Although Valve's main game developmental focus these days appears to be on DotA 2 and its other Esports properties like CS:GO, that doesn't mean it isn't working on anything new and interesting. VR is one thing we know it's putting time into, which is why it was exciting when we learned that Valve had developed some virtual reality demonstrations of its Portal universe.
To date they have only been viewable in an HTC Vive headset and haven't been available for the rest of us to even have much of a look at. Thanks to a new spotlight from ValveTime however, we can now all enjoy the up close and personal look at the Aperture hardware.
In it we see the player manipulate the environment following instructions from the Aperture facility's robotic help assistant. Since they're within the robot repair centre, it's no surprise that the player needs to take it upon themselves to fix up their battered parts. They are also required to open drawers and perform other simple functions which need a bit of getting used to in VR - essentially this acts like a tutorial level for the headset and motion controls.
Fixing up your robotic buddy will be the player's next step, which gives you an exploded real-world diagram of Atlas, making it easier for players to find the broken down parts.
As players run out of time however, things get a little more traditional, with an old friend shows up to make some typical quips about the player's incompetence.
Although unlikely to be available to the public for some time, the demo gives us a good idea of what will be possible with Valve VR hardware