A mysterious image from developer Valve-the company behind hits like Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal and Team Fortress 2-just hit the Shacknews inbox: 'In anticipation of an upcoming announcement from Valve,' was all we were told. Whatever's brewing at Valve-there's, and there have been indications that its digital distribution platform Steam might be making the leap to Mac-we're likely to hear more soon, as GDC 2010 kicks off next week. Update: Two additional images have surfaced via and, furthering speculation that Valve is bringing Steam and its games to Mac. Update 2: Yet another image has arrived-this one via -a facsimile of old Apple advertisements that all but confirms Steam is coming to Mac. Update 3: brings us the fifth of the six images, portraying Left 4 Dead's Francis and the words 'I hate different.' Update 4: And here's the - Half-Life 2's Alyx recreating the classic 1984-inspired Macintosh television ad-courtesy of.

When it comes Valve, there’s no telling what’s going on behind their Bellevue, Washington doors. As one of the most reclusive developers of both games and hardware, that goes doubly so for its efforts in VR.

Now, reported images of what appears to be a never before seen Valve headset have come to light, and it certainly looks the part of a next gen device. With only the images to go on for now, it’s not clear exactly what we’re looking at, be it a definite next step in Valve’s VR strategy, or a iterative step along with way. The images were discovered by Reddit user ‘2flock’ in, which contains a number of shots detailing a stack of VR headsets baring open PCBs emblazoned with the Valve logo. Image courtesy 2flock Another keen-eyed Redditor, user ‘shoneysbreakfast’, points out that the headset could be sporting some cleverly integrated SteamVR sensors, the type found on HTC Vive, Vive Pro, and Pimax “8K”. They’re difficult to make out, but they’re just barely visible as dimpled imprints in the upper-hand lip of the headset in the shot above. Image courtesy 2flock A pronounced slot in the front can also be seen containing what appears to be a USB port for what could be an add-on device. The padding on the headstrap also appear to match the same found on Valve’s latest controller prototype, Knuckles. Image courtesy 2flock A remarkably large pair of lenses could mean the headset is intended to give users a wider field of view (FOV) than the HTC Vive’s 110 degree FOV.

A slight flare to the outer rim of the front of the headset suggests a larger display as well to match. A guide for a cable can be seen, marking it as a VR headset intended for use with PCs. Image courtesy 2flock Two camera sensors adorn the front of the headset, possibly meaning that it has some sort of optical tracking on-board—although supposing it’s tracked via SteamVR basestations, it’s possible the sensors could be used for AR, or even hand-tracking. Integrated audio can also be seen, much like HTC’s Vive Pro.

The headstrap is also very similar to Vive Pro’s. There aren’t any legible markings on the headset itself though indicating a manufacturer, so there’s no telling which company was charged with manufacturing the device.

The lack of branding, and large quantities of the headsets could also suggest it’s an early developer kit or late stage prototype. This story is breaking. We’ll update as more information comes in.

No I’m talking about expectations. Obviously you have gone to some lengths to replicate the process that this individual has taken with these photos in order to prove it’s credibility is non-existent.

And obviously you’re putting some effort in to help people to keep their expectations in check which is not wrong either. But unfortunately things don’t seem to be going in the “right” direction these days in terms of any real gains made with the technical side of VR especially with the whole Oculus and Facebook fiasco, so if some people are adamant that these photos are real then best not to shit on their parade so to speak. It says ‘panels do not enumerate properly’. All of the headsets shown have tags attached with similar problems written on them, in addition to a stick with a QR code and various checkboxes.

Clearly these are defective units, being sent to QC to iron out production issues. This suggests they are planning to produce a significant number of units, and isn’t a mere internal prototype. The angling and number of cameras suggests they’re for passthrough or hand tracking rather than positional tracking, although their lens size suggests higher fidelity than required for hand tracking. That they’re not in the center as with the Vive/Pro makes me wonder even more what plugs into that front USB port. I imagine some EM-invisible faceplate goes over that cavity, where something goes and is plugged into that port.

Adobe pdf stamps free download. If you are a Mac user, you may want to know that: can I add text or image stamp/watermark to my confidential PDF document on Mac? I think PDF Stamp Mac (A-PDF Watermark for Mac) is the best solution.

A Leap Motion? Compute unit for standalone use? Auxiliary battery to drive the display and sensors when in wireless mode? Clearly they have something important in mind that goes there, an optional accessory. Now we know why they’ve been dragging their feet on releasing the Knuckles: they want to release them with this new headset. I expect a CES announcement as with the Pro. The question is, how will they position this headset versus the Pro?

