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Valve has given its most direct hint that its upcoming Steam Deck PC handheld could provide a path to standalone virtual reality and an answer to Facebook’s Oculus Quest.
The clue comes from a hands-on report by Sean Hollister of The Verge who asked if Steam Deck’s AMD-based custom processing unit could be used in a standalone VR headset.
“We’re not ready to say anything about it, but it would work well in this environment, with the TDP needed… it’s very relevant to us and our future plans,” said Greg Coomer of Valve.
TDP refers to the thermal design of a product. The main design issue facing stand-alone VR headsets is to deliver all the processing power needed to produce a high-quality VR experience in all-in-one hardware while also dissipating the heat produced by these processors away from the head. . It is also seen as the key issue facing AR glasses, which can follow VR designs into even thinner designs.
Valve has previously stated that the Steam Deck will have all the connectivity needed for a VR headset, but its performance is not optimized for this use case. Valve co-founder Gabe Newell even went further, suggesting that as a PC-based open product, Steam Deck should be able to connect to an Oculus Quest. Steam Deck uses a custom processor that it created in partnership with AMD.
The tech industry faces a shortage of silicon chips and lingering supply chain issues that could have a major impact on product roadmaps in the future. We’ll be curious how this affects the development of next-gen VR hardware, as companies can prepare their competition for Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2. The Steam Deck handheld is expected to start shipping later this year, but new orders placed today are not expected to ship until the second quarter of 2022.
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