At the ongoing annual Steam Dev Days conference in Seattle, Valve seems to have a heavy focus on virtual reality, with the announcements made on the technology including the unveiling of prototypes for new SteamVR controllers.
There have been no official announcements made yet by Valve, but attendees have been uploading pictures and writing posts about the prototypes that will look to offer gamers with more functionalities compared to the current wand-style controllers of the HTC Vive.
The biggest difference in the new prototypes is that they can detect when gamers open and close their hands, which will allow them to grab, grip and let go of objects within virtual reality. Currently, the action is performed with the HTC Vive controllers by pressing a trigger on the back, which works fine but is not as immersive as actually opening and closing your hand. These grip buttons are no longer found in the prototypes.
It is not clear how the prototypes attach to the hands of the user, but pictures uploaded by attendees seem to show that they are strapped to the palm of the hand. Sensors can also be seen surrounding the controllers, likely the same ones that work with the Lighthouse tracking system of the HTC Vive, with different colored lights also present on the device.
The new SteamVR controllers will look to challenge the Oculus Touch controllers for the Oculus Rift, which similarly simulates natural hand movements for virtual reality applications. The current HTC Vive controllers require users to have a firm grip at all times, while the Oculus Touch allows users more freedom with their hands, an advantage that the prototypes show will be nullified upon the release of the new SteamVR controllers.
When the new controllers will be released, however, is the big question. The prototypes look like they are not yet close to a public release, and as such what they look like and how they function could still become drastically different from now until Valve's official announcement on the controllers. The Oculus Touch controllers, meanwhile, have already opened preorders, with bundles containing the devices to begin shipping out to customers by Dec. 6.
Other announcements related to virtual reality at the event include the development of OS X and Linux support for SteamVR, asynchronous reprojection, which will help fill in gaps in frame rates, a new generation of the Lighthouse system for next year and a new VR software that will be revealed next year.
