Played like a damn fiddle
Virtual reality enthusiasts were not exactly enthused by the news that Oculus Rift would come with a wireless Xbox One controller as its default input method. The goal there is to give “developers something they can target,” according to founder Palmer Luckey. Something familiar. But that’s not the end of it: “We see virtual reality input coming in lots of different forms.”
One such form is Oculus Touch, which is currently being prototyped. It’s a pair of controllers, one for each hand, designed to provide a sense of feeling and precise manipulation of virtual entities. There are the usual inputs like buttons, triggers, and analog sticks, but the wireless Touch controllers can also detect finger poses, like pointing or a thumbs up, using an array of sensors.
And that’s all the company was willing to say for now. It’s unclear if the Oculus Touch will be finalized in time for the consumer debut of the Oculus Rift in Q1 2016, or how much it will cost.
