Virtual Reality demo includes surprise marriage proposal

An employee of game developer Valve surprised his girlfriend by proposing to her during a demo of his company's virtual reality hardware in Seattle.

Kelly Tortorice was trying out the HTC Vive headset, developed in partnership with Valve, when a virtual diamond ring appeared in vision.

When she removed the headset, Chandler Murch was holding a real ring in the position where virtual one had been.

Ms Tortorice revealed on Facebook she had accepted her boyfriend's proposal.

While some tech journalists have suggested the proposal was a publicity stunt for the device, due to be released next year, Ms Tortorice said it was a "hilarious and fun surprise".

"So there I was, typical day... on a sunken ship deck, fixing robots, painting three-dimensional fire, walking through the Alps, and then, suddenly, a virtual engagement ring started floating my way," she wrote on her Facebook page.

"Chandler told me to grab it. Then told me to take off my headset, and there he really was, on one knee, with a real ring.

"It wasn't imaginary anymore. But I didn't say, 'Yes.' I said, 'Of course I will marry you!'

She added: "I love you, and I can't wait for the life ahead of us."