Interacting with and controlling elements in virtual reality (VR) or mixed reality (MR) still feels like an imperfect science, and many companies, from HTC, to Oculus and now Microsoft offer their own solutions for an ideal VR experience. They all share a few common similarities and work in similar ways, but the implementation of the technology each time has been different, and the jury is still out on which is the best control method yet.
If you haven’t seen much of the new Windows Mixed Reality motion controllers, then you’re in luck, because Microsoft HoloLens’ YouTube channel has released a new video which explains in detail how the motion controller tracking works, including what happens to the controller when the device is unable to locate its exact location.
What Microsoft demonstrate is the ability to have controller which function and track incredibly well in a digital environment, seemingly without the need for multiple tracking stands or towers to detect your motions. Instead, the sensors are on the head-mounted display (HMD) and controllers, so they detect one another, and give accurate tracking in that way. Microsoft even explain what happens the the HMD is unable to detect the controller.
Developers have full access to all of the sensors and all of the features of the controllers, including gyros, buttons and the touchpad.
We previously unboxed the Microsoft Mixed Reality HMD and controllers in a video which you can watch here to get our initial impressions of the device.
Windows Mixed Reality is gained traction and popularity quickly, as we observed in a recent Steam Hardware Survey which showed that 4% of VR and MR Steam users have already adapted to the technology.
The video below has various graphs and illustrations to help understand how the MR motion controller and HMD track one another in a 3D space, so it’s well worth watching to understand the new technology. It’s tough to say what the future holds for Windows Mixed Reality, but whatever happens next we’ll be reporting on it, so for all of the latest news on Windows Mixed Reality controllers, hardware and software, make sure to keep reading VRFocus.