Category: controllers

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Oculus Is Sending Out More Free Dev Kits For Touch Ahead Of Launch

Oculus Is Sending Out More Free Dev Kits For Touch Ahead Of Launch

Got your Oculus Touch pre-order prepped and ready for launch? If you’re a VR developer, you might not need it.

Yesterday Oculus posted a quick developer update, announcing that it was sending out yet more complimentary developer kits ahead of launch of the consumer product on December 6th. Kits will be sent out throughout the remainder of the year until supplies have been exhausted. Devs can request a pair of controllers through an application process, though Oculus has not revealed the exact number of units it plans to send out.

Touch is Oculus’ position-tracked input solution, eagerly anticipated since its reveal last week. The pair of controllers are similar to the wands that come with the HTC Vive or the PlayStation Move controllers for PlayStation VR.

Once Touch itself is out, you’ll be able to use the consumer product as a developer kit too, just as you would an Oculus Rift itself. Oculus has promised that Touch will ship “in volume”, suggesting that it won’t be repeating the troubled launch of the Rift and will have plenty of stock, so hopefully everyone that wants Touch, developer or customer, will get them.

Clearly a lot of developers already have Touch in their hands; Oculus is planning to ship the controllers with well over 30 launch titles and plenty more are coming both from its studios partners and others. The company is also bundling a lot of content with the $199 controllers, including the recently announced First Contact, The Unspoken, VR Sports Challenge, and Dead and Buried.

They also come with a second tracking sensor, and customers can buy a third sensor still to enable roomscale tracking, potentially bringing the Rift up to speed with its main rival, the Vive. We’re yet to go hands-on with roomscale to test that tracking for ourselves, though.

There’s just under a month to go now; Oculus Touch is nearly here.

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Windows 10 VR Motion Controller Has Been Hiding In Plain Sight

Windows 10 VR Motion Controller Has Been Hiding In Plain Sight

There are still a lot of questions to be answered about Microsoft’s new VR headsets for Windows 10 before they start rolling out next year. That said, a new video from the company has reminded us that one of the biggest mysteries may have already been solved.

Below is a trailer of Microsoft’s upcoming Creator’s Update for Windows 10, also due to arrive early next year. It showcases plenty of the new features detailed in last week’s conference, but pay particular attention to the first 12 seconds.

There’s a blink-and-you’ll miss it glimpse of a clip that was first shown a few months back at the Intel Developers Forum. There, Microsoft released a concept video for its Windows Holographic system that was almost identical to the demo we saw on-stage last week. A VR user visits a personal space where they can access different Windows 10 apps, and then immerses herself in a 360 degree capture of the Roman Pantheon. Microsoft was effectively telegraphing exactly what it was going to announce all the way back in August.

The most important element here is the 6 degree of freedom (6DOF) controller being used. Last week’s on-stage demo didn’t feature any such controller, and it could be the one in the video above is simply a placeholder prop (the headset itself doesn’t look like the other two we’ve seen so far). Given the similarities between the two demos, it could be that Microsoft’s partners, which include HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus and Acer, may making such controllers too.

We’ve reached out to Microsoft to clarify if partners could be making these controllers.

It this is the case, Microsoft’s approach to Windows 10 VR headsets will actually be pretty close to Google’s efforts with its Daydream mobile VR ecosystem. The search engine giant is also getting manufacturers like Samsung and Huawei to make Daydream-ready headsets and motion controllers: the only real difference is that Google is also making on itself whereas it doesn’t look like Microsoft will.

Following last week’s reveal, we spoke with Raven Zachary of HoloLens enterprise studio, Object Theory. He told us that the studio had experimented with its own form of precision input and was confident it could even make its own solution for clients if needed.

We’re expecting to hear more about Windows 10 VR early next month.

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Up Close Photos Of Valve’s New VR Controller Prototype

Up Close Photos Of Valve’s New VR Controller Prototype

Valve has brought out its new controller prototypes at Steam Dev Days and attendees are getting hands-on demos.

