New footage of Valve’s new ‘Knuckles’ controllers has emerged over the past few days, as developers begin to test out the new device. The ‘next-gen’ SteamVR controller prototypes represent a major advancement over the current Vive motion controllers, with five finger tracking and an ‘open hand’ grip.
The new controllers have been shipping to select developers, with prominent VR studio Cloudhead Games being one of the first the receive packages, which they’ve been keen to share on social media. A short video (heading this article) was released to their YouTube channel, presented by Cloudhead’s CEO and Creative Director Denny Unger, showing the simple package and intuitive hardware design.
Unger points out that you can grab and use them just like the Vive controllers, but the “magic happens” when you pull the cord to tighten the cinch that allows the user to fully release their grip. This short clip from Cloudhead shows the sort of advantages that can bring:
Playing around within the default SteamVR Home environment using a ‘five finger’ hand model option for the avatar, Unger highlights the capacitive sensors on the grip that allow for individual finger detection, and the trackpad that offers a more granular control of the virtual thumb position. The studio has been closely associated with Valve’s new design from an early stage, having been asked to create a demo for the first prototype hardware at its announcement at Steam Dev Days last year.
Other short clips of the controllers in action show developers rolling their fingers across the grip and ‘flipping the bird’, along with reactions and ‘unboxings’ from other notable VR studios such as Owlchemy Labs, Radial Games and Vertigo Games; see a collection of these Twitter ‘Moments’ here. Valve have not revealed their plans for a consumer version of the Knuckles controllers at this time.
GameFace Labs, one of the earliest companies to begin development of a standalone VR headset, is back with the latest version of their prototype device now featuring SteamVR (AKA Lighthouse) tracking running on the Android-based system.
We’ve been following the GameFace development story since back in 2014 when they showed us what VR looked like at 2,560 x 1,440 resolution, long before the first headsets of that resolution would actually hit the market. Though they intended to ship a development kit not long thereafter, those plans were foiled by the young and rapidly changing VR market. We’d watched continued development of the headset over the years since then, and now it seems, thanks to a stabilizing ecosystem, GameFace is honing in on their new goal of delivering a development kit by the end of 2017.
Custom SteamVR Tracking
Photo by Road to VR
At E3 2017 this week, I saw the latest prototype of their standalone VR headset—which GameFace founder Ed Mason calls the EP1—now running with the latest version of Android and with custom SteamVR Tracking hardware which allows the headset to be tracked using a Lighthouse basestation. As a standalone headset, the device has everything needed for a VR experience directly on-board, like a display, processor, lenses, and battery—which means no need to rely on an external computer for rendering.
Building the tracking hardware is one challenge, but GameFace also had a lot of work to do on the Android side to get it to understand and calculate the tracking data, Mason said. He confirmed that the SteamVR Tracking was being handled 100% on the headset, rather than the more trivial task of having it sent out to a PC for processing and then sent back to the headset. With SteamVR Tracking integrated, the headset can use the tracking system for 6DOF movement while running on-board content,with no need for a PC.
The tracking as it stands now—which works but is far from usable—is just a proof of concept, Mason tells me, to show that they’re able to get SteamVR Tracking functioning on Android. Now there’s lots of optimization to be done, including upgrading the headset’s current internals to something more powerful so that there’s more processing power available for the SteamVR Tracking calculations to run alongside the VR application, he says.
SteamVR Support
Photo by Road to VR
In addition to on-board SteamVR Tracking, GameFace is developing an OpenVR driver for the headset to allow it to join into the SteamVR ecosystem. This will allow users to tether the GameFace headset to their computer and play SteamVR games rendered with the full power of their PC. In this case, the tracking processing would be handled on the PC, Mason says.
Daydream Support
In addition to supporting high-end SteamVR content while tethered to a PC, Mason says the headset will officially support Google’s Daydream platform, allowing owners to download and play Daydream games from the Android store. The eventual GameFace consumer headset will be offered under the umbrella of the standalone Daydream headsets alongside the likes of HTC and Lenovo which announced such headsets in the works last month, Mason told me.
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Photo by Road to VR
If GameFace delivers what they’re promising, it would be the first headset to support both SteamVR and Daydream platforms in a single VR headset. The development kit, due out by the end of 2017, will feature the same 2,560 x 1,440 resolution as the current prototype but get a significant bump from 60Hz to 90Hz. Mason also says they’re aiming to make the development kit nearly 50% smaller than the current headset which is rather bulky thanks to the addition of the prototype SteamVR Tracking hardware.
