Valve is lastly giving some like to these nonetheless seeking to play their VR video games on Steam. The newly-released SteamVR 2.0 has lastly introduced its digital actuality interface in keeping with its extra present Steam and Steam Deck. The corporate previewed this replace a month in the past when it entered beta, and the replace needs to be going out to all customers.
What’s here replaces the previous dashboard, providing far simpler entry to standardized Steam options. The brand new UI features a facet toolbar with tabs for customers’ library, the Steam retailer, mates, and downloads. The facet panel is sort of an identical to the Steam Deck’s present format as a result of why reinvent the wheel?
On the underside of the brand new VR dashboard, customers can shortly get a way of the battery life on their particular person VR remotes and shortly entry notifications. It is a helpful characteristic since customers can now entry Steam Chat and Voice Chat from the principle SteamVR dashboard.
The drop-down keyboard has additionally lastly allowed customers to kind with two cursors from each controllers. The keyboard incorporates extra languages, and you’ll lastly ship emojis to mates by the chat shopper. If Valve ever permits customers to ship GIFs to mates shortly, Steam chat can have lastly entered the 2020s.
There’s additionally the same old slew of bug fixes and some enhancements, corresponding to a button to toggle multitasking view on Home windows 10 and 11 desktop overlays. Desktop home windows also needs to share their icon alongside their title.
September’s last major update in September added OpenXR extension assist for builders, although there hasn’t been a significant overhaul of the SteamVR ecosystem in years, particularly as Valve appeared to place all their consideration towards creating the Steam Deck (regardless of how glitchy mine nonetheless appears to be).
Although this can be a substantial replace, the corporate has but to disclose whether or not it plans to refresh the $1,000 Valve Index headset. Simply final month, Meta totally revealed its Quest 3 headset which incorporates some augmented reality features with full-color passthrough. However since that headset’s 2019 launch and the VR-exclusive recreation Half Life: Alex, Valve’s VR ambitions have laid dormant. There are loose rumors Valve’s {hardware} groups have been drilling down on a so-called “Deckard” unit that may work alongside a full SteamOS-based Console constructed to assist high-end gaming and VR. There’s been virtually no affirmation on any of those rumors, in order that they have to be taken with a gallon of pure-grade salt.
If Valve lastly re-enters the VR {hardware} house, they’d be doing so at an fascinating time. Apple is ready to release its Vision Pro mixed reality headset early subsequent 12 months. VR headset shipments have been down across the board in 2023, however Apple is perhaps a sufficiently big title to create new buzz surrounding headsets, sufficient that Valve would possibly push much more {hardware} to go together with its redesigned VR UI.
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