Valve’s virtual reality apps with the HTC Vive headset won’t make you seasick

BELLEVUE, Wash. — I traveled here to get a download on the latest in virtual reality. Valve‘s SteamVR system is a hardware and software system for displaying virtual reality applications, where you look into stereoscopic goggles and feel like you’re immersed inside a virtual world. After seeing a lot of virtual reality demos over the past couple of years, I was impressed. Valve’s system, which is expected to hit the market in the fall as HTC ships its Vive headset and other hardware, didn’t make me sick.

That’s always a plus when you don’t throw up. The imagery of the simulated world keeps up with the movements you make. The precision of the system — designed by Valve and implemented by HTC — is purposely designed to minimize motion sickness, said Jeep Barnett, a game programmer at Valve who ran my demo. And the quality looks so good in the room-scale, 360-degree view experience that it remains the technology to beat in virtual reality.