As Oculus goes controller-free, will it be the future of VR?
As Oculus Quest turns one year old, the team behind the world’s first wireless headset released the widely-anticipated hand tracking capabilities. Allowing users to use their hands as the controllers with gestures like pinching and swiping we’re used to with our smartphones.
The launch title for Oculus hand tracking was “The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets”. An interactive tale of childlike wonder where you help your grandfather solve the mystery of stolen pets by exploring miniature worlds in virtual reality.
Hand tracking enables the use of hands instead of controllers. Oculus says it “delivers a new sense of presence, enhances social engagement, and delivers more natural interactions with fully tracked hands and articulated fingers”.
As of right now, hand tracking complements the Touch controllers and is not intended to replace controllers in all scenarios, especially with games or creative tools that require a high degree of precision.
Where are we now?
Right now, the technology is still early, there is currently just one game supporting hand tracking on the app store, and many unofficial apps on the likes of Side Quest from developers and studios who have been playing around with the technology.
It’s an almost certain avenue that this will be a direction for virtual reality to take. It’s easier to sue, more accessible and provides a deeper level of immersion.
Users are already used to using these motions in our everyday lives made popular with the launch of the iPhone in 2007 — when you would load up safari and a desktop site slowly loaded and a pinch and zoom were necessary to even read an article.
The idea of jumping into VR with nothing but a pair off wireless goggles has been a Sci-Fi dream for years. With Oculus’ Quest, this is now becoming the reality. No wires, no big expensive computer attached, and no controllers.
But outside of Facebook (the owners of Oculus), many have been attempting to do this for years. The likes of the etee button-free controller was a recent attempt at hand-tracking, that used button-less controller.
Oculus has been the first to crack the code using cameras and sensors to identify and track movement.
What the tech can do
Right now, the technology is quite limited. It can pinch and swipe to interact with the Oculus UI and use simple movements to pick up and move objects within the 3D virtual environment.
It seems like gaming is a natural fit for not just hands-free, but virtual reality in general. Whilst this is true, hand-tracking could be particularly useful for VR enterprise.
One popular use case is for simulation and training virtual reality experiences for employees train how to complete a specific task. Allowing proper use of the hands could be key to simulate a real working environment such as climbing scaffolding or a phone mast.
The future of hand-tracking
Virtual reality finally seems at a turning point where the technology is becoming appealing to a casual user, outside of this immersive bubble we often find ourselves in.
Wireless will always be the future, whether it’s phones, computers or virtual reality headsets. Making something easier to use, cheaper to buy and more accessible to use will always increase demand.
What controller-free VR offers is a deeper level of immersion. Users can be transported with nothing but a screen attached to their face and they’re in a different world. When you are able to look down and see your hands, reacting and moving in real time, you brain tells you it’s real.
#VirtualLibrary is powered by the VR marketing agency, Virtual Umbrella. We provide agency services and consultancy to immersive companies. If you’re in need of a marketing campaign, someone to run your email newsletter, or a team to do some deep dive research on your competitors, let us know 👋
We’re also open to sponsored posts and advertising on #VirtualLibrary so if you’re interested in reaching about 1000 immersive folks per month with your messaging, contact us via: bertie@virtualumbrella.marketing
