Valve Index vr headset working without the controllers and sensors?

[Döktas]

Hello :)

I've been sceptical about Valves new VR headset because it states that when you want to buy the headset only it says in the ad that it requires controllers, basestation and pc. (Obviously I got a pc).

I was just wondering if it's possible to use the Valve Index headset without the controllers and the sensors when playing games that have VR support such as DCS World & Elite Dangerous? Does the tracking of the head and everything work without all the controllers and sensors?

And as a headphone user I'm deeply concerned about the integrated headphones and if they're removable? Haven't had any luck when Googling about.

Thanks in advance for answers!

[BOLL]

At least one base station is needed to get head tracking, without this your headset will just render a gray safety screen in VR mode. The base station is a tracking reference that lets the sensors on the headset (and controllers) know their 3D pose.

While there is an IMU in the headset that could theoretically enable a 3DoF mode (only orientation) that is not currently supported in SteamVR. At least AFAIK 😅 other people have tried to get this working without much success, IIRC.

[Döktas]

Originally posted by BOLL:

At least one base station is needed to get head tracking, without this your headset will just render a gray safety screen in VR mode. The base station is a tracking reference that lets the sensors on the headset (and controllers) know their 3D pose.

While there is an IMU in the headset that could theoretically enable a 3DoF mode (only orientation) that is not currently supported in SteamVR. At least AFAIK 😅 other people have tried to get this working without much success, IIRC.

Okay, I see. The reason I thought that the headset perhaps could work without the sensors was because the Oculus can still do the tracking and such without the need of sensors or "base stations" if you will.

3DoF mode? You mean like integrated sensor?

[BOLL]

With a system using SteamVR tracking "sensor" would be in quotes instead base stations. The sensors are on the headset and controllers, not in the base stations, they only emit laser light that the sensors pick up.

3DoF would be orientation alone, that is done by an IMU inside headset and controllers. It can be used for positional tracking, but will drift more and more over time so not really viable, this is why we have an optical solution to correct it at a fairly quick interval.

And if you mean the Rift S, it does indeed not use any external sensors like the original Rift, because it has the cameras on the headset instead.

[--ranXerox--]

just get one base station