We all feel it, virtual reality (VR) technology is on the rise, and every manufacturer who’s worth their salt is trying to get on that bandwagon. But we all need to see that VR is still a young technology at best, and input processes into the system are still bound by handheld controllers. Gesture controls need sensors and powerful PCs to execute correctly, as in the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift. But EyeSight Technologies maybe on to something, as it is proposing a simple gesture control system for smartphone-based VR devices.
EyeSight Technologies’ solution is to use the smartphone’s rear camera to enable gesture controls in virtual reality. The implementation is pretty much bound to smartphone-based VR tech like Google’s Cardboard VR viewer or the Samsung Gear VR. Gestures can be made so that the phone’s rear camera detects the movements, which the system translates to commands on the smartphone’s VR display. See the short video below.
As you can see, this system will require a VR headset with straps. Most of the simple Google Cardboard DIY VR headsets require users to hold the viewer with one hand. Obviously, that will be difficult for EyeSight’s gesture control system. In the video, you can see that it works relatively well with the Samsung Gear VR.
The technology is pretty simple, and we can assume that it will have its limitations. It still needs a few manufacturers to take a chance on it and see if it works with some VR implementations or not.
VIA: Sam Mobile
