PlayStation VR2 will get hand-tracking assist quickly

Simply when it appeared like PC support was Sony’s ultimate phrase on the PlayStation VR2, the corporate is exhibiting off hand monitoring for the digital actuality headset. As noticed by UploadVR, Sony has been demoing controller-free hand-tracking assist on the PSVR2 at SIGGRAPH Asia 2024, an educational convention and tradeshow targeted on “pc graphics and interactive strategies.”

Sony hasn’t launched any official announcement explaining the brand new characteristic, however a published description of what it’s presenting at SIGGRAPH does point out that hand-tracking assist is “obtainable with the most recent improvement equipment of PlayStation 5.” Mixed noticed that Sony had filed a patent for a number of totally different hand-tracking options in Might 2023, however that is the primary occasion of that work operating on an precise headset.

Apart from feeling extra pure than swinging round a controller, hand-tracking permits for extra nuanced actions and controls in apps and video games. Once you press a digital button in a recreation with hand monitoring, you may not really feel the haptic suggestions you’d get from gripping a controller, however what you’re doing together with your hand is way more like actual life. A video of the demo shared on X reveals hand-tracking engaged on a PSVR2 with an identical degree of constancy and latency to hand-tracking on a Quest 3, so it looks as if Sony’s characteristic might work nicely.

Whereas it’s bizarre that the corporate hasn’t turned this into an announcement but, the truth that hand-tracking assist exists is an efficient signal for headset house owners that Sony continues to be invested. The PSVR 2 was launched in 2023 as a powerful, if costly, piece of VR {hardware}. Issues like headset haptics, eye-tracking and an incredible first-party recreation in Horizon VR: Name of the Mountain made it stand out. However since then, the headset hasn’t seen practically the assist it must catch on. Main inside studios haven’t developed many VR video games, and Sony has laid off developers from studios which have, just like the creators of Name of the Mountain, Firesprite. In June, Android Central reported that Sony had additionally severely reduce its funds for future VR improvement.

The discharge of the PS VR2 PC adaptor in August 2024 appeared like the ultimate nail within the coffin. If Sony wasn’t going to make extra video games, then at the very least you might play by way of the large library of PC VR video games on Steam. Hand-tracking assist may not imply Sony’s dedication to the VR headset has modified since then, however it’s a signal that the PSVR2 can enhance even when it’s by no means a precedence.