Today SteamVR is gaining two new features: The Steam Desktop Overlay and a Steam Workshop for SteamVR backgrounds. These should appear for everyone who opts-in to the Steam Client Beta and the SteamVR Beta.



The Steam Desktop overlay displays the contents of your desktop in the VR Dashboard. There are many occasions in VR when you need to see what’s going on with your computer but don’t want to take off the headset to do it. With the desktop overlay your desktop appears on a giant virtual screen and you can navigate and click with your Vive controllers.

This overlay tab is built into Steam, so all you have to do is run SteamVR and press the system button on a Vive controller to see it.




In addition, there is now a workshop to allow you to share SteamVR backgrounds with other users. Create backgrounds using the Lat Long (aka equirectangular) format and upload them via the workshop option in the SteamVR menu. Other SteamVR users can then rate and download your images to change the appearance of the SteamVR background.

Once you’ve downloaded a background, you can select it easily using settings in the VR Dashboard.

As we prepare for the next set of reveals and announcements to the SteamVR catalog in a few weeks at GDC, we wanted to share with you a few videos from our Developer Showcase last month. Besides showing their content, we sat down with the developers to talk about the experience of working on VR and what they have learned.

The first group is Justin Liebregts (Cloudlands Minigolf), Andy Moore (Fantastic Contraption), Dylan Fitterer (Audioshield), Richard Stitselaar (Arizona Sunshine), Dave Walsh (Elite Dangerous), and Joachim Holmér (Budget Cuts).




The second group is Alex Schwartz (Job Simulator), John Nagel (Final Approach), Dirk Van Welden (Space Pirate Trainer), Patrick Hackett (Tilt Brush), Denny Unger (The Gallery), and Alex Knoll (Hover Junkers).

Starting right now – you can pre order your Vive directly from HTC. The first shipments will begin shipping on Tuesday April 5th.

Included is a complete VR solution, Vive includes two wireless VR controllers, room scale movement, a full 360° of tracking, and an HMD featuring a built-in camera. In addition to the VR system, and for a limited time, those who pre order will also receive a free copy of three new VR titles: Tilt Brush from Google, Fantastic Contraption from Northway and Radial Games, and Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives from Owlchemy Labs.

Vive is the first SteamVR system, giving it the backing of full integration with Steam itself. You can check out the current catalog on Steam and keep checking back as it will keep expanding as we get closer to launch.

Wondering if your PC is ready for VR? Take the Steam VR Performance Test to find out.

To learn more about Steam VR and even check out the manual on how to setup your own kit when it arrives, visit the SteamVR Support Page and keep checking back here.

Pre-orders for the HTC Vive begin on February 29th! Is your PC VR ready?

The SteamVR Performance Test measures your system's rendering power using a 2-minute sequence from Valve’s Aperture Robot Repair VR demo. After collecting the data it determines whether your system is capable of running VR content at 90fps and whether VR content can tune the visual fidelity up to the recommended level. For machines that are not VR Ready the tool can help determine whether capabilities are bound by Graphics Card, CPU, or both.

Take the SteamVR Performance Test on your own PC today!

Today’s SteamVR Beta update introduces Direct Mode support for HTC Vive Pre.

SteamVR’s Direct Mode allows direct communication with the Vive’s displays, bypassing the operating system’s typical display communication path. This results in a more consistent experience for Vive users, as its composited view renders independent of other desktop application windows. For example, flashing displays upon headset detection, confused display destinations for desktop applications, and fullscreen compositor warnings are all resolved by Direct Mode. Additionally, Direct Mode allows the headset to go into standby mode, preserving power and display life.

Starting with the most recent SteamVR Beta update, this feature is now available on HTC Vive Pre and will be available on all HTC Vive models going forward.

To enable Direct Mode, just update your drivers to 361.75 (NVIDIA) or 1.0.3.16 (AMD) or newer and then make sure you are running SteamVR beta. See the Vive Pre Installation Guide for activating the beta.