LG is making a Steam VR headset too

The HTC Vive is no longer the only VR headset designed to support Valve’s OpenVR platform.

Road to VR reports that rival hardware manufacturer LG is also working on a device that will utilize both OpenVR and SteamVR Tracking.

Valve’s OpenVR standard was always designed to create a level playing field that encouraged companies to enter the sector. It is this ethos that has gained Valve and Vive so much support within the VR community. The likes of Oculus Rift, which has a closed platform, has conversely faced some hostility.

Little is known about LG’s headset, aside from the fact it is being built specifically for SteamVR. Valve has said that the peripheral is designed to deliver a high fidelity, next generation VR experience” and that the prototype will be shown off at GDC some time this week.

The ideal for VR is very much to be an open platform where the content is consistent for all users, leaving players able to pick and choose from a range of headsets. This does potentially cause a headache for developers, who even now have to decide which of the available technologies they have to support – room scale, motion controllers, eye recognition etc.

However, open and accessible standards are definitely part of the answer to this, and HTC has already indicated that LG’s joining of the SteamVR party in no way affects the relationship between Valve and HTC Vive.

The pricing, tech specs and release date information for LG’s headset is unlikely to be revealed this week.