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MaxSMoke777
Inspiring
October 26, 2014

Where's our Oculus Hand Tracker?

I was really hoping, during Oculus's last event, that we'd see Oculus take lead over of the lack hand tracking with the Rift, and release their own hand tracker controller. Unfortunately, that did not happen. With the Hydra unobtainable now, the STEM's release constantly being pushed back (not to mention it's absurd cost), and Sony quickly nipping at Oculus's heals with their own HMD *AND* Hand tracking bundle, one is left to wonder why Oculus is dragging their feet on the matter. We already have an optical headset tracking camera in DK2. Why not use that camera to track a hand controller as well?

The camera could certainly pull double duty. Put a battery in with a wireless button setup and LED lights of it's own (set to flicker at a different frequency then the headset), and a cheap hand tracker could be made quite easily. It seems like the tracking software would be the only big hurdle. So why has there been no development announced? Does Sony own the rights to IR hand tracking??

Hand tracking is critical for VR and the options (as of 10/2014) are next to none. Outside of *maybe* the LEAP, there really isn't anything out there that is commonly available and respectably priced. There's a few questionable Kickstarter projects floating around and one crooked company (STEM) looking to exploit the heck out of our community. It's time for Oculus to step up!

Pretty please! :D

    15 replies

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    feelthree
    Up and Coming
    November 7, 2014
    Obviously any solution will be a compromise but I'd rather see a slightly less than idea input method than none at all with CV1...

    So something like PatimPatam suggests is fine. A simple controller, buttons for fingers, a thumb joystick, LEDs for position and IMU for rotation... DON'T use vibration but put in something like this for haptics : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoztAbSlpfU

    A factory could turn these out for <$15 each, just reuse all the tracking tech in the DK2...

    I would prefer finger and arm tracking but that can wait until CV2. The Sony Move isn't brilliant, but it's better than what we have right now.... which is nothing.
    MaxSMoke777Author
    Inspiring
    November 8, 2014
    I recently ordered, and tried out, the full Leap Motion w/Rift attachment, and it was somewhat impressive, for the hour it worked. Then it blue-screened my computer. I haven't had a blue-screen in over a year. I haven't been able to get it to run more then 5 minutes since then. Saying it's Beta is an understatement.

    When it was working, it would drop out my hands quite often. I couldn't reach out fully. It was good for very up-close interactions. You could operate a puzzle using it. As I mentioned in another post, if you plan around it's shortcomings, you could make an interesting adventure game experience. But you have to plan on it not working intermittently. It requires alot of patience.

    On the upside, it's cheap and available, which the STEM is not.... on either account. (anyone else notice it's slipping shipping deadline?)

    But really, this is something Oculus themselves could, and SHOULD, be doing. It would take them hardly any time at all to put together a hand tracker with IR markers built in. It could be wired off the USB port on the device, or wireless. As long as the IR LED's use a slightly different wavelength of IR, it would never get confused with the headset. Oculus has all of the tech, and for a company that made it's mark seeing the potential in underutilized tech, it seems like a sin they aren't taking that last step of making their OWN hand trackers.

    The Leap could well have it's place in VR, for full hand tracking, but like Patim said, it's not tactile. For most games and experiences you need buttons, REAL BUTTONS! You need something, physical and reliable, that you can touch and feel. It's an anchor for interactions. It keeps you in the game.
    feelthree
    Up and Coming
    November 8, 2014
    "MaxSMoke777" wrote:
    As long as the IR LED's use a slightly different wavelength of IR


    Not needed, each IR emitter on the HMD uses a 10 bit code which the camera tracks, Oculus could easily use the same on a glove or simple controller.
    MaxSMoke777Author
    Inspiring
    November 9, 2014
    "feelthree" wrote:
    "MaxSMoke777" wrote:
    As long as the IR LED's use a slightly different wavelength of IR


    Not needed, each IR emitter on the HMD uses a 10 bit code which the camera tracks, Oculus could easily use the same on a glove or simple controller.


    Even better! So there are little to no technical issues. Getherdone!
    alexcolgan
    Up and Coming
    November 9, 2014
    "MaxSMoke777" wrote:
    I recently ordered, and tried out, the full Leap Motion w/Rift attachment, and it was somewhat impressive, for the hour it worked. Then it blue-screened my computer. I haven't had a blue-screen in over a year. I haven't been able to get it to run more then 5 minutes since then. Saying it's Beta is an understatement.


    Definitely beta, but BSOD is really odd, to say the least. Can you give me a shout at acolgan@leapmotion.com so we can troubleshoot?
    Head writer @ Leap Motion
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