![]() If gaming isn't your bag, then there are still plenty of other cool experiences you can check out on the Valve Index, including fitness and meditation apps, along with educational experiences that explore science, nature, and more. It’s quite unlike anything else you’ll have ever experienced in gaming and should not be missed whether you’re a fan of the series or not. Built from the ground-up with the Valve Index in mind, it takes full advantage of the Knuckles, and delivers a gripping, immersive sci-fi world to explore. It’s worth noting that every purchase of the Valve Index also comes with a free copy of what’s undeniably the best VR game so far – Half-Life: Alyx, a continuation of the mega-popular first-person shooter series on PC, also developed by Valve. ![]() And though you’ll have to do a little research on how to get it working, the Valve Index can also tap into the rival Oculus/Meta VR games storefront using the Revive application, opening up the otherwise exclusive games there, too. Whether you’re tweaking the visual output of the display or adding mods to games you’ve bought, by working in tandem with a PC, you can eke additional functionality out of the Valve Index in a way that standalone headsets like the Oculus Quest 2 cannot. It’s a great compromise.īy being a PC-based headset, the Valve Index is also open to all sorts of third-party applications and games. They are fantastic – with more boom and bass than in-ears can offer, and without the claustrophobic feeling of being completely encased by over-ears, you get the benefit of rich, directional audio while not completely losing situational awareness in the real world. With two additional sliders, one to set the distance between each individual eye to match your pupils, and another to move the screens closer or further away from your eyes, the Valve Index lets you find a sweet spot that makes its viewport feel very natural.Īudio is provided by two puck-like speakers that hover from the bands of the headset in front of your ears. Even better is the field of view which, at 130 degrees, gives a great impression of the virtual world’s presence around you. More impressive is its refresh rate – at 120Hz (and capable of boosting up to 144Hz) it allows for smooth movement in games and experiences, which help to avoid the dreaded motion sickness VR can sometimes cause. While it’s no longer the sharpest display out there, that’s still crisp enough to appreciate fine detail in VR worlds. Behind the glossy front screen plate you’ll find dual LCD displays at a 1440 x 1600 resolution per eye. What’s packed into the headset is what makes it special though. The more space you have, the better, and we’d encourage anyone setting up the Valve Index to consider a dedicated play space for the VR headset – you won’t want to go through that rigmarole all over again. Your play space is also identified through a ‘Chaperone’ system, which throws up a grid of virtual walls as you approach the boundaries of your space – handy for preventing you from walking into real-world walls or putting your hand through your TV screen.īut the set-up process is time consuming, even if things work correctly the first time. ![]() You’ll need to download the SteamVR application on your PC, but once installed it does a great job of walking you through setting up the boundaries of your play space, setting your height, and orienting you through how VR works with a tutorial themed around Valve’s popular Portal game series. The set-up process, once all cables are connected and Base Stations placed down, is quite intuitive. ![]() Any less than that and tracking may become flaky. Valve Index’s Room Scale space requirements are quite demanding, needing at least 2m x 1.5m (6.5ft x 5ft) in order to work properly. While standing and seated play options are available, it’s the free-roaming ‘Room Scale’ style that is most appealing, letting you freely wander around VR worlds within the confines of your home. These will help track and orient you in the real world and then process that information into movement through the virtual world on your computer.Īs such, set up can be a mess of wires – you have three cables running from the headset itself (power, USB 3.0, and a DisplayPort cord) into your computer, while the two Base Stations (which need to be placed in opposite corners of your play space, slightly angled towards the ground) each need power supplies too. Two cameras sit on the front of the Valve Index, which are used in tandem with a small pair of (included) cube-shaped Base Stations. ![]() The Valve Index is a wired headset, meaning you’re going to need to plug it into the back of your PC in order for it to work, as well as having a few external accessories running in order to track play. ![]()
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