything, just different hardware platform.
Valve spent the time to revamp SteamOS in order to make it more portable to various devices, which are now launching. Couple that with their efforts on Proton, and you have an entire ecosystem with very little in the way of preventing people from adopting these devices with their ease of use.
Steam Deck was just sort of the appetizer and test launch to gauge interest and build a fully functional hardware development and support vertical in the company, and it was wildly successful. I guarantee (if they can get the price right) that the Frame will sell WAY more units than the awful Vision Pro. I honestly think people might adopt this over buying another version of the Deck if it’s comfortable.
Some things I expect to happen with the Frame launch:
- A more expanded integration of Desktop features. If Valve doesn’t do it, the community will.
- Virtual screen management
- Theater mode for viewing media
- Virtualized VR input (like steam-input but VR)
- Pairing capabilities for multiplayer
- Half-Life 3 release (not joking)
Just realized… We can probably plug the frame into a dock.
The VR desktop space already had some traction. This is probably just a heap of fuel on that fire. I’m excited tbh
Another thing thing they did as a side quest to make this happen is apparently massive improvements for x86 on arm emulation. Crazy cool work from them all
Not a gaming focused headset. Might be of interest to you.
Thanks for sharing, I’ll look into this!
I’ve had an HTC vive for like the last 7 years. I always loved it and still use it when I can. But its limitations are very obvious and the age is starting to show. I’ve been wanting to upgrade with an index but never found the right moment and my play time has decreased considerably.
Now this one… It looks amazing! So many improvements! And at the same time a bit scary, can the streaming work well enough? I haven’t had great experience with it but have never really needed it either. That dongle looks like a must. Will the tracking be good enough without the external lighthouses? That would be a great improvement in play area for me if so. The battery seems like a risk factor too but I’m far less worried about that.
And finally the one thing that has me raising my eyebrows in confusion, what is it with the controllers? They seem okayish enough for normal gaming in the headset and OK enough for tracking them… But it seems like a regression from the index controllers with finger tracking and no need to constantly hold it grabbing onto it thanks to the straps. I wonder if the index ones would still be the best for proper VR gaming. And with the steam controller also being tracked, I’d rather use that for any other gaming.
Overall I’m excited and I might jump at the opportunity of finally upgrading the vive but quite a few questions remain to be solved. Too important questions for buying it right away when released.
Take another look at the controller info. They have finger tracking and it looks like you can add accessories that will let you open your hand without dropping them.
Like I wrote in answer to the other comment. I might have misunderstood due to ignorance what the capacitive tracking was, I expected something more of a touch area in the bottom of the controller as indicated in the specification section. I’ll need to look at the accessories and check the videos released. So far all I could do is check the description in steam. Anyway thanks for bringing it up, I found it weird they wouldn’t support that.
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