In August of last year, Valve created the SteamVR licensing program to allow any developer to create their very own SteamVR tracked object. At that time, Valve partnered with Synapse, a Seattle-area product development firm, to provide a mandatory training program for all SteamVR licensees. Road to VR met with Synapse’s electrical engineering program lead and SteamVR Tracking instructor, Doug Bruey, to talk about the tracking system and how it will be used by companies in the future.
From his experience teaching the SteamVR Tracking course, Bruey has an inside view on what companies are doing with the technology and when we might begin to see the fruits of their labor.
Road to VR:
How many students went through the SteamVR tracking training course?
Doug Bruey:
We had 15 courses with 149 attendees from 113 different companies.
Road to VR:
What was the mix of the students by their respective industries?
Doug Bruey:
It was really varied. I would say it’s 50% from gaming, but from the earliest classes we saw people from a variety of different markets. We’ve seen people from the automotive industry, advertising, athletics, gaming, computers, education, hospitals, industrial training and farming. We’ve had a couple different NASA contractors come through who were working on training simulations and setups for astronauts. There’s usually a pretty big part of the class that will be working on gaming and gaming accessories but the other half will come from other markets that you may not have expected.
What’s the best guess for when the first product will come out from one of these course graduates?
Doug Bruey:
I would guess that you might expect to see something announced at the end of this year. The typical product cycle being about 18 months. Since people started taking this course in the fall of last year, once they get back and get started, I would expect you might start to see some products being announced and released towards the end of this year and beginning of next.
Road to VR:
Getting to Seattle is a difficulty for some VR startups. Is having a remote course something that you would consider providing in the future?
Doug Bruey:
It’s something that we’d be willing to do if there were people in who are interested in bringing us out. In March, Valve announced that the course is no longer required for licensees because the documentation has been dialed in well enough and the tools have been refined enough that people can pick it up and get the work started up on their own. Since that happened, we’ve seen a drop off in demand for the course because people don’t have to take it. They can go off and do it on their own.
We think the course can really accelerate the development effort and make sure that companies are really on the fast track for things they need to learn up front and to avoid any pitfalls. But we are a product development firm as well as a technical training firm, so if people are able to pick up the documentation and run with it and do the work they want to do, then the more power to them really. This technology will have wider access in the marketplace because there are fewer barriers to getting started.
Doug Bruey at the Synapse SteamVR Tracking training course
Road to VR:
You’ve produced some prototype hardware for the course and that seems like something that people would still like to have access to. Is there any way for people to purchase or acquire that from Synapse?
Doug Bruey:
We’ve developed prototype circuit boards and built that into a [tracked] reference object. Licensees get access to all the design files and they get access to everything they need to build it up themselves. If they want to buy hardware off-the-shelf, that reference design has been picked up by Triad Semiconductor. That is the group that developed the ASIC for the photo-sensor and you can buy those and the circuit boards themselves directly from Triad Semiconductor. We’ve developed the designs and Triad is producing them for retail.
Last year at Steam Dev Days, Valve unveiled the knuckle controllers. Is that something that Synapse had a role in developing?
Doug Bruey:
Insofar as the new controller from Valve is based off of the electrical and firmware architecture that Synapse helped develop: we’ve definitely been involved in that way. But the product development, in terms of its ergonomics and its mechanics and controls and all the things that make that a unique product, that is a Valve effort.
Road to VR:
What are you excited for in the future of virtual and augmented reality?
Doug Bruey:
I’m excited to see how it moves into other markets and what kind of solutions it creates in places that nobody expected. Just like gaming is the tip of the spear in the performance of PCs, people take advantage of that in order to improve completely different computing areas. I see the same thing happening with VR.
On the market side, gaming is going to drive VR forward and once it becomes commercially viable at a consumer price point, then people with fantastic ideas in therapy or medical devices or cinema or any of these other areas, then they are going to get access to that technology because it will be reduced to a price that they can afford to play around with and develop on. At that point, we’ll see whole new solutions pop up in those areas. I’m really interested to see where VR finds its unique place in these other market verticals.
The other part of the other part of it that I’m really interested to see is where it’s going to drive technology, too. We have these ultra-high resolution displays on our laptops and our brain thinks “Wow, I can’t tell the difference between them anymore because my eyes can’t see the pixels.” Where does the display technology go from here? I think it’s interesting how we are going to need something like 16K displays because our eyes are so close to them. In order to get that retina-display resolution in a VR setting, we are going to need even higher resolutions.
