One of the definitive leaders in hand tracking technology is Ultraleap, with its tech integrated into devices such as Varjo’s headsets or available as a third-party accessory. It’s the latter that Ultraleap is announcing today, bringing hand tracking to Pico Interactive’s Neo 3 Pro and Pro Eye headsets.
As you can see in the image above, the setup consists of an Ultraleap Stereo IR 170 camera inside a bespoke mount, with a power cable running to the Pico Neo 3’s USB-C socket. The setup will then run Ultraleap’s fifth-generation hand tracking software Gemini, with Unity and Unreal platforms supported for developers.
The Ultraleap Hand Tracking Accessory won’t be sold as an individual unit it seems for current Neo 3 Pro and Pro Eye owners to upgrade to. It’ll be sold as a new bundle with one of the aforementioned headsets (Gemini coming pre-installed) through select retailers, available now in early access for developers and enterprise customers. An official launch will then take place this summer, with prices yet to be revealed.
“VR for training is on the cusp of mainstream adoption and we truly believe hand tracking plays an important part in tipping it over the edge. We’re already seeing significant wins from customers who have deployed VR training programmes or LBE experiences with hand tracking,” said Matt Tullis, VP, XR at Ultraleap in a statement. “This first phase of the Pico relationship will mean more developers and organisations will be able to test, pilot and refine their applications to unlock the true power of VR now and deploy at scale in a few months.”
“We’re very excited to bring Ultraleap hand tracking to our latest VR headsets through this accessory. When applications need the highest performing hand tracking for complex interactions or challenging environments, Ultraleap’s hand tracking really is world-class. We can’t wait to see what developers and organisations will create from this joint effort,” adds Leland Hedges, GM for Pico Interactive Europe.
Hand tracking has been gaining ground of late, featuring in devices like the HTC Vive Focus 3 whilst the upcoming Lynx-R1 utilises hand tracking (Ultraleap’s again) as its default input method. And, of course, let’s not forget about Meta Quest 2 which supports hand tracking out the box with titles like Cubism, Vacation Simulator and Clash of Chef’s VR all adding hand tracking updates.
gmw3 will continue its coverage of hand tracking as further announcements are made.