Valve staffer proposes to partner using HTC Vive
Pack it up romantics, you've already lost
One Valve staffer managed a virtually perfect proposal this weekend, being perhaps the first person to propose on HTC's Vive headset.
Valve Software is Vive's official SteamVR partner and this enabled the proposal, which took place in the testing room at Vive's headquarters in Bellevue, WA. Don't worry romantics - she said yes.
Newly-betrothed Chandler Murch was taking his now fiancée Katie Tortorice through a range of SteamVR demos that the company has been touring at gaming shows around the world.
"So there I was, typical day… on a sunken ship deck; fixing robots; painting three-dimensional fire; walking through the Alps," Tortorice wrote on her Facebook feed. "Suddenly, a virtual engagement ring started floating my way."
Photos reveal that Murch walked towards her while holding one of HTC's trackable wand controllers, which Tortorice saw as an engagement ring floating towards her through the demo.
She then removed the headset to see Murch on one knee, holding a real-life engagement ring where the imaginary one had been floating and then "It wasn't imaginary anymore".
This use of the Vive's room-sized VR experience made me squee in an adorably high-pitched voice, and i'm hoping to see many more innovative uses of the product when the HTC Vive launches.
The HTC Vive's launch window is still set for the end of 2015, but as the end of the year rushes up without any hard confirmation of price or launch details, the romantic gestures might be limited to Valve employees for the time being.
