“So…when’s the consumer version of the Rift coming?” I’ve been asking Oculus that question since the first time I strapped one over my eyes, and every time co-founder Nate Mitchell would give me a rueful shake of the head. “We don’t know. It’s coming.”
But we know: It’s Q1 2016. And thus it’s high time for Oculus to discuss what consumers will actually get their hands on next year bring to an end this long and winding road. It's a road that's seen VR turn from a novelty into an arms race, that's seen Oculus go from "easy frontrunner" to jockeying for position with Valve, that's seen the fledgling company bought by Facebook of all things.
The big revelation at today's presser is Oculus Touch—basically the Vive’s wands, but…rings. They track your hands so you can use them in virtual reality.
There are some interesting capabilities here: For instance, Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey said the big ring things are used to understand what position your fingers are in, which sounds pretty interesting. You can give a thumbs up or point or (I assume) flip people the bird. There are also analog sticks, as you might expect, for more traditional controls.
I don’t know how they’ll feel, though. My first instinct is that they look goofy, but considering Oculus hired a bunch of talent that worked on the Xbox 360 controller (a.k.a. the most comfortable controller I've ever used) I'm reserving official judgment until I see/feel how Touch works in a real-world environment. Look for more on that during E3 next week.
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