Valve survey suggests most VR experiences will be in the bedroom

Valve published results today from its informal survey of just over 2,000 virtual reality enthusiasts that suggest VR developers should expect people to be experiencing VR in their bedrooms, using a headset hooked up to PCs they currently own.

This is important because it highlights limitations VR game developers should be considering as they prepare to debut their work alongside the first wave of consumer-grade VR headsets next year.

Valve disseminated its survey chiefly through Steam's SteamVR forum and thus the respondents likely skewed towards VR enthusiasts who use their PC as a primary entertainment platform. Still, the majority (~42 percent) said they had no plans to upgrade their PC for VR experiences.

Where will they be having those experiences? Mostly in the bedroom, according to Valve's data; roughly 42 percent of survey respondents said their primary PC was in their bedroom, and most respondents (69 percent) said they wouldn't be moving their PC to accommodate VR experiences. 

Valve asked about this because it's trying to sort out how people will use its Lighthouse room-scale VR tracking tech, which is expected to track at least a 15 x 15 foot area.

However, Valve's survey results peg the average amount of floor space respondents will clear for VR experiences at roughly 8.5 x 9 feet, suggesting that VR developers working on room-scale experiences may want to dial back the scope of their games to account for most people not having access to dedicated VR rooms.

Incidentally, 150 respondents to Valve's survey (~7.47 percent) said they would, in fact, be using their VR headsets in dedicated VR rooms.