Valve teases sleek new VR wands at Steam Dev Days.
It seems like you can’t throw a rock without hitting a new virtual reality controller these days. Fresh off the heels of the Oculus Touch announcement and it’s release date comes the reveal of the second generation of HTC Vive controllers.
Valve’s annual Steam Dev Days has come and gone, but the excitement remains as attendees have continued posting images of the new controller prototype that was shown during the event. While little is still known about the device, it does appear as though this iteration securely wraps around each of the user’s hands, allowing them to fully extend their fingers and thumbs without dropping the device. This is almost certainly a response to the Oculus Touch which features an excellent version of this particular design element.
This new version looks light years more comfortable compared to the previous design. The handle wrapping around the hand should provide a truly natural feel that’s missing from the current controller model. There’s no word yet on any specific features such as finger tracking, but with the Oculus Touch sporting some seriously impressive tech one can assume that the new Vive controller will release with competitive specs. Doug Lombardi, a representative from Valve, told Kotaku they are currently “focused on gathering feedback on the design prototype” and “will have more details soon.”
As exciting as this news is the device is still in its prototype phase, so it’ll be some time before we see these puppies again. In the meantime you can check out these Vive accessories available for purchase now. Hopefully the new controllers will be a little more interesting than replacement cushions and cables.
Image Credit: Shawn Whiting
