HTC's Vive virtual reality headset runs SteamVR to allow users to play VR games, and the company has just announced it will also allow people play non-VR games. The new feature called Desktop Theater Mode will allow gamers to play any Steam title on Vive and future SteamVR headsets, and access the Microsoft Windows environment.
Desktop Theater Mode will likely create a rectangular plane in the VR environment to display 2D content. It would probably be like YouTube's Virtual Movie Theater for Google Cardboard and Oculus Rift.
However, Valve's new feature will be different in that it allows gamers to play non-VR games. They can even use the Windows desktop environment. That allows users to keep the Vive headset on while playing games, writing a report in Word, or checking email.
An X-factor is that few VR games will be available when the HTC device ships. Desktop Theater Mode will help to keep VR fans busy with traditional games and Excel spreadsheets until more titles are available. It also makes the $799 price tag seem more plausible.
Valve has not released many details about the new feature including photos and video clips. It reports that it is beta testing the Steam feature and will introduce it at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) starting on March 14, Monday, according to Slash Gear.
In other Vive headset news a new Star Wars VR experience will follow last year's "The Force Awakens" tie-in. A YouTube teaser for "Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine" was just released on the ILMVisualFX YouTube channel, according to Engadget.
The video clip on the video-sharing site showed a shot of the Vive headset and featured a VR voyage in the Star Wars universe that included lightsaber battles and R2-D2.
There are few details about Star Wars VR experiment including when it will be available. However, it will likely be a step beyond the Jakku Spy experience available for Google Cardboard last year.
The VR market is projected to reach a value of $30 billion by 2020. GDC 2016 in San Francisco will include several VR companies trying to grab more market share in a fast-growing industry.