Shortly after learning that Valve is working on a new 'Knuckle' controller for using your hands inside virtual reality, an in-motion look at the new peripheral gives us a clearer idea how it could change the landscape of VR.
Developer Cloudhead Games has shared multiple videos via Twitter and YouTube of its staff testing out Valve's experimental SteamVR-powered motion controller, which features a special grip for detecting the user's finger placement as demonstrated below.
Similar to the motion wands currently employed by the Valve-backed HTC Vive, the Knuckle can detect its relationship to the user's surroundings to point, rotate, and move across a virtual environment.
Where it sets itself apart, however, is when the users tightens the Knuckle controller around their hand, allowing the controller to let go and have special sensors on the handle and trackpad detect where the user's fingers are.
For example, the demo shown by Cloudhead has developers instantly making thumbs-ups, peace signs, metal horns and even something of a ruder nature simply by making the gesture in real-life while strapped to the controller.
The Knuckles can even also detect how curled each finger is, making for smooth in-game hand movements as seen in the video below.
Originally teased during Valve's Steam Dev Days conference last year, it's unclear how along the Knuckle controller is to a consumer launch, or if it plans to replace the original Vive's controllers outright.
That said, seeing the device in motion lights up our imagination for how using our hands could enrich VR, and has given us confidence that Valve may just be on the cusp of the next big thing in the field.
Via Road to VR
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from TechRadar - All the latest technology news http://www.techradar.com/news/see-how-valves-knuckles-controller-lets-you-make-any-gesture-you-want-in-vr
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