The other thing is there are different video compression methods that are needed. Right now, for Netflix and other online video distribution platforms, latency isn’t a problem, so they can use compression methods that work across multiple frames. They get incredibly high compression ratios in order to deliver that content, but with VR the drive is always going to be how do I get that tether off of my system? How do I become as unencumbered as possible with no wire and hopefully no backpack on my back? If you do that and you want to communicate that video wirelessly, especially when you get up to 4K or higher, it’s going to be an incredible amount of data. It also needs to be delivered with incredibly low latency, down below 25 milliseconds or so, and so you can’t afford to wait to offer up multiple frames for your compression algorithm. You need to be able to do your compression in a smarter, lower latency way. I think we’re going to start to see some really interesting development in VR compression and ultimately gaming in general.
VR is going to again be the tip of the spear, it’s going to be driving the lowest latency possible. But then who knows what people are going to find use for that in other applications, from gaming to anything else that is trying to deliver really low latency video.
Valve’s SteamVR Tracking system is great for VR but certainly not limited to it. For developers, hackers, researchers, and more who might have use for an inexpensive high accuracy, low latency, 6 DOF positional tracking system, it’s possible to use the new Vive Trackers or controllers (even with a single base station) without needing to shell out for the full $800 Vive system.
Guest Article by Luke Beno
Beno runs Triad Semiconductor’s Arctic VR Lab (aka Triad’s Green Bay Lab – Go Pack!). Triad Semiconductor worked with Valve Corporation to create the Light to Digital Converter ICs (TS3633) for SteamVR Tracking. Beno speaks Python and English and his office smells of solder and 3D printing. He spends his days and nights ensuring that SteamVR Tracking ICs and systems provide precision tracking and he supports SteamVR users around the globe with the development of Tracked Objects.
The purpose of this tutorial is to provide step by step guidance on how to get started with SteamVR Tracking 6DOF positional tracking for as little as $235. In this tutorial, the latest version of SteamVR Beta, is coupled with python 3.6, the pyopenvr library and the triad_openvr Python wrapper.
Download and install the above software components
Locate the following configuration file and open it with a text editor: <Steam Directory>steamappscommonSteamVRresourcessettingsdefault.vrsettings
Search for the “requireHmd” key under “steamvr”, set the value of this key to “false”. The following is a .vrsettings file that has been tested as functional:
If SteamVR is running, close and restart it
When SteamVR restarts, you will see that it is now possible to connect a tracker or controller without the HMD. Note: “Not Ready” text is normal and does not impact this tutorial
Open a command prompt and navigate to the folder where triad_openvr was unzipped
If you are testing with a Vive Tracker, run the following script
python tracker_test.py
If you are testing with a Controller, run the following script
python controller_text.py
As the script executes, you will see numbers updating at 250Hz. These are the realtime 6DOF pose coordinates!
The purpose of this tutorial was strictly to provide a quick proof of concept that demonstrates that an HMD is in fact not a requirement for use of SteamVR.
Python is an extremely extensible language and this example code may provide a basis for many derivative projects. These same concepts also easily apply to other programming languages such as C, C++ C#, etc.
The Vive Tracker, a ‘puck’-like device designed to attach to objects to track them in VR via the SteamVR Tracking system, went on sale this week after 1,000 units went out to developers earlier this year. One developer aptly demonstrated the tracking performance by juggling a trio of Trackers in VR.
We’ve seen people juggle virtual objects in VR, but what about real objects that are tracked using the SteamVR Tracking system? Thanks to the high-quality tracking performance of the HTC Vive tracker, that’s apparently now a possibility.
Steve Bowler, co-founder of Cloud Gate Studio, shot a quick video of himself juggling three active Vive Trackers while wearing the Vive headset. Even as the devices are spinning through the air and being occasionally occluded by his hands, they appear to maintain robust tracking the entire time. For juggling of course, it isn’t just accuracy of the objects that’s important, but also the latency.
Bowler must be quite confident in the Vive Tracker’s capability, as that’s $300 worth of equipment being juggled. And while some seasoned jugglers might be able to juggle spheres with their eyes closed or blindfolded, the irregular shape of the Vive Tracker and the way it spins through the air makes it all the more challenging. As we see in the video, it appears Bowler is relying quite heavily on the information he’s seeing through the headset (the location, direction, and speed of the Trackers through the air) to accomplish this task.
For $99 each, the Vive Tracker became openly available for sale this week, though with the accessory ecosystem just getting underway, it’s still at this point recommended only for developers. Later this year HTC is expected to push the device more widely to businesses and consumers.
