Oculus Rift premises as well as their efforts to lead the
virtual reality competition make us forget that in the past the Oculus VR team
has ever revealed the compounding of motion based controller. The peripheral is
finally showed off on the launch of Oculus Rift consumer version following the
developer version information on last May.
Three years after its prototype type was available, Facebook
officially shows consumer version of Oculus Rift few days before E3 2015
begins. It's said that the consumer version is very light and comfortable to wear;
it's like wearing a hat. However the reveal of Oculus Touch is also interesting
because with this peripheral, the experience of enjoying virtual reality based
games will be more exciting.
The presentation of Oculus Touch is very unique. The device
consists of a pair of components to be held in each hand. The form of Oculus
Touch looks like the mix between pistol and DualShock 4 gamepad. There are two
action buttons, one thumbstick, trigger buttons in the index finger and handle.
The co-founder Palmer Luckey explains that the team intends to make a device
that allows users to interact with objects in the virtual world.
The prototype that's used by Luckey in a demonstration at
Oculus press conference is called Half Moon. The Controller is connected wirelessly,
serves a variety of input methods, for example, presents hands, manipulating,
and gestures to communicate. Oculus Touch saves a series of sensors to detect
fingers positions, although currently it's only able to read the index finger
and thumb.
Oculus Touch is not included in the Oculus Rift bundle. The
release follows the Rift retail version that's planned to be released in the
first quarter of 2016, roughly in the middle of next year. But you don’t need
to feel disappointed because by purchasing one unit of virtual reality headset,
you will get Xbox One controller for free, compatible for Microsoft's new home
console or PC.
Oculus Rift itself will work directly with Windows 10, and
supports streaming feature of Xbox One game on PC via application. The game is
projected onto a head-mounted display through 'virtual cinema' - the sensation
is similar to Sony's HMZ series. Oculus software platform also serves as a
community forum, where you can play with or against friends. New titles that
have been confirmed include Eve: Valkyrie, Edge of Nowhere, VR Sports, Chronos,
Lucky's Tale, HeroBound and Airmech VR.
Oculus VR team intends to disclose the full information in
their presentation at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2015 event.