Virtual Reality tech has a long way to go

Just as we were getting excited about potential Valve Virtual Reality (VR) hardware news emerging from Steam Dev Days, it turns out that we may have jumped the gun a little.

Valve has clarified that they have no plans to release their own VR hardware – but this may change. Valve is committed to working with Oculus to drive PC-based VR in the market and is collaborating with them on various projects.

Emerging from the VR workshop, Valve reckons that proper, affordable consumer-grade VR hardware will be available within 2 years – in 2015 or soon after.

Valve envisions PC being the hotbed for VR development, with Linux, Windows, and OSX being the main platforms. Rapid evolution is expected in the field, as demonstrated with the ongoing development of the Oculus Rift.

Valve wants to encourage many developers and independent hardware vendors to get involved, with complete freedom to innovate.

According to slides from the workshops, the following challenges remain:

Wider field of view
Better resolution
Low pixel persistence (ghosting)
High refresh rate
Global display
Optics and optical calibration
Reliable tracking
Low latency

Looking to 2015, Valve discussed what would be feasible for a consumer head-mounted VR display.

20ms latency
3ms pixel persistence
95Hz refresh rate
110-degree field of view
1,000 x 1,000 pixel resolution
High-quality, well-calibrated optics
Tracking:
- millimeter-accurate resolution translation
- quarter-degree-accurate rotation
- volume of roughly 2 meters cubed

Valve outlined stuff that still needs to be done for a good consumer grade VR headset:

Improve key elements:
- Up to 100x resolution needed
- Optics are far from optimal
- Head tracking not solved
- Eye tracking not solved
Solve per-user lens positioning (IPD, eye relief)
Get rid of the tether (wireless)
Display manufacturers creating VR optimised panels
3D audio
Haptic feedback
Body tracking
Integration of inputs and game design in VR