The popular forms of mobile VR headsets, such as the Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream View and Cardboard, are currently limited to rotational head tracking, meaning that you can look around comfortably from a single vantage point, but movements of the head through 3D space (like leaning forward or backward) cannot be tracking. Positional tracking adds not only comfort but also immersion to virtual reality, and is a feature of all major tethered VR headsets. However, achieving the same on mobile VR has proved challenging.
As a highly desirable feature for mobile VR headsets, positional tracking has been a priority for Oculus’ internal development for a long time, and various alternative solutions such as VicoVR and Univrses are beginning to appear. While the future points to self-contained, ‘inside-out’ tracking, already found on Microsoft’s Mixed Reality headsets and Google’s Tango technology, Utah State University students Brady Riddle and Sam Jungertat have created a positional tracking solution for Gear VR that uses Valve’s well-proven SteamVR Tracking system.
Three infrared sensors, detecting the flashes from an HTC base station (Lighthouse technology), are attached to the front of the Gear VR headset and connected to a microcontroller, which collects the timing data. The data is sent to a computer via UDP packet over Wi-Fi, and the results are displayed using the game engine Unity, as shown in the brief demonstration video heading this article.
Though this project was academic in nature, it does point to one potential solution for positional tracking on mobile VR headsets—a system which would use rotational tracking as a baseline, but then be able to add positional tracking via the SteamVR Tracking technology when at home and near base stations.
Tactical Haptics, developers of the Reactive Grip controller, are showing their latest prototypes now with attachments for the Vive Tracker, Oculus Touch, and a custom-built SteamVR Tracking solution. The controller employs a unique solution to haptic feedback which aims to recreate the feeling of friction against objects in your hands rather than just rumble. The company is moving toward bringing a development kit of the device to developers.
Tactical Haptics has been in development of their Reactive Grip haptic technology for several years now. Having shown off some of their earliest prototypes at GDC 2013—years before HTC and Oculus even began talking about VR motion controllers—tracking has remained a hurdle in getting the product ready for consumers. This (old) video shows the foundation of the haptic technology which we’ve said ‘proves VR needs more than rumble‘.
Vive Tracker and Oculus Touch Tracking
Now that both Oculus’ Constellation and Valve’s SteamVR Tracking systems are deployed in users’ homes, the door is open to using those systems as add-ons to track the Reactive Grip controller for use in VR. That means users who already own Touch or a Vive Tracker can attach those peripherals without the need to bear the cost of additional tracking hardware built into the controller.
While the company had shown off a similar approach previously by attaching the Vive controllers to their haptic controller, Tactical Haptics founder William Provancher says that between the Vive Tracker and Touch controllers, the lighter weight and more compact profiles make the overall device lighter, more balanced, and more comfortable to use. Though that’s not to say that Vive controller adapter might not be offered when the Reactive Grip controller becomes available.
Custom SteamVR Tracking
Thanks to Valve opening up their tracking solution to third-parties over the seven months, Tactical Haptics is also experimenting with a custom SteamVR Tracking solution which could be offered for those who want to buy an all-in-one controller. Provancher says the company attended the SteamVR Tracking development course and had created a working SteamVR Tracking integration for the controller in just a few weeks. Though the company is still refining the integration, Provancher says early tests reveal that it tracks just as well as the Vive Tracker.
At GDC 2017 this week, the company was showing off the new controller prototypes with new mini-games made to show what its like to develop for the controller and what sorts of applications the unique haptic feedback can be applied to.
Using the Reactive Grip controller, I played a game that was something like ‘VR Asteroids’ where I used my hand to fly a little ship around to avoid asteroids and incoming fire from enemy ships. Using the orientation of the controller and the trigger, I could fire the ship’s weapons to destroy asteroids and enemy ships. The controller’s haptics gave me a sense of the ships momentum in my hand and feedback as my ship took damage and fired its weapons.
The other game, Cyber Golf, was like a futuristic version of disc golf where the goal was to throw the disk into a goal which was blocked by obstacles. In the game I held a wand-like tool which could be used to grab the disk. Grabbing on the disc’s edge let me throw it like a frisbee, while grabbing the core extended a laser-rope from the wand-tool that let me whirl the disc over my head like a lasso and then throw it for extra distance. While spinning the disk over my head, the controller gave me a sense of the disc’s weight as its momentum pulled the tool in a circular motion in my hand.
