Valve has now licensed the SteamVR tracking technology to third-party hardware companies with no strings attached. The video game company is currently offering in-person training for the first wave of licensees.
According to the official website of SteamVR tracking, other companies can now sign up to license the new tracking technology for their own purposes. They can do this through a new partner program the company has launched recently.
The partner program will allow developers access to the virtual reality technology after representatives complete their required training program. In September, these in-person sessions will be held in the span of three days, and it will cost $3,000 to join. The company explained that this may not be a requirement in the future, but for now, the third-party developers interested in their technology must be certified by them.
The company also revealed what kind of topics the developers will be studying with. The topics they are going to study are designing tracked shapes, simulation tools, generating and optimizing sensor placement, object testing and calibration, troubleshooting, Steam VR integration, and electrical and mechanical design considerations.
The training was designed to make the developers' design teams get familiar with the technology. While they study the solid foundation of the theory of the technology, they can also get hands on experience in each aspect of the tracked object design and integration.
After developers finish all of the requirements, they get access to the dev kit, which includes the HTC Vive base stations, custom prototyping accessories, sensors, and other tools. These items are all necessary for creating virtual reality software. They can also contribute to the exclusive forums if they wanted to.
According to the official website of Synapse, this training is for industrial designers, mechanical engineers, and electrical engineers that want to know about this new technology. The partner of Valve for this tech training requires at least one representative, but they also recommend a group that represents the company.
The partner also revealed why Valve chose them for educating the licensees. The video game company had limited bandwidth to provide the license support, but they wanted to make sure they were not limited to that. This is the reason why they partnered with Synapse Product Development to provide onboarding, education, and consulting services for all licensees.
Check out HTC Vive's This is Real-Wevr video below: