Engadget reports that Valve Software actually helped Oculus VR create the Crystal Cove VR headset that won so many awards at CES 2014 earlier this month. The news stems from Valve's Steam Dev Days, which took place Wednesday and Thursday, where Valve's Michael Abrash said that the two companies collaborated on the prototype's new tracking features.
According to the report, the new tracking features combine sensors, markers and an external camera to keep track of the wearer's body and head position. There's an assumption that Valve Software is actually rooting for Oculus VR, and has no plans of its own to ship a Valve-produced headset.
Engadget reports that Abrash doesn't expect to see VR technology to really become mainstream for another two years, but he did comment that the Crystal Cove prototype "is a big step in the right direction."
That leads us to an interesting story elsewhere. Despite what was just said, there's talk that yes, Valve does have a VR headset, it was shown at Steam Dev Days, and is super awesome to the max. "I'm a big fan of Oculus, and will buy one," said developer David Hensley in a tweet. "But the Valve demo really blew me away. VR is going to be amazing."
"I didn't get motion sickness," he added. "It was an intense experience, though. The positional tracking goes a long way in fixing that issue."
Hensley also mentioned that Valve's VR headset was able to achieve positional tracking by markers around the room rather than take the Oculus Rift "Crystal Cove" method of using dots on the headset. He said that with Valve's solution, he could even crouch.
The Valve model looks like the Oculus Rift model, but without the plastic shell on it, Hensley added.