Both mini-games were fun and functional, but not the most compelling demos I’ve seen (and felt) from these controllers. Prior demos that I’ve tried using the controller—like gun shooting, sword wielding, and using a ‘Gravity Gun’-like tool to swing boxes around—gave me a more immersive sense of connection between what I was doing and how the haptics felt on my hand. But, importantly, the new mini-games on display at GDC show how the tech can be applied in a more abstract way, which opens the doors to more gameplay possibilities that would make use of the controller’s unique haptics.
In November, Tactical Haptics announced that they’d raised $2.2 million to finalize a development kit of the Reactive Grip controller, and now the company has begun soliciting developer interest for dev kits. The company suggests reaching out by email to info@tacticalhaptics.com for more details about development kits.
It’s emerged that last year’s Star Wars: Rogue One, used existing virtual reality technology – specifically HTC Vive’s Steam VR tracking – to allow the film’s director to compose visual effects shots for the movie. Watch how it was done.
Whatever you may have thought of the most recent arrival to the Star Wars movie universe, Rogue One had some undeniably impressive visual effects. Those effects have since been nominated for 2 Academy Awards and, thanks to a recent episode of BBC Click, it’s also been revealed that virtual reality technology played a significant role in the direction of them.
If anyone has any interest in visual effects, they’ll be aware of a system called Animatics. It’s a way to digitally storyboard movie sequences, often those which are technically complex or that involve VFX shots in some way, and also to convey (often crudely) shot composition and movement in the scene in question. Animatics have been used for many years to this end, but ultimately the scene being shot will still ultimately shot traditionally. Later came example of directors who embraced realtime Animatics fused with motion capture in order to direct VFX shots using a form of augmented reality. Peter Jackson used such a technique to direct VFX heavy scenes from his Lord of the Rings trilogy for example.
Now, it seems that Star Wars: Rogue One Director Gareth Edwards used off-the-shelf virtual reality technology, specifically Steam VR tracking as used with the HTC Vive, to position and compose some of the epic VFX shots from the movie.
In this video (above) the BBC Click team visited ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) London, who revealed their “VCam Renderer” system and how it was used in the making of the film. The system, which comprises a tablet computer and a Steam VR (Vive) controller strapped to the back, leverages Lighthouse positional tracking to translate its position in real world space to that of a virtual camera, shooting the scene.
Computer graphics supervisor Steve Ellis from ILM London demonstrates the ‘VCam’
Ellis, speaking about why the system was employed for the film, says it was down to Director Edwards’ style. “So he’s a very ‘hands on’ film maker, he likes to walk around his sets and sort of physically pick up the cameras himself and walk around and find interesting angles that might not have occurred to him when he was planning out the shoots in pre-production.” So, the VCam system was born, allowing Edwards to see realtime Animatic of VFX scenes and then for him to position the virtual camera within those scenes, in order that the VFX team could execute the final shot according to his vision.
It’s a testament to the robust accuracy of Valve’s Lighthouse tracking system that Hollywood studios feel confident in adopting this off-the-shelf hardware in making their multi-million dollar blockbusters. If anyone knows of other instances where the technique has been used (or is being used), we’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
Valve is increasingly opening its SteamVR Tracking technology—that which powers the HTC Vive’s room-scale tracking—to the world. The royalty-free system requires no permission from Valve to be embedded and launched as part of third-party products. And now one of the final barriers to entry has been removed: anyone can buy the development hardware to begin building products with the tech.
Earlier this week Valve announced they would no longer require attendance of a $3,000 intro course in order to begin using SteamVR Tracking technology (formerly known as Lighthouse) for product development. The documentation and SDK would be made available online for free.
And now the final piece of the puzzle is here: formerly at the intro course participants were given SteamVR Tracking development kit, a curious hammer-looking device which had the essential SteamVR Tracking components inside. But now anyone can buy those components in the form of the official SteamVR Tracking HDK from Triad Semiconductor, a company who has worked alongside Valve to develop components used in SteamVR Tracking systems.
The SteamVR Tracking HDK starts at $595 and becomes cheaper as order scale increases, down to $500 for 100 units. Each kit contains the following components:
Watchman Core Module iCE40
The Watchman Core module supplies all of the processing power for a SteamVR tracked object.
EVM Application Board
The Application EVM board is a “batteries* included” companion to the Core module. This board breaks out the 80 pin interface connection of the Core module into user accessible ports. (*Note: Due to global regulations for shipping Lithium-Ion batteries, we are unable to provide battery packs at this time.)
