The official store page for the Valve Index is reside now, that includes tech specs on the brand new VR headgear and controller combo, a June 28th launch date and a price-tag. If you’ve obtained no different VR tools and that is your first set of space-goggles, it’ll set you again a cool £919/€1079/$999. The full package contains two monitoring base-stations, the headset itself and a pair of their next-gen finger-tracking controllers, previously often known as Knuckles. There are cheaper choices for individuals who already personal HTC Vive or Vive Pro {hardware}, as the bottom stations and controllers are cross-compatible.
The headset itself, whereas not a large leap in tech, seems to be roughly on par with the Vive Pro. Twin 1440 x 1600 RGB LCD screens, and Valve say they’ve enormously lowered (though haven’t fairly overwhelmed) the “screen door” impact. These screens run at 120hz natively, however may also scale right down to 90hz for compatibility, and even as much as an “experimental” 144hz. It has built-in off-ear headphones, supposed to cut back stress on the noggin and hopefully be much less sizzling and sweaty after prolonged use. It additionally has a pair of front-facing cameras, permitting full stereo pass-through imaginative and prescient.
The most essential a part of the bundle is the controllers, which appear to be a significant step ahead. Strapped to your palms (and thus exhausting to drop or throw by chance), they monitor finger positions and stress, in addition to providing extra conventional trackpads, analogue sticks and buttons. The finger monitoring alone has the potential to vary how VR interplay feels. Before, whether or not an object was grabbed or not was a binary on/off course of dealt with by a digital hand. I’m to see how folks react to having the ability to gently choose up gadgets between thumb and forefinger.
Valve say that “all VR titles” will work with the Index Controllers utilizing commonplace controls, but additionally supplied an inventory of games that will probably be releasing updates particularly for the brand new gear. That contains Vacation Simulator, Arizona Sunshine, Audioshield, Gorn and Accounting+, and a few upcoming games like Boneworks (under) and No Man’s Sky VR. You can see the full list here. The headset also needs to be the primary available on the market with common compatibility. They declare that “HTC Vive, HTC Vive Pro, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality headsets will work with the Valve Index”.
It looks as if spectacular {hardware}, with broad compatibility. My solely concern is that their speak of enhancing field-of-view by way of transferring the optics nearer to the eyes is that my glasses might get in the best way. While I might strive switching to contact lenses, I’d moderately keep away from that, and each PSVR and Vive headsets have allowed me to maintain my eyewear on with out an excessive amount of problem. I admit that I’m on this, and it would nicely be my first piece of VR tools. But I’ll most likely wait till opinions and opinions are in, maybe a {hardware} revision or two, and ideally a reduction.
Pre-orders open for the Index tomorrow, May 1st, and the headset ships on June 28th. You can discover it here on Steam. The full bundle prices £919/€1079/$999, the Headset + Controller bundle (in case you already personal base stations) is £689/€799/$749, and particular person headsets, base stations and controller pairs value £459/€539/$499, £139/€159/$149 and £259 respectively. Valve have additionally launched a small, free Steam app to verify in case your PC is beefy sufficient to run the headset.
