Oculus Touch Review - Review 2022

Editors' Annotation: This review has been updated to reverberate the new cost for the Oculus Touch control arrangement and its inclusion in the Oculus Rift retail parcel. The rating has not changed.

The consumer-ready Oculus Rift ($427.81 at Amazon) came out last year, with a toll tag a full $200 less than the competing HTC Vive. It lacked motion controls, however, and for months the VR headset relied entirely on the included Xbox One controller and simple Oculus Remote. That changed with the Oculus Touch, 2 motion-sensing pseudo-gamepads that are the most comfy, natural-feeling VR controls nosotros've tested. While the controllers were a hefty $199 on summit of the Rift itself when they came out, the price was recently cut to $99, and they are now included in a $598 bundle with the Rift. That puts the Rift on the same level as the HTC Vive in terms of features, for three-quarters the price. It also makes the Touch controllers themselves even more compelling as an add-on purchase for users who already own a Rift.

Controllers

Each Oculus Touch ($299.99 at Amazon) controller is shaped similar half of a conventional gamepad with a large band built around information technology. The face of the controller is a flat, circular surface with an analog stick, two face buttons, and an additional, recessed menu button. Two triggers are built into the smooth grip, beneath the circle; one rests comfortably under the index finger, while the other sits under the centre finger. A circular plastic loop extends effectually the controller'south face up and in front of the grip, roofing the height half of your paw without touching it.

Unlike the HTC Vive ($99.99 at Amazon) and PlayStation Movement controllers, which use built-in rechargeable batteries, each Touch controller is powered by a single AA bombardment that sits in a compartment behind a sliding door on the grip. According to Oculus, the battery can final up to 30 hours, or up to 20 hours with haptic feedback (which is enabled by default).

Setup

The Touch on set includes two controllers and an additional Oculus external sensor, all of which are at present bundled in the combined Rift/Touch bundle. The sensor is the same cylindrical Webcam-like device mounted on a desktop stand up that the Rift itself uses. The second sensor is necessary for tracking the Affect controllers along with the headset. It's yet some other device to sit down on your desk, another cable to manage, and another USB three.0 port that needs to be used, but these inconveniences are standard amid PC-tethered VR systems.

Considering the 2 Rift sensors are positioned at either side in front of you, they're a bit more than limited than the HTC Vive's wall-mounted sensors. The Vive's sensors can be placed at opposing corners of a room to let y'all experience whole-room VR, while the Rift's sensors limit you to a smaller area. They still offer a wider space than the stationary gameplay position the standalone Rift and its unmarried sensor could handle.

Setting up the Affect controllers is effectively but an extra step in the middle of configuring the Rift headset. The Oculus software'due south setup process will enquire if you have the Touch controllers, then prompt you lot to plug in the second sensor and pair the controllers by belongings two buttons until they appear on the screen. Once that'south done, you lot can utilize them with the Rift just like the Oculus Remote or Xbox One ($200.00 at eBay) wireless gamepad.

Got the Impact

Once everything'due south set upwards, the Oculus software takes you through a simple tutorial on how to use the Touch controllers. They appear in virtual space exactly where they are in the real world, much like the HTC Vive motion controllers. The tutorial finishes with a physics-based demo that puts you in a pocket-size room filled with retro-styled applied science and a robot. The robot hands you discs you can grab and so insert into a drive on a holographic brandish that makes dissimilar objects announced. It's uncomplicated and engaging, and shows off just how the Oculus Bear upon translates your movements to the virtual earth.

This is where the design of the Touch controllers and the accuracy of the sensors outset to smoothen. Pulling the alphabetize finger trigger moves your virtual index finger, pulling the middle finger trigger opens and closes the other fingers of your hand, and moving the analog stick or pressing the face buttons flexes your pollex. The finger movement tracking is incredibly sensitive, and then y'all tin see your thumb starting to motility as soon as you touch the stick or buttons, before you even activate them. It's a simple, natural control scheme that works well in both physics-based games that require you to manipulate virtual objects, and in menus where you tin can simply betoken at items with your finger to select them.

Oculus Bear upon Games

Only sure Oculus games support bear on controls. If they aren't implemented, yous notwithstanding have to use the gamepad or the Oculus Remote to control the software.

I played a few Oculus Rift games with the Oculus Touch: Kingspray Graffiti Simulator, I Expect You to Dice, and VR Sports Claiming. Kingspray is the simplest of the three, and is simply what you would look it to exist: a graffiti art program. You lot use the Oculus Touch controllers to aim your spraypaint and describe any you want on a clean brick wall. The analog sticks bring upwards different menus that let yous choose between a broad selection of colors, plus more than subtle options like spray tips and spray force that touch the texture and size of your sprays. The game tracked my movements perfectly, and while I have no artistic ability whatsoever, I had fun spraying stupid things on a brick wall in virtual reality.

I Expect You to Die is a humorous physics-based puzzle game based on campy spy movies. Y'all play a James Bond-like undercover amanuensis who has been given an implant that grants telekinesis, and from your relatively stationary position you must get through different unsafe situations using your powers and whatsoever helpful tools yous can find. Information technology'south agreeable and clever, with good use of the Bear upon controllers non only to control your own hands (needed to manipulate tools), merely to aim your telekinetic powers.

VR Sports Claiming is the weakest link of the three. Playing sports with motion controls is a natural concept we explored ten years ago on the Nintendo Wii, but this minigame compilation of basketball game, football game, and hockey doesn't quite cut it. Each game puts you in a stationary position, like a hockey goalie or a basketball player who was just passed a ball. You lot need to perform a job related to your position, like blocking shots or shooting for the basket. They're simple activities and the movements are generally natural, but they're presented in the context of total sports matches, which makes the entire activity feel very limited because of the tasks you lot're restricted to. Y'all tin can't run around the court like in a conventional sports game, and the presentation is realistic enough that the minigame-way activities seem out of place.

SteamVR Games

Like the Rift itself, the Oculus Bear on controllers work well with SteamVR. Once the Rift and Touch are ready up, the controllers announced equally HTC Vive move controllers in both the SteamVR interface and in SteamVR games. The analog sticks part as the touchpads, the index and middle finger triggers function equally the trigger and grip buttons, and the face buttons role as the Menu and System buttons. The Card button on the right controller triggers the Oculus overlay, even when in SteamVR.

I played Task Simulator on SteamVR, a game built for employ with the HTC Vive and its motion controllers. The Touch controls translated perfectly, and the motion tracking responded very well. It'southward a goofy physics puzzle game like I Expect Y'all to Dice, giving y'all various menial tasks in what robots from the time to come assume everyday jobs to have been like. I played the gourmet chef level, making sandwiches and soups by grabbing various items and placing them on different appliances.

Conclusions

The Oculus Touch is the all-time VR motion control system I've tested so far. It tracks motion accurately, and the pattern feels natural in the mitt. It was originally pretty expensive, but at $100 when purchased on its own, and now role of the $598 Oculus Rift package, the Touch has become an essential peripheral for Oculus Rift owners. If y'all already have the headset, picking upward the Touch is a no-brainer.

That said, the Oculus Rift isn't our favorite VR headset. Thank you to its ease of utilise, comfy fit, content option, and even lower price, the Sony PlayStation VR remains our Editors' Option.

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Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/controllers-accessories-products/15232/oculus-touch-review

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