Peter Sallale 
Valve took the gaming world by storm yesterday when they announced details on their long anticipated Index, a brand new VR kit designed for the discerning virtual gamer. At $999 for the whole system, the new platform is pretty pricey, but the Valve has clearly put a lot of work into making it worth the price.
The Index is a high-end headset with all the bells and whistles. Though it doesn’t exactly blow other rivals (such as the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift) out of the water, it does feature several improvements meant to keep it competitive in the specialized VR market. The resolution per-eye is 1440×1600, the same as the HTC Vive Pro, but also features a lightning-fast 120 Hz refresh rate. The “knuckle” controllers have been designed from the ground up and tested by Valve developer’s to create what some have deemed “the perfect VR controllers.” Only time will tell if they live up to the hype.
The Index headset also features a much higher field of view than its other competitors. Audio is handled through dual near-ear speakers, which supply great quality audio and auditory spatial awareness while still allowing the wearer to hear others in the room with them. Designed specifically to be compatible with SteamVR, the headset and its peripherals, despite the new and improved features, will be compatible with all your Steam games that support VR right out of the box.
If you want to get your hands on the Index, you better act fast. Pre-orders are selling out at a blistering pace. There are several different options for reserving, which feature different items as well as different shipping dates. The full $999 dollar kit, which features the headset, controllers, and the motion tracking base stations, is nearly sold out. However, you can choose to order the items individually. Whatever the case, if you have some money to burn on Valve’s new Index VR set and are keen on getting it, you should reserve your copy very soon!
