Developer Unveils Virtual Desktop Utility For Oculus Rift And HTC Vive, Coming To Steam March 28th

The industry has been buzzing about virtual reality pretty intensly these past few months, and we'd understand it if you're tired of hearing about it. However, admittedly this new ecosystem is anything but boring, as we keep being treated to cool new ideas and experiences that even manage to go beyond gaming. Application-wise, the sky is truly the limit. How about using your PC inerface in VR, for example? If that sounds kind of ho-hum, let us assure you that it is anything but.

On March 28, developer Guy Godin will release Virtual Desktop, a piece of software that is claimed to do a lot more than its simple name would imply. Its pièce de résistance is that it allows you to use your desktop in a virtual environment, but that's putting it simply. It's the fact that the software has no limitations of what you can do on the desktop that amplifies its usefulness. Want to edit spreadsheets? Sure, okay, that'll work. How about viewing 360° images and video? Now we're talking. And that's just the tip of the iceberg it seems.

It might seem a bit odd to want to separate yourself from a real environment to do normal PC tasks, but there's something to be said about reducing the distraction of that environment. That's the point of VR, after all, to be immersed. Virtual Desktop will offer a handful of different environments to situate yourself in, and from within, you can sit in a home theater one minute to watch a Hollywood blockbuster, and in the next, sit back and enjoy some music while being surrounded with effects akin to the popular Winamp plugin Milkdrop.

This all seems standard fare, but we encourage you to watch the video above, because your opinion is likely to be changed. This software helps prove that VR isn't just great for gaming and movies; everything can be made better.

Have multiple monitors? That's no problem at all claims Guy--Virtual Desktop will stitch them together and you know what that means. If you have multiple monitors, you could use them all for playing a single game spanning across a much wider resolution. Have two monitors that disallow you to play a game contiguously because the bezel is smack dab in the middle of the view? VR can help with that by stitching the two images together and presenting one seamless one, sans bezel. 

Because Virtual Desktop runs through DirectX, its developer says that there is minimal overhead, which is a major perk. The software itself doesn't just let you do a lot, though, it also lets you configure a lot. If you want to see your desktop wallpaper, you can, but you also have the choice to remove it and let the OS blend into the VR environment. You can also choose to have these virtual screens curved or completely flat, depending on your personal tastes.

Could Virtual Desktop be one of the first killer apps for VR? Based on what we're shown here, it certainly seems promising.