SteamVR is the best way to experience VR on any device. It supports the Valve Index, the HTC Vive, the Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality headsets, and others.
Keep reading to know the cost and process of downloading it.
How Much is Steam VR?
You can download SteamVR for free, but you’ll still need to buy the VR games you want to play.
Informed of the Status
With the VR System Monitor, stay up to date on your VR system’s current state at a glance. Customize its appearance and functionality by tweaking its visual, audio, and user interface settings.
Don’t Lose Track of Reality
Each person has their own personal space. With the Chaperon system, you can set the boundaries of the space within which you want to be able to move freely. You can then stay aware of that space while immersing yourself in VR.
Your Virtual Home
Explore SteamVR Home — an interactive launchpad for your VR experiences. You can customize SteamVR Home with new environments and objects created by the community and interact with them using its social features.
You can use additional wearable devices and props you find by doing quests in other SteamVR Homes to customize your own avatar in VR.
You can even create your own SteamVR Home using the SteamVR Workshop tools.
Virtual Steam
With just one click, you can easily access the Steam VR Dashboard to quickly change games, browse the Steam store, and interact with your PC desktops from anywhere.
How to Install SteamVR?
Getting SteamVR up and running is one of the first things you need to do if you want to experience VR.
It’s what lets your VR headset connect to your Steam account so you can play a huge range of virtual reality games and experiences from your computer or from the headset itself.
Which VR Needs Steam Work?
You don’t necessarily require SteamVR to use standalone VR headsets like the Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2. However, these devices can play Steam titles when connected to your computer.
All these VR devices require SteamVR to be installed for them to function properly.
Installing SteamVR
To start using SteamVR, follow these steps to install SteamVR on Windows 10 PCs.
- Log into Steam on the computer that you plan to use for VR development.
- If you haven’t already downloaded Steam, go to the official Steam website, create an account if necessary, then log into your account.
- Plug your VR Head Set into your computer. Wait for the driver installation to complete.
- After installing SteamVR, you should see a pop-up window asking if you want to install SteamVR. Click the Install SteamVR button.
Alternative Way
If that doesn’t work, you can search for ‘SteamVR’ on the Steam store. Click the green play game button and follow through with on-screen instructions to install SteamVR.
Either way, the download size is around 2 GB, so it may take some time on slow connections.
Once Steam has installed SteamVR, it will start installing itself automatically. So just leave your computer on and go watch TV or something until it finishes. Then come back here and we’ll be waiting for you! - After installing SteamVR, you can start it from any location on Steam by pressing the “small VR” button in the upper right corner of your Steam desktop.
- You can also search for it on your Library tab. It will be listed there under the Tools menu.
- You can also choose to install the SteamVR betas if you’d like to enjoy the latest features and best performances.
- To do so, go into SteamVR and click on the name of your VR headset.
How to Set Up SteamVR?
After installing SteamVR, you’ll be able to set up your VR headsets again.
On the SteamVR Window, click the three-lined menu icon. From there, you’ll be able to pair your controllers, check for updates, and set up room settings.
Once you’ve connected your gamepads, go into the room setup menu and follow the on-screen instructions to define your playing space.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I Play VR on Steam?
Windows Mixed Reality for VR lets users run SteamVR experiences on their Windows Mixed Reality headsets.
With the installation of Windows Mixed Reality for VR, users can now launch their favorite SteamVR apps from their desktops or Steam libraries and play them directly on the Windows headsets.
Is SteamVR Better than Oculus VR?
SteamVR’s main advantage is its vast content library, which is supported by the leading game developer within PC gaming: Valve Corp.
It is undoubtedly the best VR platform for playing virtual reality games. While Oculus Home still holds VR game titles, it is a platform designed for more than just games.
Can You Install SteamVR without Steam?
Before you can use Steam VR, you must first download and install the Steam software.
What Games Are Free on SteamVR?
- Spider-Man: Far From Home VR
- Propagation VR
- Surgeon Simulator VR
- VRChat
- Gorilla Tag
- Google Earth VR
- Astral Slider
- The Red Star
How Much Room Do You Need for SteamVR?
To experience room-based VR, you’ll require at least 6.5 feet by 5 feet of free space, and the maximum distance between the base station is 16 feet.
The HTC Vive and Oculus Rift support both seated and standing VR environments, but neither requires minimum space for use.
Can You Run SteamVR on a Laptop?
You can use VR on your laptop.
Does Oculus Quest Work with Steam?
You can indeed use an Oculus Quest to access Steam games. All you have to do is connect your headset to your computer, install SteamVR, and then you should be able to use all of your favorite Steam titles using your Oculus Quest headset!
Conclusion
Steam VR is a new technology that lets you play games using your HTC Vive or Oculus headset as if it were sitting on top of the television.
It isn’t quite as immersive as a VR headset, but it gives you some extra immersion in video game titles like Beat Saber and Job Simulator.
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
