Valve has introduced a new feature called Motion Smoothing for SteamVR, which allows more users to play high-fidelity VR games and experiences. Motion Smoothing is currently available in the SteamVR Beta, and users can access it by right-clicking on SteamVR in their library, selecting the "Betas" tab, and choosing "beta" from the dropdown list.
Motion Smoothing is different from the motion smoothing function on televisions, which interpolates frames between existing frames to increase the frame rate and create smoother visuals. Valve's Motion Smoothing, on the other hand, kicks in when an application is unable to maintain the frame rate, estimating motion and animation based on the last two frames and synthesizing a new frame. This allows the application to maintain the full frame rate while avoiding jitter.
From the player's perspective, games that previously suffered from jitter and dropped frames can now run smoothly at 90Hz. Motion Smoothing optimizes Valve's earlier asynchronous reprojection technology and improves the overall experience in various VR systems. It reduces the performance requirements and allows low-end GPUs to generate smooth frames for previously demanding applications, while high-end GPUs can render visuals at higher resolutions, enhancing the fidelity of all VR experiences. Motion Smoothing can be enabled or disabled depending on the user's preference. However, it is worth noting that Motion Smoothing is not available for Oculus Rift or WMR headsets due to the different underlying display driver technologies used. Currently, Motion Smoothing is in beta and only supports Windows 10 systems with NVIDIA graphics cards.