What if I told you that you can use your computer as if you were in front of a giant cinema screen, all while comfortably sitting on your couch with a virtual reality headset on your head? Well, that’s exactly what Virtual Desktop allows you to do, an application capable of streaming what’s happening on your PC screen directly to your VR headset.
Contrary to what one might think, you don’t need a high-end PC configuration to enjoy Virtual Desktop. The application is quite well optimized and works with a modest setup:
- Windows 10 or 11 in 64-bit
- An Intel Core i5-2500k processor or equivalent
- An Nvidia GTX 970 graphics card or higher for PCVR game streaming
- A PC connected via Ethernet to a 5 GHz Wifi router
As for headsets, the application is compatible with most models on the market, whether it’s the Oculus Quest, Pico Neo, HTC Vive Focus 3, or the HTC XR Elite. In other words, you have plenty of choices!
Once Virtual Desktop is installed on your PC and VR headset, the magic happens. You are immediately transported to a virtual environment where your Windows desktop appears on a giant floating screen in front of you. With your headset controllers, you can interact naturally with your computer. The triggers act as left/right mouse clicks, the joysticks allow you to scroll pages… Everything is designed to offer the smoothest and most intuitive experience possible.
You can also customize your environment by choosing from a dozen different settings, from a cinema room to a space station to a sandy beach. This allows you to vary your experiences and find the ambiance that suits you best depending on your activities.
With the popularization of telecommuting in recent years, Virtual Desktop has become a particularly practical tool for working comfortably from home. This way, you can enjoy a much more pleasant and productive virtual workspace, even though we all know it gets hot under there after a while…
But it’s especially for gamers that it makes perfect sense. The application allows you to stream your PC games in virtual reality for an even more immersive experience. Imagine playing Super Mario Bros NES in augmented/virtual reality. It’s amazing!
This tool also natively handles spatial sound and motion controllers like the Oculus Touch. You can even switch from a VR game to a regular game (and vice versa) with a single click, without ever having to take off your headset. From a technical perspective, Virtual Desktop relies on a low-latency video streaming technology developed specifically for this purpose. The application encodes the video stream from your PC, compresses it, and sends it via your Wifi network directly to your VR headset, where it is then decoded and displayed in real-time.
The magic lies in its proprietary video compression algorithm, capable of delivering impeccable image quality while maintaining extremely low latency, around 20 to 40 ms. This ensures a smooth, lag-free experience, even when playing fast-paced games that require sharp reflexes.
In short, whether it’s for working, gaming, watching movies, or simply browsing the web, Virtual Desktop offers an interesting experience as long as you have a good local network.
