There are just two days left people. Two days until Oculus begins delivering its Touch controllers to ravenous fans around the world, that is, if you haven’t gotten yours already by accident. These controllers will be enabling new games, new experiences, and an entirely new way to enjoy VR for Oculus Rift users. But more than just unlocking new gameplay features for Rift owners, Touch has the chance to completely reorganize the VR landscape. And so, our question to you on the precipice of launch day is this: what does Oculus Touch mean for the VR industry as a whole?
There are some things to consider before you answer. The first is competition. Right now, the high-end VR scene is a roost ruled by three major players: Oculus (owned by Facebook), HTC (in partnership with Valve) and PlayStation VR (a Sony product). PS VR is a host unto itself as the borders between the console and PC space are already well established. That leaves Oculus and Facebook to duke it out with HTC and Valve’s $799 Vive headset for dominance in the PC-powered VR space.
So far, the Rift and Vive have been differentiated primarily by their control schemes. The Vive has tracked hand controllers and roomscale capabilities. This means that Vive users can turn in 360 degrees, walk several paces in any direction, and interact directly with their hands while inside VR. For the past nine months or so the Rift has been unable to compete in this regard.
Now, however, Oculus is poised to release a new, and potentially lucrative, accessory while also creating relative parity between itself and its biggest rival. With Touch, the Rift will theoretically be able to do anything that the Vive can do. This move changes the rules dramatically for the prize fight taking place between Facebook and HTC and sets the stage for 2017 to be an even more dramatic slugfest than what we’ve seen already.
What do you think? Is Touch a seismic shift for the VR industry and its ongoing platform war, or is it too late for Oculus to jump onto the roomscale train? Let us know in the comments below.
Tagged with: community download, discussion, oculus, oculus touch, touch
Source: Community Download: What Does Oculus Touch Mean for Virtual Reality?
