Oculus Rift Controller Concept images have unexpectedly emerged from the Oculus website, indicating a completely wireless system supported by a comfortable ergonomic controller capable of moving the user through various virtual realities. Comprised of four simple buttons and what appears to be a touchpad for directional control, the leaked images have stoked the flames of desire for early adopters of the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset. What is not clear, however, is whether the controller also contains multiple axis accelerometers necessary for complete autonomy of movement in a four dimensional virtual world. Nonetheless, developers are quite excited to see this potential solution to the missing piece of the virtual reality headset puzzle.
Presently, early adopters favor the Razor Hydra Controller for in app play while using the Oculus Rift. However, absent native Oculus support, Hydra users frequently complain of irritating jitter, a lack of control mapping software, uncontrollable horizontal drift, and the high cost of entry (~$450). Still, although not perfect, the Razor Hydra is the best available controller for the Oculus Rift in its current state of development and has proven itself to be quite useful for virtual exploration and gaming.
Given the lack of adequate competition, and the need to effortlessly move oneself throughout a virtual world, an Oculus Rift controller is a no-brainer. When Oculus was a fledgling company, it was understandable that they had neither the time nor the resources to dedicate to the development of a complementary virtual world controller. However, now with the financial wherewithal of Facebook backing their play, the necessity of an included virtual reality controller seems as fundamental as the necessity of a gaming controller for an Xbox or PlayStation … without one, what’s the point? Although, the current controller concept has been deemed only a “placeholder” by Oculus’ Palmer Luckey, we are sure that an Oculus VR controller is currently in development and will likely be offered at a reduced price to kit owners for beta testing prior to the release of a retail version of the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset.
Source
Oculus Rift: [Company Website]
