Valve is opening up its Vive VR trackers to custom hardware

in #vr8 years ago



 A new Valve program will let companies use the HTC Vive virtual reality tracking system for their own hardware. Under the SteamVR Tracking  license, product designers can buy sensors like those on the Vive  headset and controllers, attach them to their own products, and then  track them with the Vive’s base stations. This means that developers  could make their own custom motion controllers for the Vive — or, in the  long run, that Valve could establish a motion tracking standard for all  kinds of objects. Valve isn’t attaching any licensing fees to its system; an FAQ says  "the largest value for our customers and for Valve will come from  allowing SteamVR Tracking to proliferate as widely as possible." A  third-party company called Triad Semiconductor sells the sensors  directly, although Valve is offering a development kit with 40 sensors,  circuit boards, and two official Vive base stations. While Valve  suggests people could one day build their own versions of these, too,  for now the base stations are required for tracking. There's also a modular reference object that people can use to start  building their own projects, seen below. "The reference tracked object  comes with a handle that has a few sample buttons on it. Hardware  developers can replace that handle with their own device and still use  the reference shape for tracking," a Valve spokesperson elaborated.  "They can also take the reference tracked object apart and use the  tracking board out of it in a shape of their own design."  

  

The kit is free for developers, but in order to  participate in the program, each company must send at least one person  to a $3,000 training course held in Seattle. The first of these  multi-day programs will be held in mid-September, and Valve says that at  some point in the future, it hopes to eliminate the in-person training  requirement. Companies don’t  need their products approved by Valve in  order to sell them, although they will need to comply with the terms of  the license. Valve doesn’t give a definitive list of how people will  use its tech, but it references tracking for "VR golf clubs," indoor  drones, and custom head-mounted displays. The most obvious short-term  option is custom peripherals for the HTC Vive itself, whether that’s a  controller with custom options for a software program or a more  convincing weapon for a VR game. In the longer term, it could be used in  any product that needs motion controls or motion capture options. These products don't necessarily have to be VR-focused The Vive’s tracking system — which Valve developed and  then built into a commercial product with HTC — is different from the  camera system used by the Oculus Rift or PlayStation VR. Its two base  stations emit lasers that hit the sensors on the Vive headset or any  other tracked object, and the SteamVR software uses these to triangulate  its location. This means that the base stations don’t need to be  attached to a computer, only plugged into a wall. While it’s strongly associated with the HTC Vive, SteamVR  has never been explicitly restricted to that headset, and the Steam  platform supports games for the Oculus Rift and OSVR development kit.  But this is the first time that Valve has explicitly urged people to  start building their own products based on Vive hardware. And as the  company’s suggestions show, it doesn’t necessarily need to be related to  the Vive — or to virtual reality headsets at all.  

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