You need special controllers to manage virtual reality environments, but Facebook is already working on a different kind of accessory that would give you a lot more freedom in VR. Mark Zuckerberg revealed in a post that the Oculus gloves would let you interact with VR and AR (augmented reality) without having to hold any physical controllers. The gloves would even let you type in VR, something that’s not possible right now.
“We’re working on new ways to bring your hands in virtual and augmented reality,” Facebook’s CEO said. “Wearing these gloves, you can draw, type on a virtual keyboard, and even shoot webs like Spider-Man. That’s what I’m doing here.”
Zuckerberg further explained that Facebook’s goal is to let you enjoy VR and AR everywhere in the future. “The goal is to make VR and AR what we all want it to be: glasses small enough to take anywhere, software that lets you experience anything, and technology that lets you interact with the virtual world just like you do with the physical one,” he wrote.
But VR and AR will not only be about gaming and entertainment. The emergence of such accessories would allow individuals and businesses to use VR for productivity reasons.
According to TechCrunch, engineers at Facebook are experimenting with coding in VR, because that sort of experience offers them infinite screen space. This is a VR feature that would require technology capable of capturing your hand and finger movements accurately.
That certainly sounds exciting, especially if you already love VR. And Facebook isn’t the only company working on ways of letting you use your hands while immersed in VR in a more natural way.
In the meantime, Oculus isn’t so popular in Best Buy stores. Oculus will reportedly close 200 of its 500 demo stations, as they go unused for days.
