Slashdot Mirror
Valve's Knuckles EV2 Controller Will Let You Squeeze Things In VR (engadget.com)
Valve's "Knuckles" controllers for VR, first introduced in 2016, are getting upgraded. According to Engadget, Valve is "sending game makers another version, the EV2, that has revamped buttons, straps and a slew of sensors that essentially translate finger motion and pressure to let you touch, grab and squeeze objects inside games." From the report:
Some of the EV2's changes are evident: The old Steam Controller-style touchpad that dominated the controller's top has been shrunken to an oval 'track button' that measures touch and force. That's flanked by traditional inputs: A joystick (by developer demand, Valve noted in a blog post) and standard circular buttons. The strap is adjustable for different hand sizes and pulls tight to let players let go of the controller completely without dropping it -- which could be key for the pressure inputs.
While last year's model had touch inputs tracking each finger in the 'grip' area, the EV2 introduces pressure sensors that measure how much force the wielder is using. Obviously, this has implications for VR developers who want players to grip or squeeze objects in the world, but as Valve's blog post points out, combining those with the touch sensors tells games when players let go of the grips -- like, say, when they're throwing things in-game. Lastly, the battery life has been extended to last six hours.
While last year's model had touch inputs tracking each finger in the 'grip' area, the EV2 introduces pressure sensors that measure how much force the wielder is using. Obviously, this has implications for VR developers who want players to grip or squeeze objects in the world, but as Valve's blog post points out, combining those with the touch sensors tells games when players let go of the grips -- like, say, when they're throwing things in-game. Lastly, the battery life has been extended to last six hours.
Any bets on what the first things to be "squeezed" will be?
No sig today...
Bout damn time
Grab em by the pussy.
Except a woman of course.
You know the old saying "porn drives new technology adoption."
The trackpad and stick need to be swapped in position. It is amazing they did this. The stick requires actual force; those forces are offset instead of centered. This will have less control and increase fatigue than if the joystick was centered under the thumb. Offsetting the trackpad is not completely ideal but causes fewer of these issues since it does not require significant lateral input force.
Every time I read about something like this, I'm reminded of Piers Anthony's book "Kill-O-Byte" which to my knowledge was the first time a sci-fi author had described virtual reality being used for hedonism, with the characters using bodygloves and stuff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Why squeeze things in VR, when the most important thing is right in front of you?
I wonder if I could get one that was modded with a motif in the form of a physiologically-inaccurate, highly-stylized echidna...
...things to squeeze me. Where's that controller?
Chewbacon
The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
I'm fine squeezing my joystick, thank you very much.
Which is why autonomous cars will take off while the birth rate increases.