Hands On With the Oculus Touch and New Gear VR

Hands On With the Oculus Touch and New Gear VR

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—At yesterday's Oculus developer conference here, I got
some hands-on time with Oculus's newest virtual reality hardware and
software, from the Rift to the Gear VR and Touch. This was my first time trying
out any Oculus products, and it was—no exaggeration—astounding.

But to fully grasp the leap forward represented by peripherals like the Gear VR
and Touch, as well as software like Bullet Train and Medium, it's necessary to
look at where Oculus's existing hardware, the Rift, succeeds and falls short of
the mark.

For someone whose only experience with VR was huddling over a Virtual Boy in
a Blockbuster 20 years ago, I wasn't prepared for the Rift. It's a stunning,
immersive piece of equipment that places you inside a game in a way that I'd
never felt before. The games I played yesterday, however, largely fell in one of
two categories, with little variation: platformers and first-person shooters.

The platformers were my favorite, as it was easy to get lost—in a good way—in
the games' expansive worlds. After the initial delight of being able to look
around these worlds, however, the novelty quickly wore off. While impressive
on paper, the experience was little more than playing a 3D game on an IMAX
screen. You were in the world, but you weren't truly interacting with it,
hovering godlike over your in-game avatar, just like any traditional video game.

The first-person shooters attempted to solve this problem by making you the
in-game actor. This worked for the most part, as I began to feel like I was
actually interacting with the world. But soon after things started to click, some
combination of whirring backgrounds, rapidly changing physics, my novice
level of control over maneuvering the headset and the weight and heat
associated with simply wearing the Rift, led to my feeling, well...sick.

I tried to switch it up, returning to the platformers, but the damage was done,

and I had to tap out. Fortunately, I already had the pleasure of interacting with
Oculus hardware and software that neatly sidestepped many of my issues with
the Rift.

Samsung Gear VR
First up was the new Gear VR. Designed to be portable and used with your
Samsung phone, the Gear VR is much lighter and less oppressive to wear than
the Rift. It sounds like a minor issue, but the difference in comfort is
astonishing. Wearing the Gear VR felt like wearing a pair of goggles, while the
Rift feels exactly like what it is—a massive piece of complicated hardware.

The games for the Gear VR also featured a
different design philosophy. Instead of the
overwhelmingly immersive worlds created
for the Rift, Gear VR games tapped into
what all the most popular mobile games
have in common: They're easy to pick up
and play. This means that the Gear VR is
more suited to quick gameplay stints, as
opposed to long, marathon sessions on the
couch.

Of course, running games off a mobile app means sound and graphics aren't up
to the standards of the Rift, but the portable, $99 Gear is a device with a very
different mission statement than its big brother. The Gear is meant to be used
socially, with lobbies that you and your friends can sit in while watching
streaming content, and even Netflix integration. While a neat trick, and exciting
to try out, ultimately, if given a choice between watching a movie or League of
Legends livestream in a virtual room, or my real room, I will always choose the
one that doesn't require me to wear goggles.

The Gear VR is certainly fun, and it's going to go a long way toward normalizing
the concept of virtual reality, due to its affordability and portability. The real
belle of the Oculus Connect ball, however, was the company's foray into haptics
controls, the Oculus Touch.

The Oculus Touch
I won't lie: I struggled at first. Adjusting to not only being in this world, but also
getting my hands positioned on the controllers properly was a chore, even with
someone helping out. Once I was strapped in, however, the learning curve was
shockingly low.

Having your hands in the game with you not only makes for a more immersive
experience, allowing you to interact with the world around you, but in my time
with the hardware, it also made the transition from the real world to the virtual
one less jarring and disconcerting.

Moving your hands with the Oculus Touch system is as painless and easy as
moving your hands in real life…because that's precisely what you're doing. The
only complication comes when it's time to use the numerous buttons on the
devices: two triggers, an analog joystick, and two buttons for each hand, none of
which you can see in game. It took some trial and error, but that's the case with
any new game controller. The fact that learning where the buttons are is the

most difficult part of using Oculus Touch is phenomenal and speaks to the
refined haptics experience.

A big draw at Oculus Connect was a Touch-enabled game called Bullet Train. A
first-person shooter using the Unreal Engine, Bullet Train at first seems like old
hat. Multiple guns and exciting battles are always great, but they aren't exactly
breaking new ground. Even additions like teleportation and bullet time aren't
entirely unprecedented. Where Bullet Train shines, however, is in its execution.

 Introducing Bullet Train by Epic Games

Again, the buttons and triggers took some getting used to, but once you master
them, it's easy to pluck a bullet out of mid-air, teleport across the map, and flick
it back at your enemy. On paper, mowing enemy stormtroopers down with an
AK-47 shouldn't be any more exciting here than it is in countless other games,
but the immersion, and the fact that you choose the exact angle of how your gun
is positioned, makes for a wholly different—and amazing—experience.

Bullet Train was a blast, and I wish I had more time with it, especially as I was

still working to master some of the multi-hand motions, like cocking a shotgun.
But the sleeper hit of Oculus Connect was something that sounds deceptively
simple, but is actually quite complex: sculpting application Medium.

During the keynote, we were told that every platform needs a paint application
and Medium is Oculus' solution. We then got to see a series of actual, real world
sculptors use the software, paired with Oculus Touch, to create simply
astounding pieces of virtual art. Seeing as my artistic abilities are somewhat
limited, at best, I was impressed, but wary about being set loose with the
application.

That anxiety turned out to be completely unfounded. In what is a recurring
note, the actual button and trigger controls were admittedly somewhat
confusing, and I only barely had the hang of them by the time I was finished.
But given another 20 minutes, I would have easily memorized which trigger did
what. What's most amazing about Medium is how easy it is to, once again, use
the haptics controls to do something incredible.

The controls are intuitive, which shouldn't be shocking since you're using your
actual hands. But in several ways, sculpting and creating in Medium is far
easier than in real life, not just because of the wealth of tools, but because of the
moments when Medium foregoes realistic physics in favor of ease of use. While
shaving an edge down, pulling some clay out or even just painting, you can use
your other hand to rotate your creation, with no fear of bending or breaking a
protuberance or dropping it to the floor. Need to get at an inside area and are
worried about how small it is? Zoom in to give yourself greater precision. Still
can't get it exactly right? Medium has no problem letting you put your hand
inside the physical sculpture.

The running theme at Oculus Connect was that virtual reality is the next step
forward for not just gaming but all media. Looking at the Rift alone, that might

be a hard sell, as it doesn't do anything fundamentally different than more
traditional game systems. With the newest additions to its lineup, however—
portable, affordable VR and real, working haptics—Oculus is making steady,
sizable steps toward the future it is so excitedly hyping.

 Introducing Oculus Medium