The Oculus Touch Is Here!
The Oculus Touch for the Oculus Rift has just been released, but why would you consider investing in this if you are happy with your gamepad, or already own a HTC Vive?
The Oculus Touch controllers are to accompany the Oculus Rift and enable a user to interact within their virtual destination.
We've spent the last week putting the Touch controllers through its paces and have had an awesome time in virtual reality because of these lightweight and unobtrusive inputs.
We've looked at the 3 big elements that make the Oculus Touch controllers a joy to use; ergonomics, response and content.
Ergonomics
First up, how do they feel? This is really important. In one instance you can be holding a gun, the next casting spells and then selecting options from a menu. The Touch controllers fit snuggly in your hand, as if you've grabbed a lump of clay and left the impression of your hand behind. The controllers rest in your hand so there is no need to grip while in a resting position, great for long VR sessions.
The buttons situated throughout the gamepad are in natural positions and rarely would you hit one by accident. In total there are 6 buttons + a joystick, not to mention the positional tracking of the controllers meaning you can wave your hand and gesture (point, thumbs up) and that gesture will appear in VR.
They are super lightweight and require only one AA battery in each controller. This means when you run out of juice you can pop a charged battery in and continue playing, unlike the Vive controllers which you have to put down, plug in and charge .
Response
The Touch controllers require two positional sensors in order to work. Graciously, one comes with the controllers. The sensors are placed either side of your monitor at approximately 3 - 6 feet apart.
We found the tracking to be great although when one of the Touch controllers was hidden from the sensor due to turning around in game, the controller did lag out and sit in space until the sensor registered it again. This isn't something we encountered when using the Vive due to the sensors (Basestations) being positioned in either corner of the play space and constantly registering the headsets and controllers to at least one sensor.
Overall, the response and intuitiveness of the controllers are excellent and for what we can tell are 1 to 1.
Content
Oculus smashed it out the park on the release date with 50+ titles in the Oculus store that you can use the Touch controllers with. Many of them specifically designed for the Touch.
When you put on the headset for the first time you are greeted with a short experienced titled First Contact which allows you to get to grips with the controllers. Set in a camper (RV) from the 80's (by the looks of it) a little robot hands you different cartridges to 3D print objects and play with. Once you get into the Oculus store there are many FREE Touch titles you can download for free to get you started including:
When paired with the content available on Steam there are 100's of titles to use the Touch controllers with! Pretty MEGA.
There we have it, a super quick overview of how the Touch Controllers feel, react and whats available. If you own a Rift you can hire the Touch controllers from us today. Keep an eye on our Youtube channel for game plays using the Touch controllers.