The concept of virtual reality has moved forward by leaps and bounds over the past couple of years thanks largely in part to the efforts of Oculus VR and their upcoming Oculus Rift VR headset. The potential for virtual reality is limitless looking forward but there are some serious obstacles that must first be overcome and one well-known game developer is looking to lead the charge.
According to a new report from the BBC, Valve is “days away” from releasing a VR software development kit. Designer Brian Coomer said the kit, which will give game makers a standardized way to provide an interface for VR controllers, will be released during the Steam Dev Days conference that kicks off on January 14 in Seattle.
The kit is said to be part of a larger box of tools that developers will have access to for use with Valve’s Steam Machines. The company is also working on head-tracking and headset manufacture and design with other companies although Coomer said they didn’t have anything specific to announce at this time.
Valve isn’t looking to upstage the Oculus Rift, however, as the two companies have a relationship together. Instead, the developer is simply trying to lay the groundwork for something that could be an industry standard one day. It’ll ultimately be up to OEMs as to whether or not they adopt the standard.
We’ll keep an eye on next week’s Steam Dev Days for the release of the VR toolkit and any other noteworthy announcements.
