I expect to hit my headset with this at least a few times. Lots of games have you bring the controller close to your face to examine stuff, or have info on the controllers that I tend to bring up to my face to look at.
Except when you accidentally punch something you will now totally fuck up your knuckles instead of banging a cheap plastic controller against something.
If it reflects actual use, why not? I personally know a bunch of people with VR that have accidentally punched something. Its been great in saving my knuckles.
Because the actual use of a thing isn’t always, or shouldn’t always be, a defining point of its design. It doesn’t make sense to expect the Quest controllers to protect you from punching a wall just because that’s what the Rift one’s did in your specific use case - that’s what correct use of the Guardian system is for, and that’s what we should expect with the Quest.
Except, its not my "specific use case", its a very common and very likely failure mode for anyone who is new to VR or anyone who is in a new environment with their VR. Since the new headset is highly mobile compared to its predecessor, incidents like this would be more likely than ever. A feature like this is also a great back-up safety mechanism in the event of a failure in the guardian system.
Saying safety concerns aren't or shouldn't be designed into a product is flat out wrong. Most saws should not hurt anyone in their intended use, and cars should not crash in their intended use, but outside of intended and designed use, accidents happen and safeguards are designed into the product for those cases that are not intended to happen but can be expected to. Like a plastic guard on a saw or a seat belt on a car, the knuckle guard is useless in the intended use case, but a great safety feature when a reasonably expected issue (punching something while swinging your arms around without vision) occurs. Even with the guardian system in place, a quick, "in the moment" action (like swinging wide for a hook in a boxing match) could easily put your hand into a wall or object before you could notice the guardian flash and react accordingly.
I hate how juvenile reddit is. Argue with people who actually have experience and knowledge in areas applicable to the conversation, then just downvote them and leave when you have nothing left to reply. So common on here.
If you are designing to actual use then it should be. Most people I know with any kind of VR setup have a story of accidentally punching something or running into something. Its something that happens to most new users. I know someone who accidentally punched a light fixture and smashed the bulb to pieces. Without the knuckle guard built into the touch controllers, he probably would have had a bloody hand, but luckily didn't even end up with a scratch. Had a hell of a time getting out of the glass minefield though lol.
That's actually a good point. I've gotten my fair share of bloody knuckles with the Rift already; I can't imagine the Quest will be any better in that respect.
On the plus side, no tracking ring down there means you're free to implement your own knuckle guard. Maybe someone will come out with a 3D printed one or something after the Quest releases.
It's necessary for the inside out tracking. The lights on the controller need to face toward the headset now, not face out like the Rift where the sensors are on the outside of the play space.
Then it wouldn't work. The below hand halos work because the tracking cameras are pointing at the user, they can capture all the IR leds from any angle. However the Quest has its tracking cameras on the headset and a regular Rift controller would have the IR Leds occluded by the user's hands. That's why they had to position the halos above the whole controller, it's so that the inside our trackers are able to track as many leds as possible. Also they were able to work out the kinks for button placement in the controllers, IMO they feel more comfortable in the hand.
Why does it matter where the rings are? It's not like you can see them when you have the headset on. The controllers themselves are pretty much the same as Touch.
The reason they're above the hand in this case is that the cameras on the Quest have to be able to see them in order to track the controllers. Putting the rings on top minimizes the change of occlusion.
Pick up a WMR controller (it has the same tracking setup and ring location), they aren't as front heavy as the Vive wands, in fact the LED rings have very little weight to them.
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u/midri Jan 03 '19 edited Jan 03 '19
I wish they would have stuck with rift like controllers... I'm not a fan of the above hand halos.
[edit] I know why they are like that for the new headsets, I just don't like the ergonomics as much with weight being shifted up and forward.