Valve has already published the SDK to develop experiences compatible with SteamVR and OpenVR ecosystem devices, including a plugin for Unity and support for Unreal Engine 4 that will arrive next week with the 4.8 update.
The launch of this SDK is the next big step prior to the first shipment of HTC’s development kits, which we take advantage of to remember that it is free and subject to Valve’s approval. Thanks to the SDK, we will be able to develop applications compatible with HTC Vive, SteamVR drivers and the Lighthouse system. We can also access the documentation and a multitude of examples to start the development. The presence of the Composer stands out, a tool in charge of communication with the HMD and that allows access to it through layers, something similar to what Oculus is implementing for the next version of its SDK. It seems that Valve and Oculus are going to use a similar philosophy, which will facilitate the integration of the Oculus Rift SDK with SteamVR, something necessary if we want to enjoy the games designed for HTC Vive on Oculus Rift.
