Just recently, Valve put up a dedicated page for the Valve Index on Steam, confirming that it was, as rumors had previously suggested, developing its own virtual reality headset. At the time there were few, if any, details available, save for a May 2019 release window and a teaser image of the device.
Twitter user Wario64 may have uncovered the exact release date. The product page for the Valve Index appears to have gone live a little early and shows that it will be released in June 15. The page is still scarce on information regarding features and specs, but it does provide more than what the teaser site gave last week.
Valve Index Included Accessories
As Wario64 points out, the Valve Index will come with two controllers, two USB charging cables, a cleaning cloth, regionalized power adapter plugs, two face gaskets, and a power adapter.
There's also a brand-new image that shows the device's open-back earphones flanking each side. This is an intriguing design choice, although not new. Open-back earphones allow the user to be aware of their surroundings even while playing, but it might lessen the overall immersion of the experience.
Valve Index Requirements
Valve has also listed the headset's supported inputs, including a DisplayPort 1.2, USB 3.0, in addition to recommended system requirements that demand at least an Nvidia GTX 1070 graphics card or better.
Valve's updated page has some links that route users to another page with information on the base station, but the link is inaccessible as of this writing. It's clear that the page is still under development, as it has a lot of placeholder text. There are no details on the Valve Index's array of sensors or cameras, or for that matter, anything technical.
Valve Index Rumored Specs
That hasn't stopped others from speculating, though. An alleged developer video seems to show what appears to be the user opening up the SteamVR Settings window, at which point a mysterious VR headset icon that resembles the Valve Index appears, in addition to the Knuckles controllers. The render resolution slider and framerate indicator are both visible — at 100 percent, it's 2,240 x 2,016 for each eye with a refresh rate of 90 Hz.
Rumors should always be taken with a grain of salt, of course. Valve is planning to officially unveil the Valve Index on May 1, with preorders reportedly starting that day. Make sure to check back with Tech Times as we learn more.
