Valve has stopped manufacturing its Index VR headset

Valve has conscionable announced the Steam Frame, its caller VR headset that tin play games streamed straight from your PC utilizing a dedicated streaming instrumentality and tally Windows games locally acknowledgment to an Arm spot successful the headset itself. At the aforesaid time, Valve is besides moving connected from its erstwhile VR headset, the Valve Index, which it’s “no longer manufacturing,” decorator Lawrence Yang tells The Verge.

The Index, a high-end headset that had to beryllium tethered to your PC to enactment and utilized outer “lighthouse” basal stations for tracking, was released successful 2019. In her review, my workfellow Adi Robertson praised its visuals and its controllers, though dinged it for its $999 cost.

But corded headsets person besides fallen retired of favour since then. Meta has sold tens of millions of its standalone Quest VR headsets that tin play games without a PC transportation and way your presumption without other basal stations. Even much costly headsets similar the Apple Vision Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy XR person taken the standalone approach.

The Frame isn’t precisely a sequel to the Index. But it does amended upon the older headset with immoderate of its specs; the Index’s LCD screens person 1440 x 1600 per-eye resolution, portion the Frame offers 2160 x 2160 per eye, for example. If you similar the Index’s “Knuckles” controllers and however you tin strap them close onto your hand, you’ll beryllium capable to bargain optional straps for the Frame’s controllers truthful you tin bash the aforesaid thing.

And Valve is highly assured successful the Frame’s 6GHz wireless streaming adapter arsenic a replacement for a carnal cord. In our little demos astatine Valve HQ, the streaming worked highly well.

This whitethorn beryllium the extremity for Valve’s lighthouse basal stations, which were really archetypal released successful 2016 with the HTC Vive. If you’ve got lighthouse basal stations acceptable up successful your location already, don’t expect to usage them with the Frame anytime soon, if ever.

“With Steam Frame, we’re not moving connected lighthouse enactment for it,” Yang says. Instead of sweeping a country with lasers similar the lighthouses, the Frame presently uses 4 monochrome cameras and IR illuminators to find its presumption successful 3D space, though it besides has a modular accessory larboard that could enactment further cameras.

The Stream Frame is acceptable to motorboat successful aboriginal 2026. Valve hasn’t yet shared a circumstantial terms for it, lone telling america that it volition beryllium cheaper than the $999 Index.