Razer Hydra still best default controller for CV1 launch ?

"owenwp" wrote:
Nobody is at the point of having a "dirt cheap" solution.

Well that's my point, there isn't one (except for a gamepad...).

So if you can come up with a Hydra like solution cheap enough to be included as the default controller in time for CV1, it becomes the best available one by default.

Some issues I had with the Hydra :
Issue 1) The knots.
Issue 2) The drifting.
Issue 3) The screen judder (from my hand movements).
Issue 4) Few games were designed with a Hydra controller in mind (and Hydra wasn't a good replacement for them).

Some solutions :
1) Going wireless.
2) Using external cameras for position tracking.
3) Using head tracking instead of hand tracking to control the camera movements.
4) Make Hydra cheap enough to become the default controller for CV1, so CV1 applications are designed for it by default.

Ideas on making a cheaper basic Hydra controller :
Issue 1) Attach the Hydra to the Headset instead of going wireless.
Issue 2) Use the single DK2 camera, assuming it makes it to CV1, even if that means losing the 360°hand tracking.
Issue 3) Use the Rift.
Issue 4) Cut corners on the tracking quality, the hand tracking doesn't need to be as good as the headset tracking, when it no longer controls the camera movements (make up for the hardware limitations with some software judder correction if needed).
More Issue 4) Also things like ratcheting, strafing, and instant running were there for emulating fast paced games designed to be played with a keyboard and mouse on a Monitor. In VR game design you are better off getting rid of those, so a single thumbstick to rotate left/right and to accelerate/decelerate would be enough to provide body movement, allowing to control the movement and most actions of an Avatar with a single hand, removing the need and cost for a second hand controller for the basic version.

Because if there isn't some kind of Hydra like controller cheap enough to be included in time as the default CV1 controller, STEM will just run into Issue 4 of having most applications designed with another (lesser) CV1 controller in mind, as surely as Hydra did on the PC platform. And Hydra is really at it's best when it's being itself, not when it's trying to emulate something that it's not.