After hearing so much and seeing so little, we’re finally going to see in Steam VR Tracking 2.0 in the flesh at CES 2018, Las Vegas. There’s plenty of demand from virtual reality (VR) fans for Steam and Valve to introduce their latest iteration of their VR tracking technology, especially since the base stations with Steam VR Tracking 2.0 should be smaller, quieter, use less power and be generally more reliable and more inexpensive than the 1.0 version.
Now users will be able to link four base stations together for more accurate tracking, over a space of 10×10 metres – congratulations if you have an empty room in your house that big.
Users are expected to get their hands on the new technology this year, with far better performance than the 1.0 iteration of the tech.
The HTC Vive was the very first device that allowed users to experience room-scale VR, and Valve are happy to report that they’ve had over 1,000 licensees signed up to incorporate the tech into their head-mounted displays (HMDs) and other devices.
It arrives at the perfect time, as we’ve just had confirmation of the HTC Vive Pro, which offers improved resolution over the original HTC Vive, giving Steam VR users a clearer and more immersive experience than ever before.
Not content with just a small few announcements, we also had confirmation of the HTC Vive Wireless Adapter, which is compatible with both the HTC Vive and HTC Vive Pro, and gives users an official way to experience untethered VR.
Last year, Valve’s Joe Ludwig said of Steam VR Tracking 2.0; “In early 2018, we’ll expand that functionality to 4 base stations that should cover a single room play space of roughly 10 x 10 meters.” Now Ludwig’s promises are becoming reality, and that massive space increase will heavily impact the immersion of room-scale VR.
For all of the latest on announcements from CES 2018, make sure to keep reading VRFocus, where we’ll have impressions, news, announcements and all of the latest VR tidbits straight from the show floor.