Following the confirmation of the Oculus Rift release date at an event in San Francisco, Oculus also unveiled a new prototype VR controller called Oculus Touch.
While every Oculus Rift will ship with a standard Xbox One wireless controller, Oculus is also working on this dedicated VR controller based on a ‘Half Moon’ design.
Bearing a slight resemblance in approach to the original Wii remote design, the Oculus Touch controller is formed of two identical wireless hand controllers.
Each features 360-degrees motion tracking and inertial tracking, but they also feature traditional controls like an analogue thumb stick, two buttons, an analogue trigger and a hand trigger.
The controllers have haptic feedback, allowing you to feel what you’re touching, and they can recognise gestures.
Oculus plans to demonstrate the new controller at E3 2015 next week, and we’ll be there to get our own hands-on and let you know how it feels to play with the new VR controller.
Oculus didn’t, however, confirm whether the controller would be ready for the launch of the Oculus Rift in Q1 next year.
Palmer Luckey, Oculus’ founder, signed off with a flourish by adding that “This isn’t sci-fi, this is reality and it’s happening today.” Today means Q1 2016, but it’s close enough.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
