Sony has just given us a glimpse of its next-gen VR controller via a new blog post from Hideaki Nishino, Senior Vice President, Platform Planning & Management. It lacks the "orb" design of the old-gen one and adopts a design more akin to other VR controllers, while still packing an original look. The company says that "it’s well-balanced and comfortable to hold in each of your hands".

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These new controllers are also said to enable players to "feel and interact with games in a much more visceral way" and borrows some features from the PS5's DualSense controller to do so. As per the announcement, you can find some of the key features below:

● Adaptive triggers: Each VR controller (Left and Right) includes an adaptive trigger button that adds palpable tension when pressed, similar to what’s found in the DualSense controller. If you’ve played a PS5 game, you’ll be familiar with the tension in the L2 or R2 buttons when you press them, such as when you’re drawing your bow to fire an arrow. When you take that kind of mechanic and apply it to VR, the experience is amplified to the next level.

● Haptic feedback: The new controller will have haptic feedback optimized for its form factor, making every sensation in the game world more impactful, textured and nuanced. When you’re traversing through rocky desert or trading blows in melee combat, you’ll feel the difference, magnifying the extraordinary visual and audio experience that’s so central to VR.

● Finger touch detection: The controller can detect your fingers without any pressing in the areas where you place your thumb, index, or middle fingers. This enables you to make more natural gestures with your hands during gameplay.

● Tracking: The VR controller is tracked by the new VR headset through a tracking ring across the bottom of the controller.

● Action buttons / analog sticks: The Left controller contains one analog stick, the triangle and square buttons, a “grip” button (L1), trigger button (L2) and Create button. The Right controller contains one analog stick, the cross and circle buttons, a “grip” button (R1), trigger button (R2) and Options button. The “grip” button can be used to pick up in-game objects, as one example.

What do you think of these new VR controllers?

SOURCE

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

I'm not really counting the Quest and Quest 2 into the mix since all the processing is done on the set and they're rather low-power as a result

Except you can use the Quest and Quest 2 as a wireless PCVR headset if you wanted to

It's just not particularly useable unless you have a dedicated AP for the Quest 2 that's also connected via ethernet to your host PC, and even then it's still not a super great experience because of latency and occasional jitter, with a slight hiccup or two being quite nauseating even to VR "veterans". Which I'm sure could be solved with some proprietary wireless setup, but I suspect Sony isn't quite confident enough in anything they've probably already R&D'd with the amount of data that has to be communicated between the headset and host.

 

[MikaDubbz]

If they're gonna continue to do VR with the PS5, then it definitely makes sense to upgrade the controllers from the old PS3 Move controllers.

 

[Vila_]

Looks like Sony was suffering from the “Lets be different” syndrome... 0/10

 

[MikaDubbz]

Looks like Sony was suffering from the “Lets be different” syndrome... 0/10

? Those look pretty similar to most modern VR controllers.

 

[Lazyt]

where banana?

 

[Mama Looigi]

They look like hamster balls

 

[diggeloid]

They're not Valve's knuckles, but this is awesome to see because it means Sony is getting serious about VR. A PSVR is a million times more accessible than what Valve, HTC, or Facebook are offering.

the design choice was made probably like this:
it is imperative that it cannot be put into a gun caseing!

Never underestimate what can be done with some PVC pipes and duct tape!

 

[SuperDan]

its not that ..that different than my oculus quest 2 ones really >>? ..look cooler tho

 

[The Real Jdbye]

They look fine, but they are rather bulky. The issue with that is that you can't get as close up to objects in VR to grab them. With my G2 controllers I'm often knocking them together trying to grip stuff with both hands or interact with objects, or knocking them into the headset trying to hold something up close to my face, and these are even bulkier. But most of the bulk is on the back of your hand, which may actually make gripping stuff easier. I guess they might have tested out some different designs and found that this was the least obstructive, in which case, good on them.

They're not Valve's knuckles, but this is awesome to see because it means Sony is getting serious about VR. A PSVR is a million times more accessible than what Valve, HTC, or Facebook are offering.



Never underestimate what can be done with some PVC pipes and duct tape!

$300 Oculus Quest 2 is about as accessible as it gets.

 

[smf]

Isn't the only wireless VR headset around four figures to set up?

I've used one that was tethered to a backpack, of course you probably would not want a ps5 strapped to your back.

I'm disappointed you need a controller at all, the hand tracking system I used a couple of years ago was amazing.

 

[Bladexdsl]

looks like they ripped off the wiis nunchucks and added a lame AF useless plastic shell that doesn't even wrap around your hands to it

 

[Foxi4]

I've used one that was tethered to a backpack, of course you probably would not want a ps5 strapped to your back.

Yeah, I've seen those backpack PC's back in the day - they looked a little silly, but I can see the advantage. With that said, provided one has a dedicated VR space in their home, I find that tethering the wiring to the ceiling is a good solution here. You need really, really long wiring, but you do remove the tripping hazard from the equation.

Except you can use the Quest and Quest 2 as a wireless PCVR headset if you wanted to

It's just not particularly useable unless you have a dedicated AP for the Quest 2 that's also connected via ethernet to your host PC, and even then it's still not a super great experience because of latency and occasional jitter, with a slight hiccup or two being quite nauseating even to VR "veterans". Which I'm sure could be solved with some proprietary wireless setup, but I suspect Sony isn't quite confident enough in anything they've probably already R&D'd with the amount of data that has to be communicated between the headset and host.

I did not know that! I thought using the Quest in conjunction with a PC required a wire. Nice to hear that there's a wireless option, but yeah, latency can be an issue, I'd imagine.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

I did not know that! I thought using the Quest in conjunction with a PC required a wire. Nice to hear that there's a wireless option, but yeah, latency can be an issue, I'd imagine.

Technically, it's an "unofficial" solution, but it's one that's had a lot of work put into it so it's pretty much as good as it'll get. But still very impressive for a $300 headset

 

[Mama Looigi]

Technically, it's an "unofficial" solution, but it's one that's had a lot of work put into it so it's pretty much as good as it'll get. But still very impressive for a $300 headset

Actually
It’s officially supported as of a few days ago-

You no longer need to patch Virtual Desktop after buying it on the Quest store. Very convenient for people who didn’t have a way to patch it

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Actually
It’s officially supported as of a few days ago-

You no longer need to patch Virtual Desktop after buying it on the Quest store. Very convenient for people who didn’t have a way to patch it

Unofficial as in it's not developed and designed by Oculus, it's all done by a third party

 

[Foxi4]

Unofficial as in it's not developed and designed by Oculus, it's all done by a third party

This explains why I haven't heard about it then. Cool beans regardless, dealing with long wires is always a chore.

 

[smf]

With that said, provided one has a dedicated VR space in their home, I find that tethering the wiring to the ceiling is a good solution here. You need really, really long wiring, but you do remove the tripping hazard from the equation.

You mostly need wireless for multi player in the same space.

 

[KingVamp]

Should have been the default PS5 controllers.

 

[WiiHomebrew+Snes]

I don't like the design, the same way I didn't like the PS5 design. But I think it'll grow on people, and it looks comfortable enough.

 

[GoldenBullet]

Looks like absolute, total shit

Good thing you won't be looking at it much when you're playing lol

Adaptive triggers in vr sound amazing though