Valve developer claims macOS SteamVR release coming in the next few months

Reiterated by a report on Wednesday, an executive for Valve's Steam digital delivery platform has declared that preliminary versions of the company's VR platform will be available for macOS and Linux very soon.

Noted by VR enthusiast site RoadtoVR in October, and highlighted by Hexus.net ">on Wednesday, Valve developer Joe Ludwig demonstrated a running version of OpenVR and SteamVR on Linux to the gathered audience, and promised public releases "in the next few months" for macOS.

Ludwig and Valve believe that VR should be as open a platform as possible, and neither needs nor demands a "gatekeeper" limiting platform access.

The Linux demo utilized the Vulkan graphics API, running on an unnamed Linux distribution, with a HTC Vive headset. Most VR applications are coded with DirectX currently, and OpenGL or Vulkan utilization would be required for cross-platform use.

While rumors peg Apple using VR solutions to test self-driving cars and navigation systems, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently reaffirmed his stance that AR's ability to amplify human experiences makes it more likely to succeed over the more involved VR.

Though Apple has yet to outline an official strategy on either technology, the company is making strategic AR segment purchases like last year's acquisition of motion capture specialist Faceshift and German AR firm Metaio.

The company is also developing supporting tech in-house, as evidence by a growing portfolio of AR/VR patents like transparent displays, iPhone-powered virtual reality systems, advanced computer vision tech and more.

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12 Comments

aaronsullivan

said about 7 years ago

But what to run it on? ;o) This is encouraging either way. If Apple is serious about all of this, high performance graphics need to be a big part of any VR or AR solution. Maybe it is making something custom, maybe it is only for mobile devices, but it seems like some development system that officially runs MacOS would be nice or even necessary to make that work. If games alone can't get Apple to offer some GPU solutions that are competitive maybe VR/AR can. I would think we'd start to see this happening next year. Hopefully we do, because 2016 offered no hope in that area.

therunningvm

said about 7 years ago

aaronsullivan said:

But what to run it on? ;o) This is encouraging either way. If Apple is serious about all of this, high performance graphics need to be a big part of any VR or AR solution. Maybe it is making something custom, maybe it is only for mobile devices, but it seems like some development system that officially runs MacOS would be nice or even necessary to make that work. If games alone can't get Apple to offer some GPU solutions that are competitive maybe VR/AR can. I would think we'd start to see this happening next year. Hopefully we do, because 2016 offered no hope in that area.

The problem isn't the GPU being used. its the graphics Api. Many developers don't want to use native APIs on the mac when porting from windows, instead using translated directX.

If a VR solution can use something like openCL or metal for rendering, the gpu won't be the problem.

The refusal to bring VR over to linux or os X comes from lazy developers.

misa

said about 7 years ago

aaronsullivan said:

But what to run it on? ;o) This is encouraging either way. If Apple is serious about all of this, high performance graphics need to be a big part of any VR or AR solution. Maybe it is making something custom, maybe it is only for mobile devices, but it seems like some development system that officially runs MacOS would be nice or even necessary to make that work. If games alone can't get Apple to offer some GPU solutions that are competitive maybe VR/AR can. I would think we'd start to see this happening next year. Hopefully we do, because 2016 offered no hope in that area.

Maybe there is a new Mac Pro in the pipeline after all?

Given that the minimum requirements for VR that won't make you seriously sick disqualifies all current, including the new MacBook Pro's, I'm kinda wondering what is up. The Radeon 455 Pro is at best, equal to a Geforce 1050.

macxpress

said about 7 years ago

misa said:

aaronsullivan said:

But what to run it on? ;o) This is encouraging either way. If Apple is serious about all of this, high performance graphics need to be a big part of any VR or AR solution. Maybe it is making something custom, maybe it is only for mobile devices, but it seems like some development system that officially runs MacOS would be nice or even necessary to make that work. If games alone can't get Apple to offer some GPU solutions that are competitive maybe VR/AR can. I would think we'd start to see this happening next year. Hopefully we do, because 2016 offered no hope in that area.

Maybe there is a new Mac Pro in the pipeline after all?

Given that the minimum requirements for VR that won't make you seriously sick disqualifies all current, including the new MacBook Pro's, I'm kinda wondering what is up. The Radeon 455 Pro is at best, equal to a Geforce 1050.

It would be piss poor if someone had to buy a MacPro just to do VR...that won't be a big seller on the Mac side. You're not going to get a lot of takers for a $3000+ Mac Pro just to do VR. I would hope the next iMac would have something powerful enough to do VR.

leavingthebigg

said about 7 years ago

misa said:

aaronsullivan said:

But what to run it on? ;o) This is encouraging either way. If Apple is serious about all of this, high performance graphics need to be a big part of any VR or AR solution. Maybe it is making something custom, maybe it is only for mobile devices, but it seems like some development system that officially runs MacOS would be nice or even necessary to make that work. If games alone can't get Apple to offer some GPU solutions that are competitive maybe VR/AR can. I would think we'd start to see this happening next year. Hopefully we do, because 2016 offered no hope in that area.

Maybe there is a new Mac Pro in the pipeline after all?

Given that the minimum requirements for VR that won't make you seriously sick disqualifies all current, including the new MacBook Pro's, I'm kinda wondering what is up. The Radeon 455 Pro is at best, equal to a Geforce 1050.

I am casting my vote that new iMacs and Mac Pros are in the pipeline.