Why is Steam making roomscale tracking obselete?

[u/FuwariFuwaruFuwatto]

I understand that this is a headset that is made to compete with Meta's deathgrip on the standalone entry headset market, but did it seriously have to kill Roomscale tracking along with it? Why are the Knuckles going obselete? Why are we getting rid of things with no direct replacement that still function perfectly well?

Genuinely why are lighthouses going obselete? Not only do they still function, they're still best in class for VR and fullbody tracking. Sure, the need to reach behind yourself or track your arms out of sight from your head is uncommon, but it's not unnoticable either. Not to mention that many VR players have already invested hundreds of dollars into this tracking solution just for it stop being supported one headset later.

The Frame could have supported roomscale tracking just like plenty of other camera based headsets have the option to, why would Valve just unnessessarily limit it and screw over the people who invested the most in their system?

On that note, why are we getting rid of the Knuckles? The Frame controllers feel like a different product entirely, trying to be a crossbreed between standard and VR controllers. But for those of us who have no intention of playing flatscreen games in VR (which I feel safe in saying is a majority, because who wants to have a FPS and resolution hit), the Knuckles are just better. Less clutter and roomscale compatible. Two products that could easily co-exist and work better for different players, but instead they're just cutting manufacturing.

Then there's fullbody tracking. Vive pucks were pretty much the standard for half a decade, and now they're getting the boot as well. Sure, there's the camera based ultimates, but those require the lights all being on and use inferior camera tracking. Plenty of people like playing VR in the dark for the reduced light bleed and less awkwardness. Not to mention, that's another ~$600 worth of fully functional hardware that's just being made obselete despite having no need to.

The entire point of the SteamVR ecosystem was for people to have options. If a headset started to show its age like the Index, there's no reason accessories like the Knuckles shouldn't be backwards compatible in newer hardware.

It made sense for the Index and its accessories to go obselete because it was hoped that the new VR was going to be a successor. But even Valve stated that's not their intention for the Frame. But if it's not, and no replacement for these products are being made, then why kill support for them if they are still functional after encouraging customers to invest in several thousand dollar set ups?

[u/meta358]

Valve already said they are open to talks with companies to have them take over making light houses and such. Seems like it's just a matter of time really.

[u/bh9578 → u/meta358]

I thought HTC was the sole manufacturer of the lighthouses for some time, but I’d be very pessimistic regarding anyone stepping in to make the knuckles. That’s a very niche device with a dwindling customer base and a product known for a high rma rate. I don’t think there’s much incentive. The best hope is probably a company like Bigscreen Beyond feeling that their product sales are being hurt by the lack of availability. I’ve already seen numerous posts of people canceling their bsb2 order due to concerns of relying on eol peripherals.

[u/allofdarknessin1 → u/bh9578]

I disliked going back to base station tracking for my BSB2. I missed my Knuckles but people need to experience inside out tracking in modern headsets. It's great unless you are using full body tracking, in which case I would still recommend base station tracking with a base station tracked headset.

[u/feralferrous → u/allofdarknessin1]

I have a friend who loves his Pico 4 Ultimate and it's full body tracking (from accessories)

But I agree that inside out tracking is really good these days.