Valve Leaks Teaser Images For Announcement Of Steam (and Peggy)

The higher FOV would seem to make the Pro obsolete. I always suspected the Pro was intended to be a low-volume stopgap to hold the high end until a Vive 2 came out shortly afterward. The recent addition of asynchronous spacewarp could suggest higher system requirements.

I expect this will compete favorably with the Pimax 5k+. It looks like the lenses are a fresnel hybrid, with finer/less prominent ridges compared to that of the Vive, which should reduce artifacts. Yes I am skeptical of u:P.because yes obviously the slight angle is super mildly interesting and the logo on the headset in the back has something additional under it.and obviously u can photoshop anything no shit.aaaand there is no reason to do it in this case and it can’t be demonstrated to be photoshoped.and according to uploadvr. “According to our independent sources this is in fact a Valve HMD.

We’ve also heard the field of view will be 135 degrees with the Vive Pro resolution and it should come bundled with Knuckles controllers as well as a Half-Life based VR game.” aaand these images don’t mean anything as far as what r their exact plans and even if they make it it’s a super mild update compared to existing stuff. The logo is smeared while the circuitry right beside it on all sides isn’t? The wording on the black chip is the same size just blurred while the valve logo box has doubled in size? As for the extra white underneath the text in the background I’ve already upscaled the image with imaging software and it’s circuitry not text. For whatever reason why there is circuits in the back headset where there aren’t any in the front is beyond me. But idk, maybe it’s hand stamped or something? Maybe they were units made at different times that aren’t completely identical?

Hmm, I remain skeptical. Valve is a technology company that creates the technology and then licenses to other partners that have the manufacturing power to mass produce and move units that use their technology i.e. Most likely is that this is a reference design (hence the terrible form factor and aesthetic design shown on these images) to prove that the technology works and then other companies will consist of the same internals but be “superficially” different.

On a final note getting into manufacturing (mass production) and moving units is a completely different beast from actually doing the R&D and creating the technology so it’s certain that Gabe Newell doesn’t want the massive cost and risk associated with selling HMD’s themselves especially after they tried and in some way failed with the Steam Controller. If Valve were to release a headset, I would buy it without hesitation. I have no love for HTC and their divisive and pricey tactics.

They capitalized on the vitriol of outliers to spearhead their product. I would have put up with the Vive’s small sweetspot and perceptible fresnel steps in the lens design, the crappy microphone, and the elastic headband otherwise. With each step taken by Valve/HTC (tracking pucks, Wireless solution, improved headband, improved base stations), reason is whittling down my reserve. Now that Valve is turning to their own manufacturer, the only argument I have against their VR solution has been absolved. I have long been a supporter of the VR dream, and anyone with a history to it would also have been a dedicated fan of Oculus–even if the measure of time they supported the company differs. I would argue that Oculus is now a shell of the VR enthusiast’s dream it used to be.

“Still working” on PCVR is a hollow statement in the face of actual progress being achieved by competing pioneers. Instability in their competition is the only saving grace by which Oculus can stagnate the advance of their hardware, and soon that strategy will crumble. They choose not to strive beyond the boundaries of PC VR, instead focusing on the perception of what mobile VR is, pandering to masses that have no love for the potential of VR in general. It is now clear to me, in what should be called the 3rd generation of mobile VR, that Oculus is not focusing on PCVR.

Comparatively, they have focused on mobile software as well, leaving PC users to little or no advance. I would boldly claim we were lucky enough if we received the scraps from their table of mobile development. OC5 was a blatant “Fuck Off” to PC users with their decision to livestream only to mobile VR users with their core software. It is a statement I cannot forget.

PC users were reduced to watching the conference in BigScreen, which was ridden with audio and visual bugs. I have been waiting for a viable alternative for a while. Though I am among the few with this perception as many would argue, that did not deter me from supporting Oculus when they were unknown to most. I will still buy the Quest–because it presses innovation into the vacuum of mobile VR, but it will play a distant second to the focus I now put on Valve. I am a PC user first. Blows me away how much desperation there is in the VR community that people blindly believe a completely random posted picture beyond any amount of common sense or history of leaks.

The headset could be real, but the need for it to be legit is so strong it’s completely overwriting common sense. I see people here just flat out agreeing with blind hope for no logical reason.

It blows my mind. Aren’t VR enthusiasts supposed to be older? Supposed to be wiser?

Thousands of, “leaks”, like this have happened over the years, totally fake, yet everyone immediately treats this one like it’s fact? Are you people serious?