“Chiclet” Sensor Module
The Chiclet Sensors are designed to be a small form factor TS3633 based optical sensor designed for placement anywhere inside a tracked object, even in very tight spaces. The schematic is identical to the TS3633-CM1 module but the overall PCB size is reduced to just 6mm by 10mm. The connection interface is a 4pin 0.5mm pitch flat flex connector for point to point signal routing back to the Sensor Breakout board.
Sensor Breakout Board
The Sensor Breakout provides the simple but valuable function of Fanning out the 100 pin connection interface of the Watchman Core module to 32 individual 4 pin connectors that may interface to the Chiclet flat flex connectors. This breakout board has 16 sensor connectors on the top side and an additional 16 sensor connectors on the bottom.
Steam Wireless Dongle
Four packs of 8 4in Flex Cables (32 cables total)
2.4 GHz Antenna with u.FL Cable
The first batch of SteamVR Tracking HDK kits is planned to ship in mid-April. Anyone can buy the hardware, but it should be noted that you do need to be a SteamVR Tracking Licensee (free) in order download the SDK required to program the components. You can find more info about that process at the official SteamVR Tracking website.
Now of course at ~$500/unit, it’s unrealistic to build a consumer product at those costs. The SteamVR Tracking HDK is meant only for prototyping and pre-production development. I asked Triad Semiconductor’s VP of Marketing & Sales, Reid Wender, about the process of going from the HDK to manufacturing a full-blown product at scale.
“[The] next step [following the prototyping phase] would be to take the schematic design (included for free in the SteamVR Tracking SDK) and layout a printed circuit board (PCB) optimized for your application. This would likely be a small rigid PCB for the core module features and some number of flexible PCBs (maybe 2, 4, or 6 depending on your Tracked Object physical design),” Wender said. “You would then send this design along with the electronics component list to a contract manufacturer (CM). The CM would […] procure the electronics and assemble them onto the PCB. You would receive a quotation of a finished factory cost for each assembly based on your production volume. Higher volume of course would mean lower price.”
While the SteamVR Tracking HDK hardware will work with the Base Stations which ship with the consumer HTC Vive (or can be bought standalone from the company), Valve plans to sell upgraded Base Stations directly later this year.
As evident by the decision to begin selling SteamVR Tracking base stations directly later this year, Valve aims to continue driving development of the technology. A look at the latest engineering sample of the next-generation base station model shows a new design approach that simplifies the device down to a single rotor and enhances tracking.
During a recent media briefing at Valve’s headquarters in Bellevue, WA, the company spoke about their ongoing development of three first-party on VR games, their pragmatic view of the young VR market, and also showed a glimpse of the next-generation SteamVR Tracking (AKA Lighthouse) base stations—the small beacons which form the foundation of the tracking system.
In late 2016, Valve showed a glimpse of an early prototype of the new single-rotor base station which was largely derived from earlier models. At Valve’s media briefing this month, PC Gamer captured a closeup of a much evolved engineering sample (seen heading this article), which Valve’s Joe Ludwig confirmed is “where we’re at right now” in development of the device, though cautioned that “anything about this could change” before it begins shipping later this year.
An early prototype of Valve’s laser-based system that would become SteamVR Tracking, circa May 2014
The simplification from a dual-rotor design to a single-rotor design—which smartly condenses horizontal and vertical laser sweeps into a single sweep—may be more significant than it seems at first glance.
“It’s cheaper, it’s smaller, it’s lighter, less noise, lower power, and we think it will be able to track a little better, have a little better field of view.” said Ludwig, who works closely on Valve’s tracking technology. “Basically the next-generation. Better in every way.”
Indeed, an increased field of view is suggested by the design alone, which has a curved front and LED array (used to flash an invisible syncing light), that could emit light more intensely over a wider area. We’re interested to see how much improvements in the base stations combined with advanced sensors will enhance tracking performance (and reduce cost).
Valve’s Chet Faliszek confirmed today via Twitter that the new SteamVR Tracking base stations will be backwards compatible with existing devices like the HTC Vive, and ostensibly with third-party SteamVR Tracking devices currently in development.
Better tracking and a wider field of view are exciting developments for any VR tracking technology, but Valve says that today’s ‘room-scale’ tracking is just the beginning. The company has in the past said that the technology could support more than two base stations at a time. At the media briefing, Valve president Gabe Newell said that the company expects “house scale” tracking in the future, thanks to the ability to “knit together these [tracking] volumes into an arbitrarily large volume.”
