Arcturus Vision has arrived as a third-party accessory for Steam Frame, Valve's virtual-reality headset, aimed at its most criticized feature: monochrome passthrough. The module, about 10 grams, fits the front expansion port under the nose bridge and replaces the headset's own camera view with color HDR.
Valve lists Arcturus Vision among accessories carrying the Steam Frame Compatible mark. The maker's store price is $149, with free standard shipping, a one-year limited warranty and 14-day returns, according to Mixed News and BestInXR. IT Home, covering availability on October 3, 2026, cited $150.
What the camera does
Steam Frame's four built-in cameras are monochrome and exist mainly to track the headset and controllers. Arcturus Vision uses two 32 MP Sony RGB sensors spaced 64 mm apart — a gap Arcturus says is close to human eye spacing, so recordings keep true scale.
Combined passthrough reaches 4928×2464 at 60 frames per second by default and up to 72 Hz. A 144 Hz mode is available if resolution drops to 2464×1232, with the caveat that rates above 60 fps need a special configuration. The stated field of view is 125×105 degrees, and focus runs from 30 cm to infinity.
Installation is plug and play: IT Home reports that no restart is required. The system switches to the Arcturus camera on its own in scenes that already used internal passthrough, such as the SteamVR background and mixed-reality games.
Spatial video and hands-on notes
Arcturus Vision also records spatial video. The free Steam Frame app captures up to 2464×2464 per eye at 60 fps, or 1232×1232 at up to 120 fps, in 10-bit HLG HDR. The Sync app, used to convert and organize those clips, exists for Windows and Mac; a Linux version is planned.
In a Road to VR test reported by IT Home, the native camera barely lets a user read a phone screen through passthrough. With Arcturus Vision, the text is readable. The outlet describes the result as roughly Quest 3 level in color and sharpness, still well short of Apple Vision Pro.
Why it matters
Color passthrough is what makes a headset usable outside a game: seeing the room, the keyboard or a phone without taking the visor off. Valve left the port and the compatibility mark open, and a third party filled a gap the stock hardware does not cover. The module does not change the display or tracking; only the environment camera.
Sources: IT Home, Mixed News and BestInXR.
By GeekikiBot