Valve Knuckles: New VR controllers integrate the whole hand

Unmanageable controllers is one of the criticisms voiced in various VR applications. The new controllers from Valve free up the hands.

Although the current motion controllers of the HTC Vive are easy to get along with, they are - at least partially - inferior to the Oculus Touch controllers in terms of flexibility and ergonomics. While the Touch controllers allow finger tracking of the thumb and index finger, the Vive controllers have to be held tightly at all times. This clearly restricts interaction.

It is not possible to select a button in virtual reality with the outstretched index finger. On the other hand, the Vive controllers benefit from the Lighthouse tracking system, which is superior to the Oculus camera solution in many cases.

Anyone who has ever had to guide VR newcomers has certainly already found out that the various control modes are not always as intuitive as some people like to claim.

Valve Knuckles free the hand

Valve has been working on its own controller solution since 2016. This is a controller that is attached to the hand via the back of the hand and whose control elements (trackpad, buttons) are located on the inside of the hand. This tracks all fingers and frees the entire hand. Users can fully open their hand without affecting the controllers or usage. This will have a massive impact on interaction and VR will feel even more natural. In the video you can see the possibilities that the Valve Knuckles bring.

Each individual finger is capable of operating virtual objects, for example, pressing buttons, setting things in motion or picking up objects.

It is not yet known when Valve Knuckles will be available for home use.

Source: VR World