Valve Patent Describes More Adjustable, Possibly Wireless Or Standalone VR Headsets

Valve released its Index headset back in 2019 a few months before the release of Half-Life: Alyx. It looks like the company may already be working on new VR headsets. A new patent was published and granted to the company, which describes a fair number of improvements all round.

For the most part, the patent describes improved ergonomics to make the headset sit better on someone’s head. This includes examples like using spring or tension-loaded harnesses for a better fit. But more than that, the Valve patent also describes a headset with connectivity, or even one that can act as a standalone headset.

There is also mention of eye trackers in the patent. But it’s quite unlike what Apple may be planning with its own mixed reality headset. For one, the implementation here does not involve priority rendering for parts of the display a user’s eyes are looking at. Instead, the Valve patent mentions using it for distortion adjustment, and to determine a user’s gaze point.

The patent also comes with a number of images depicting headsets of slightly different designs. Though as with all patents, it remains to be seen if Valve will be making use of any of these in an upcoming VR headset.

Razer Huntsman V2 Analog Allows For Controller Inputs, Adjustable Actuation

Razer has announced its Huntsman V2 Analog keyboard, which features, as the name suggests analogue input. It’s certainly not something you frequently seen on keyboards, which makes it an interesting addition to any PC gamer’s repertoire.

The idea here is to give the keyboard the sort of “velocity control” that you’d expect from a controller analogue stick. Push slightly to walk, push all the way to run, that sort of thing. In a sense, the Huntsman V2 Analog is the opposite of the Nvidia controller patent we saw last month.

In addition, Razer is also giving the Huntsman V2 Analog adjustable actuation and dual-step actuation. Working in tandem with the analog input, you get two actuation points for each key. Meaning you get one input when you press a key lightly, and another when you press it all the way. You can also adjust the point of actuation for both.

Ironically, the Huntsman V2 Analog may be a better controller than actual controllers. These features are reminiscent of the pressure sensitive buttons of the DualShock 2 and 3. These days, only the triggers and analogue sticks themselves retain the analogue input.

Though of course, making an entire keyboard capable of analogue input doesn’t come cheap. The Razer Huntsman V2 Analog is priced at RM1199 on the brand’s official online store.