The new controllers strap onto the hand like a glove but feature an outer ring covered in tracking sensors. The design should allow people to grasp and drop objects in VR realistically. We will update this post with hands-on reports soon. Featured photo by Max Weisel. Additional photos from Eva Hoerth via Twitter:

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Valve Reveals New Steam VR Controller Prototypes At Steam Dev Days (UPDATE)

Valve Reveals New Steam VR Controller Prototype At Steam Dev Days

Update: More information added about the controller prototype being shown at Steam Dev Days.

Valve apparently didn’t want to make its Steam Dev Days conference a PR event, but that isn’t stopping it from making some exciting new announcements, like revealing a new prototype Steam VR controller.

The company debuted a few images of new controllers (above) at a keynote speech today, and a prototype will be available at the show. One of the prototypes allows for a more realistic grasping sensation.

If you check out the prototype at right in the image it seems to be an extremely tiny gadget that wraps around the back of the hand, obscured in the photo by the controller itself. With this in place, you can completely open your hand — letting you easily drop virtual objects the same way you would in the real world. We’re also told the controller senses finger positions.

We reached out to Cloudhead Games, one of only two companies we’ve confirmed to have sold more than $1 million worth of VR software, to find out more about this demo and the controllers. Here’s what we heard back:

We were one of few developers who employed hands on the Vive, and our code just happened to work with Valve’s new controllers right out of the gate. They basically told us we have pretty hands–it was very flattering. So we made a new sandbox on the beach with a bunch of the pick up items from Call of the Starseed in one spot. Didn’t have to change much at all.

Right now gripping virtual objects with the HTC Vive controllers is awkward, with grip buttons on the side that are hard to reach and don’t make much sense since you are already grasping the controller. Letting developers try out this unnamed hardware prototype likely provides Valve valuable feedback they can use to hone in on even more immersive controllers that are better adapted to grasping and gripping objects.

Aside from that, it’s hard to tell what’s new from the pictures, though the thumbnail second from right certainly looks like a sleeker pair of Vive wands. You can also see a Steam controller on the far left that appears to feature lighthouse tracking.

It also looks like a new version of the lighthouse base station is on the way next year, as seen in the above slide taken by Shawn Whiting.

More on this story as it develops…

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Oculus Touch Is $199, Shipping December 6th, Final Design Revealed

Oculus Touch Is $199, Shipping December 6th, Final Design Revealed

As expected, Oculus today announced both the price and shipping date of its Oculus Touch position tracked controllers for the Oculus Rift.

The controllers will cost $199 and ship on December 6th. Oculus revealed the news at its keynote speech for the Oculus Connect 3 developer conference in San Jose, California. Check out the final design in the new images released today. The biggest different is the improve analog sticks. Pre-orders start October 10th.

As you can see, Touch consists of two handheld controllers shaped for your left and right hands respectively. With them you can bring your hands into a VR experience, reaching out to interact with objects and items. Both devices also feature analog sticks along with triggers and face buttons as well as gesture recognition.

It’s essentially Oculus’ answer to the position tracked controls found in the HTC Vive, which come included with the headset for $799. Both the Oculus Rift and Touch together will cost $798, putting them at very similar prices. Oculus is set to integrate Room Scale tech too, with extra Oculus sensors going on sale soon for $79. Rift and Vive are now neck and neck.

Two new titles are joining the kit. They’re Insomniac’s The Unspoken and Sanzaru Games’ VR Sports Challenge.

Every set of controllers will come with an extra sensor, identical to the one included with the original Oculus Rift, to enhance the tracking capabilities of the set. Oculus Medium, the company’s VR creation app that’s on display at Oculus Connect 3 this week, will also be included with every purchase as will a plastic stock that houses one controller and then fits to the end of a Rock Band plastic guitar for use in the upcoming Rock Band VR.

More to come…