By Of everything the Steam Frame can do, there’s one feature that I feel really sets it apart from any other VR headset, and it’s one I haven’t seen many people talking about: Multi-Frames. In short, it lets you run multiple screens at the same time inside the headset, so you can play a game, watch something and get work done all at once.
What Multi-Frames does
With Multi-Frames, the Steam Frame becomes a proper multitasking device. I can open several Chrome browser windows, keep a game running, and have desktop mode going at the same time. In my own setup I had desktop mode floating up top, a game running at the bottom, a YouTube video off to the left and Chrome open for browsing, all visible at once.
Best of all, it’s built right into the Steam Frame. There’s no additional software to download or set up.
How to use it
Getting started is simple. Open up the bar and you’ll find the floating screen option there. From that, choose an app, such as the Chrome browser, and it opens as its own window that you can move around and resize however you like.
Every window has its own controls, too. You can make each one bigger or smaller, and adjust or hide its volume independently, so each screen behaves as its own individual thing.
Performance and passthrough
Running all of this at once, the Steam Frame handled it without any hiccups in my time with it. If you enable the passthrough view, you can also see what’s going on in the real world around you while your screens stay up.
That opens up some genuinely useful setups. You could take the Steam Frame to a coffee shop, connect a mouse and keyboard (I use a Bluetooth keyboard) and get to work. I also use it a lot in bed, getting things done while a movie, a game and a YouTube video all run alongside each other.
Final thoughts
Multi-Frames is exactly what I wanted the Steam Frame for. It’s really easy to use, everything you need comes included with the headset, and it turns the Steam Frame into a tool for productivity as much as for play. We highly recommend giving it a try. Let us know what you think of it in the comments below.