wow, no controllers needed for hand tracking coming to Quest in early 2020
At OC6, we demonstrated this new technology, which will launch on Quest in early 2020 as an experimental feature for consumers and an SDK for developers. That means that, starting early next year, VR devs will be able to build and ship experiences that let you use your own hands in VR without controllers or other peripheral devices—and the Quest community can get an early taste of what's in store by opting in to hand tracking early next year.
What began as a research project at Facebook Reality Labs has been brought to life through close collaboration with our product and design teams to bring about a new paradigm for VR input. Our computer vision team developed a new method of using deep learning to understand the position of your fingers using just the monochrome cameras on Quest today—no active depth-sensing cameras, additional sensors, or extra processors required. This technology approximates the shape of your hand and creates a set of 3D points to accurately represent your hand and finger movement in VR. Click here to learn more about the AI magic under the hood.
We look forward to sharing more in the months ahead.