Valve Opens Up SteamVR Tracking Technology to 3rd-Party Hardware Makers

Valve today announced royalty-free licensing of SteamVR Tracking for 3rd-party hardware makers.

This tracking technology enables hardware developers to build highly precise position and orientation sensing into devices of all kinds. It is the same tracking technology currently being used in the HTC Vive. Valve expects the technology to be used in a variety of devices, such as VR peripherals and other input devices.

“It’s critical to the future of the Virtual Reality Ecosystem to open up the tracking technology to support the growth of a healthy portfolio of products that work together with HTC VIVE,” said Raymond Pao, HTC VR Vice President. “We’re thrilled to see the world of tracked devices expanding and growing.”

Alan Yates, Valve Engineer, said “Making this tracking technology available to more partners is an extremely important step in the evolution of virtual reality and 3D tracking. We are very confident
that doing so will result in new and innovative experiences for all VR customers.”

A hardware development kit including a reference tracked device, sensors, and software tools to help design and build new devices is being made available to each licensee.

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