Rumors about Valve potentially replacing its Index virtual reality (VR) headset with a new version have been circulating for several years now. Currently, there’s a lot of evidence suggesting that the company is making progress towards launching a headset codenamed Deckard.
New Developments in Controller Design
Following the Blade Runner motif, Bradley Lynch (@SadlyItsBradley) and others have unearthed new references to ‘Roy’, which could be the name for Deckard’s controllers. To give some background, a patent filed two years ago indicated that Valve was working on controllers featuring motion-tracking rings.
In light of this, data miners have discovered that these controllers are present in the SteamVR code. However, Lynch’s latest finding implies that Valve has shifted its focus to tracking methods without rings, a technology that Meta is currently using in its budget model, the Quest 3S (currently priced at $299 on Amazon). According to the XR enthusiast, recent updates to SteamVR include models for the new Roy controllers, which we’ve provided images of above and below.
Features of the Roy Controllers
From the images, it appears that Deckard’s Roy controllers are equipped with a sizable d-pad, ABXY buttons, and two Steam shortcuts. Additionally, these controllers include comparatively large joysticks along with oversized triggers and side-mounted triggers. Interestingly, there’s also a new image circulating online that might be linked to the much-anticipated Steam Controller 2.
