Facebook’s Top VR Headset, Oculus Quest, Set To Get A Software Update Adding A Hand And Finger Tracking Feature

Facebook’s Top VR Headset, Oculus Quest, Set To Get A Software Update Adding A Hand And Finger Tracking Feature
Credit: CNET via YouTube

Facebook-owned VR Headset, the Oculus Quest will be getting some upgrades in the coming months. This will include cables for PC plug-ins and the upcoming software upgrade which is set to make Oculus more powerful.

Considered as the best VR headset now, Oculus Quest was a research project of industry giant Facebook and its Facebook Reality Labs. It is enhanced with deep learning, giving it the ability to give users a realistic AR experience.

On top of generating highly realistic VR environments, this all-in-one gaming unit will be getting a software update in 2020. It will have an additional feature, the controller-free hand tracking system. The upgrade will allow users to naturally interact with rendered environments with the use of their hand and finger gestures.

The VR headset won’t be requiring controllers, special gloves, PC connections, or other external sensors. The designers state that Oculus Quest will be able to understand a user’s hand position through its deep learning capabilities. The user’s hands and fingers will be tracked by on-board camera sensors, and translated into VR data.

Facebook Reseach Labs is spearheading VR advancements with the inclusion of this new AI capability. Deep learning is rapidly moving the tech industry to greater heights with its capacity to understand human concepts and replicate them perfectly.

Oculus Quest researchers mention that their team developed a new way of incorporating deep learning into the VR headset. This feature can understand the position of a user’s fingers with the use of the monochrome cameras placed on various points of the unit.

The designers used a simple monochrome camera without the need for extra sensors, depth-sensing cameras, or incorporating additional processors to do the work. These cameras can detect the user’s hands and shape them using 3D points. The movements are followed by the camera, resulting in a refined representation of the actions of your hands and fingers.

Improvements on the Oculus Quest were announced during the Oculus Connect 6 Conference held in San Jose, California. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, made the announcement saying that the software update will be coming next year.

Zuckerberg was quick to mention that the VR headset users won’t be requiring other controllers, buttons, or external sensors to manipulate the motions of a user’s hand. All they need is the Oculus Quest headset and nothing else. The Oculus Quest VR headset is pushing VR adoption, thereby, removing the need for physical systems.

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